The Meaning and Definition of Integrity:
In an effort to define the word “integrity”, I came up with some explanations, after consulting some dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Integrity is made up of several words, meanings and synonyms. It consists of a lot of what can be described as ethical and moral values or civilised values.
1. Soundness: This refers to how healthy an opinion, argument, reasoning or a research finding is, implying how free it is from flaw, defect or decay. Also, how free is it from error, fallacy, or misapprehension; exhibiting or based on thorough knowledge and experience; legally valid; logically valid and having true premises; agreeing with accepted views. It also means solid, firm, stable and thorough; showing good sense or judgment based on valid information.
2. Completeness: It means having all necessary parts, elements, or steps; highly proficient; totally, absolutely, thoroughly and fully carried out; including all possible parts.
3. Sincerity: It means fairness and straightforwardness of conduct; adherence to the facts.
4. Honesty: It implies a refusal to lie, steal, or deceive in any way.
5. Honor: It suggests an active or anxious regard for the standards of one’s profession, calling, or position.
6. Probity: It implies tried and proven honesty or truthfulness.
7. Incorruptibility: It implies trustworthiness and truthfulness to a degree that one is incapable of being false to a trust, responsibility or pledge. It also finally means being incapable of corruption; not subject to decay or dissolution; incapable of being bribed or morally corrupted.
8. Conclusion: The question to be asked is where does a nation stand with regard to these principles of integrity; where does an organisation or political party stand and finally what is my individual position? This synonymous question can also be asked: How civilised are we?
9. Resources: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia and Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
10. The Stanford University Encyclopedia of Philosophy states the following:
“Integrity is one of the most important and oft-cited of virtue terms. It is also perhaps the most puzzling. For example, while it is sometimes used virtually synonymously with ‘moral,’ we also at times distinguish acting morally from acting with integrity. Persons of integrity may in fact act immorally—though they would usually not know they are acting immorally. Thus one may acknowledge a person to have integrity even though that person may hold importantly mistaken moral views.
When used as a virtue term, ‘integrity’ refers to a quality of a person’s character; however, there are other uses of the term. One may speak of the integrity of a wilderness region or an ecosystem, a computerized database, a defense system, a work of art, and so on. When it is applied to objects, integrity refers to the wholeness, intactness or purity of a thing—meanings that are sometimes carried over when it is applied to people. A wilderness region has integrity when it has not been corrupted by development or by the side-effects of development, when it remains intact as wilderness. A database maintains its integrity as long as it remains uncorrupted by error; a defense system as long as it is not breached. A musical work might be said to have integrity when its musical structure has a certain completeness that is not intruded upon by uncoordinated, unrelated musical ideas; that is, when it possesses a kind of musical wholeness, intactness and purity.
Integrity is also attributed to various parts or aspects of a person’s life. We speak of attributes such as professional, intellectual and artistic integrity. However, the most philosophically important sense of the term ‘integrity’ relates to general character. Philosophers have been particularly concerned to understand what it is for a person to exhibit integrity throughout life. Acting with integrity on some particularly important occasion will, philosophically speaking, always be explained in terms of broader features of a person’s character and life. What is it to be a person of integrity? Ordinary discourse about integrity involves two fundamental intuitions: first, that integrity is primarily a formal relation one has to oneself, or between parts or aspects of one’s self; and second, that integrity is connected in an important way to acting morally, in other words, there are some substantive or normative constraints on what it is to act with integrity. How these two intuitions can be incorporated into a consistent theory of integrity is not obvious, and most accounts of integrity tend to focus on one of these intuitions to the detriment of the other. A number of accounts have been advanced, the most important of them being: (i) integrity as the integration of self; (ii) integrity as maintenance of identity; (iii) integrity as standing for something; (iv) integrity as moral purpose; and (v) integrity as a virtue. These accounts are reviewed below. We then examine several issues that have been of central concern to philosophers exploring the concept of integrity: the relations between types of integrity, integrity and moral theory, and integrity and social and political conditions.”
For further detailed discussion of “Integrity” go to: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/integrity/ and http://www.webweevers.com/integrity.htm, which is worldwide regarded as the best article ever written about integrity.
Leadership Ethics:
Here are a few things to ponder on about leadership ethics and our own individual position with regard to these principles:
1. General Douglas MacArthur’s Leadership Principles:
MacArthur developed a list of questions to guide him in his leadership duties. These principles can be applied to any leadership situation.
1. Do I heckle my subordinates or strengthen and encourage them?
2. Do I use moral courage in getting rid of subordinates who have proven themselves beyond doubt to be unfit?
3. Have I done all in my power by encouragement, incentive and spur to salvage the weak and erring?
4. Do I know by NAME and CHARACTER a maximum number of subordinates for whom I am responsible? Do I know them intimately?
