Corporate and personal integrity: The connection, problem and solution

INTEGRITY

in-teg’-gri-tE (Noun) 1. Rigid adherence to a code or standard of values 2. The quality or condition of being sound; of being un-impaired, undivided, whole, or complete

Lack of integrity can pose challenges ranging from internal conflict to threatening an organization’s very existence. Many firms adopt codes of standards and values and then mandate that officers, managers, and employees fulfill these requirements. Some offer training about meeting the guidelines or establish monitoring practices to insure compliance. In spite of these precautions, a problem with a core value often remains hidden until it explodes into corporate awareness, frequently with disastrous consequences. Very few have procedures specifically designed to evaluate individual integrity; fewer still offer proven skill-building tools to help individuals improve this core value.

Can an organization lead its people into integrity? Can it build a culture in which the individual wants to improve and demonstrate integrity for his or her personal benefit, not only because the organization wants it? Can an individual’s integrity be evaluated before it becomes a problem? The answer to all of these is a definite YES.

Management commitment to integrity is essential for any organization; however, this “top-down” or mandated integrity may fall short of producing the desired results if employees do not share the same commitment. A desire for integrity that originates within the individual forms a stronger incentive and commitment than one dictated by company policy. In the final analysis, business integrity rests squarely on the personal integrity of employees.

Instilling a personal craving for integrity simply requires helping each person understand that integrity influences all relationships, interactions in the family and at work, and ultimately is a major determiner of feelings and attitude. Such an understanding leads each individual to develop a desire for this value—to want integrity for the improvements it can bring to his or her life. Thus, integrity becomes a core value for that individual and not just a phrase dictated by company policy.

“Top down” integrity focuses on adherence to a set of codes, values or principles. Grass-roots, or culture-changing, integrity concentrates on the deeper meaning and its’ significance in everyone’s life—the quality of being whole, complete, un-divided, unimpaired. From the cradle on, our way of life does little to develop such attitudes and feelings. Our culture nurtures a breeding ground for impaired integrity. Over and over we are told that if we just had that new car, that boat, that certain physique, we would “arrive” and be the people we want to be. So instead of being whole, we develop a hole, a sense that something is missing, and we spend much of our lives trying to fill this emptiness. We strive for money, approval, power, possessions, relationships, and chemicals to fill the inner void. We find temporary satisfaction when we get the current hole-filler but this often fades and we are out chasing more of the same or searching for something else to fill the inner void.

Human nature craves integrity. Many experience an “ah-ha” moment as they start to understand the true meaning and import of this missing secret to happiness which often becomes the first step in breaking this cycle. As an individual acquires skills and starts developing integrity, the personal rewards insure that he or she will do nothing to jeopardize this gold mine of inner fulfillment. This is when gossip dies because the listener walks away; the clerk’s excessive absenteeism disappears because she understands the inner cost of being untruthful or irresponsible; disagreement becomes productive and friendly because no one has the need to be proven right.

Acquiring such high performance with principles often follows a definite and systematic process such as the RECCA model which guides each individual in

Recognizing that integrity is the single most important factor in determining the quality of life that any person experiences.

Evaluating the status of personal integrity

Comprehending the relationship between integrity and the resulting decisions, actions, and consequences in his or her life

Craving the benefits resulting from acquiring integrity

Acquiring the necessary skills to establish and enhance integrity.

Without integrity, success is only an illusion and true happiness impossible.