Integrity is Such a Lonely Word
Integrity:
The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes.
In western ethics, integrity is regarded as the quality of having an intuitive sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one's actions.
A moral virtue that encompasses the sum total of a person's set of values and moral code.
A breach of any of these values will damage the integrity of the individual.
Integrity comes from the Greek words ‘integritas’ and ‘integra’ meaning whole.
In today's world, this word has been largely forgotten. We know it's missing in today's political climate, and it is not being taught in business school. I'm not even sure parents talk about integrity with their children.
I'm alternately disgusted and deeply angry that integrity is not valued or honored in the corporate world.
I've watched people viciously attack someone's character, make false statements, and pin the blame on someone else in order to advance their own agenda.
I'm not naive, I've been working for many decades, but I can honestly say that in a field where we used to work as a team, where we had each other's backs, is now tainted with corporate greed and big business mentality. Every person out for themselves- step on someone else's back as you scramble to the top of the heap. Someone else standing on your hill? Push them aside by undermining their efforts, question their dedication, destroy their reputation- hey, all is fair in the name of business.
Sick building syndrome takes on a whole new meaning today.
Integrity: It enters into any aspect of one’s life. It’s belief system without faltering no matter how dangerous, how unpopular the person makes themselves to others. ..
I'm digesting the changes in my life, and sometimes it gives me heartburn.”
About Annette
I grew up with five siblings in a working class neighborhood outside Washington, D.C. I have been writing or telling stories in some form or another for many years. As my old life was dismantled, I found journal writing and later blogging to be the release I...
Connections
Causes Annette Talbert Supports
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, RIF (Reading is Fundamental),
Hands On Foundation, Dignity U Wear, Girls, Inc.
Annette’s Favorite Books
To Kill a Mockingbird, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Jane Eyre, The Story of Seabiscuit, The Diaries of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Among Schoolchildren, Narnia Series...
Amen
I was thinking about this the other day while trying to come up with a response to an email. I tried various ways but in the end the only way to satisfy my integrity was not to respond. Anything I said would have given them another avenue to attack. They had no interest in the fact that I had done the right thing for 25 people but that (according to their lights) I had inconvenienced them. This made me stupid and incompetent. So be it. It was still the right thing to do.
Monique, It's not the first
Monique,
It's not the first time we've had this conversation. It seems like the world turns on the reality show mentality these days. The worst is watching workers decide that they don't like someone, so instead of moving on themselves (or being grown-ups and realizing we aren't going to get along with every manager), they have decided to destroy the person's reputation by running down their character, questioning their motives, and going over said manager's head to talk with corporate. They have become forked tongued vipers, and yet, they believe they have a right to do so.
I agree with you- I keep repeating that I cannot control their actions, only my reaction, and keep my mouth closed.
Annette
Integrity vs. Compromise
Annette,
Your blog provides all of us with a much needed reminder of how our culture is losing its moral compass One historical pattern of the cultural pendulum, to use another metaphor, is to swing from moral absolutism and certainty to moral relativism and confusion, and our contemporary Western culture is definitely moving toward the latter. In this milieu, taking a stand on principle (in your personal examples) is viewed negatively as old-fashioned moral rigidity, whereas compromise, accommodation, and adaptation ( a la situational ethics) are held in high esteem among the "sophisticated" class or illuminati.
Confirmation of this current cultural trend is found in the examples you cite of widespread disregard for traditional integrity in deference to what, at best, one can term more "pragmatic" and self-serving values. [By the way, your definition of "integrity" is the most comprehensive or inclusive one I, as a linguist, have ever read.] It's hard to believe, isn't it, that this concept or value of integrity is NOT part of the curriculum in business ethics. I'm afraid business ethics itself may well be headed to the dust bin and/or reborn in some unrecognizable modern reincarnation.
One potential danger in our future is an extreme reaction to this moral confusion. When this "wasteland" becomes too prevalent, people will seek security and certainty in some "ism" that satisfies their yearnings or needs.
Much appreciation to you for reminding all of us of what we are losing when such time-tested values as integrity become "lonely" words.
Brenden
Integrity vs. Compromise
Duplicate/Deleted
Brenden, Thank you so much
Brenden,
Thank you so much for your response. The definition I found was through a Google Chrome search. The search engine included definitions from a variety of sources and I used the ones that best described what I have been observing.
I agree that it is not being addressed in business ethics class. In fact, how many college students are required to take an ethics class today? Every college major should include ethics as part of the curriculum.
Sadly, like manners, honor and integrity are quaint little notions that are looked upon as rigid or antiquainted in our modern society.
The Apprentice, Survivor and other such shows applaud double-dealing, back stabbing and in the modern venacular, "throwing someone under the bus."
Perhaps the fact that I still believe in integrity and honor when dealing with others proves my age more than the gray in my hair!
I love the word integrity. It
I love the word integrity. It is even nice to say it but it is as you say a rare commodity in this day and age. But I take heart that there are still people who love the word and practice it daily. When you see it, a sense of calm falls on you because it is a seldom and precious thing like the way the mist rises up off the bog on a morning in June when the day is promised to be warm and ripe. That is what integrity means to me. Purity, honesty, nothing sullied or driven by a need to be better than the next one on the line. Probably doesn't make sense but still a thought. m
Most Appropriate Natural Comparisons
Mary and Annette,
Your examples drawn from nature are most appropriate. As the saying goes, "you can't fool mother nature," certainly not in the way some people deal deceptively and dishonestly with their fellow human beings and seem to get away with such behavior without consequences. If one tries to cheat or otherwise misuse the natural world, you'll eventually reap what you sow. And within natural forces and processes themselves, there's a certain adherence to inexorable principles, and if human beings attempt to disrupt them, as with eco-systems, there'll be a high price to pay. One might say nature maintains a rigid standard of accountability and justice that would serve us well in human interactions. Nature does, indeed, have integrity.
Brenden
a remembrance
My husband was a man of integrity. He was part of a team in charge of a small town group activity. A decision was made to start a new project. The handbooks to distribute to the participants would strain the group budget. So Jim, one of the participants, offered to help. Jim would xerox the handbook. He'd make as many copies as necessary at no cost to the group.
Jim's offer was greeted with enthusiasm by most. But my husband said, "You can't do that. The people who did the work to produce the handbook deserve proper compensation. We need to buy them--maybe a smaller number and share."
My husband's opinion created an instant uproar. It continued a while until one of the women said, "Why are you so stubborn?"
My husband was also a man of peace. He could see that his insistence was creating a rift in the membership. So he simply announced that he would step down from his leadership position. It was a sad moment for him and for me. We really liked that group, but he felt if he remained it would destroy the group. It was reported that he got mad and quit; that was simply not the case. His integrity was not understood.
And the bottom line--within a year the group had faded away.
When old fashion is good
One of the constant battles I have with people is over intergrity. Once you tell a small lie it is so much easier to tell a slightly bigger one. Children learn it from parents when they say "Tell so and so I am not here" when it is quite obvious to the child that their parent is there and then the child learns "If you want to avoid responsibilty...simply lie" and then it is reinforced when parents expect teachers to teach integrity to the children. If parents did their job and lived in an honest way...schools wouldn't need to spend time on this and then children could learn school things.
But it is so good to know people still think about it and worry about it. Shows we aren't quite yet doomed