5. Am I thoroughly familiar with the technique, necessities, objectives and administration of my job?
6. Do I lose my temper at individuals?
7. Do I act in such a way as to make my subordinates WANT to follow me?
8. Do I delegate tasks that should be mine?
9. Do I arrogate everything to myself and delegate nothing?
10. Do I develop my subordinates by placing on each one as much responsibility as he can stand?
11. Am I interested in the personal welfare of each of my subordinates, as if he were a member of my family?
12. Have I the calmness of voice and manner to inspire confidence, or am I inclined to irascibility and excitability?
13. Am I a constant example to my subordinates in character, dress, deportment and courtesy?
14. Am I inclined to be nice to my superiors and mean to my subordinates?
15. Is my door open to my subordinates?
16. Do I think more of POSITION than JOB?
17. Do I correct a subordinate in front of others?
Source: The West Point Way of Leadership by Col. Larry R. Donnithorne
General MacArthur in World War 2
The following prayer was written by General Douglas MacArthur:
Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee….Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
Build me a son whose heart will be clean, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.
Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.”
2. Doing things differently:
Anyone can become a leader. All the characteristics and traits of leadership can be acquired through learning and practice.
Leadership is not synonymous with assertiveness, despotic behaviour or managerial position.
Assertiveness is a good quality only if it can be backed up by respect. Respect stems from various sources as outlined lower down on this page.
Management is about doing things efficiently. Leadership is about doing things differently, in new ways, in better ways. Leadership is about lateral thinking, being innovative and creative.
Leadership is not limited to the top echelon in an organisation. Any person in an organisation, who can differentiate him or her self by being inventive, can be a leader. If you display inventiveness, others will follow your direction naturally out of respect.
Leadership does not follow lines of authority. More often than not, creativity stems from the floor level nearest to the processes and problems. Leadership is therefore by no means limited to the formal structure of supervisory and managerial positions.
The role of leadership can be earned in many ways, small or big. For instance, you can display leadership and earn respect from others in the following ways:
1. Expert or superior knowledge about a subject or something
2. Excellence in execution of tasks
3. Positive attitude, high morale
4. High ethical values and codes of conduct
5. Good human relations
6. Streamlining paper work, production, methods, your use of time
7. Being innovative or creative
Innovativeness usually results in bigger leaps with more benefits and profits. It can therefore be most profitable for an employer to cultivate, encourage and support the development of creativity and risk taking in all employees. Therefore, the most important quality to develop and the fastest way in order to become a leader, is through creativity.
3. Other needed characteristics:
3.1 Leadership traits:
You will also have to foster the following traits to retain respect:
1. Loyalty
2. Willingness to stand out, differentiate yourself, risk being rejected by being different.
3. Determination and perseverance to push through your own ideas.
4. Improvement drive – desire to find better ways of doing things, curiosity.
5. Questioning mind – not accepting authority, willingness to challenge the status quo.
6. Self-belief – believing that you can think for yourself and devise a better way.
7. Thick skin – being able to withstand criticism and recover from setbacks.
8. Learning from mistakes – being prepared to try things to find what works.
9. Trustworthiness – keeping your word, being honest.
10. Delivering on promises – like being trustworthy, you deliver what you promise.
11. Treating people with respect and fairness.
12. Not deliberately harming others.
13. Dedication to improving the lot of those you represent.
14. Management skills – the ability to get things done efficiently.
15. Strong influence skills
16. The ability to convey a compelling vision of the future.
These characteristics can be either classified under ethics or managerial skills. How do these characteristics compare with entrepreneurial traits?
3.2 The psychological traits of entrepreneurs:
1. Desire to perform
2. Drive, determination and energy
3. Goal orientation
4. Time conscious
5. Self-motivated
6. Self-control
7. Can make decisions in situations of lack of information or uncertainty
8. Take calculated risks
9. Positive self-image
10. Creative and innovative capabilities (imaginative and real)
11. High ethical standards about integrity and trustworthiness
12. Intelligence
13. Individualistic
14. More task than human oriented
15. Flourish on feedback
16. Take initiative and responsibility for their actions
17. Objective and optimistic
18. Profit is a measure of success
4. Gene Autry’s Cowboy Code of Ethics:
Gene Autry Photo in his actor days
1. The Cowboy must never shoot first, hit a smaller man, or take unfair advantage.
2. He must never go back on his word, or a trust confided in him.
3. He must always tell the truth.
4. He must be gentle with children, the elderly, and animals.
5. He must not advocate or possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas.
6. He must help people in distress.
7. He must be a good worker.
8. He must keep himself clean in thought, speech, action, and personal habits.
9. He must respect women, parents, and his nation’s laws.
10. The Cowboy is a patriot.
Ethics is about morality in a civilised world. It is about internalised values of the individual. It is about civilised behaviour versus barbaric behaviour. It is about human behaviour versus animal behaviour. It is about civilised human behaviour on the one end versus barbaric animal behaviour on the other end of the scale.
Leadership ethics is all about where you are between the two extremes as an individual, as a worker and as a leader. In pursuing the traits of leadership ethics with the aim of internalising the principles of leadership ethics, it will be worthwhile to try and follow all the principles outlined above. Leadership ethics is all about high morality.
About the author: Pierre du Plessis (MBL, 1982, UNISA) is owner of Leaders Circle, with web site Career Builders Club, catering for various niche related products and packages and author of several e-books. Read my complete pedigree here.
