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On Integrity

August 31, 2009
    Post filed in Tao of Leadership, Tao of Living - With keywords , , ,

    This post is the first in a series called Points Of View (POVs). Together, they form a personal body of opinions on popular Leadership and Management subjects.

    It’s not difficult for me to pick Integrity as the first subject for POV. This is a word that stays in my mind every single day of my professional life and if I need to choose only one word to put on my tombstone, Integrity it will be .

    What is Integrity?

    Let me start by citing a few standard definitions of Integrity which I get from The Free Dictionary: 

    in·teg·ri·ty (n-tgr-t)

    n.

    1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
    2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness.
    3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

    [Middle English integrite, from Old French, from Latin integrits, soundness, from integer, whole, complete; see tag- in Indo-European roots.]

    Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

    and

    Noun 1. integrity – an undivided or unbroken completeness or totality with nothing wanting; "the integrity of the nervous system is required for normal development"; "he took measures to insure the territorial unity of Croatia"

    unity, wholeness
    state - the way something is with respect to its main attributes; "the current state of knowledge"; "his state of health"; "in a weak financial state"
    completeness - the state of being complete and entire; having everything that is needed
    incompleteness, rawness - the state of being crude and incomplete and imperfect; "the study was criticized for incompleteness of data but it stimulated further research"; "the rawness of his diary made it unpublishable"
      2. integrity – moral soundness; "he expects to find in us the common honesty and integrity of men of business"; "they admired his scrupulous professional integrity"

    character, fibre, fiber - the inherent complex of attributes that determines a persons moral and ethical actions and reactions; "education has for its object the formation of character"- Herbert Spencer
    probity - complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles; "in a world where financial probity may not be widespread"; "he enjoys an exaggerated reputation for probity"
    honestness, honesty - the quality of being honest
    Source: WordNet 3.0 © 2003-2008 Princeton University
    What I would retain from these definitions are those key phrases: moral soundness – being whole – steadfast adherence to … 
     
    A person of Integrity would have a keen sense of justice and a moral courage to stay consistent in his/her actions, which are based upon his/her values and principles, despite internal temptations or external pressures.

    Can Integrity be quantified?

    Earlier this month, I have had a chat with my friend and colleague, Faith Fuqua-Purvis at Synergetic Solutions, LLC. You may recall her as the author of the first guest post on my site. Anyway, one thing led to another and we ended up discussing about Guiding Principles, Best Practices and Core Values. And this was what I’ve said on Integrity:
    "Integrity is a core value. Core Values are non-negotiable things. They act as the beacons in dark hours/stormy nights to guide you through dangers and tough times, when you need to make a difficult decision (e.g. politically incorect or ethically challenged). Core Values demonstrate you as a person (who you are, your belief system, your philosophy …).
    … Integrity is unconditional and non-negotiable, either you have it or not – there is no such thing as having 80% integrity."
    So to me, Integrity can be had but cannot be quantified.
     
    Just by coincidence, a similar question was raised about a week later by Tamara Moore, in the Organizational Change Practitioners Forum on LinkedIn. Since many of you may not have access to the forum, here was the question:

    "Do you quantify integrity? When filling a position, a list of requirements is created. How do you include integrity – or do you? If filling a position is so often accomplished through networking, friends, acquaintances… are integrity and responsibility over looked? In order to create a form of Best Practices for a healthy organization, what are the tactics or tools you use to determine a candidate will not only perform the job but do it without legal or social negative consequences – which result in a hit to the bottom line?"

     It was interesting to see that while a majority agreed that Integrity can’t be quatified, many tried to do so by using substitutes such as Honesty tests. Many more associated Integrity with other virtues such as Trustworthiness or Loyalty. Here was my response (to her initial question and subsequent comments by others):

    "Do you quantify Integrity? The short answer is No. The person either has it or not – there is no such thing as having 80% integrity.

    Does an organization has Integrity? The short answer again is No. Integrity is a personal trait. A "high integrity" organization is one having a leadership team sharing this same personal trait.

    Is Integrity synonymous to Honesty or Trustworthiness or Loyalty? The short answer is No.

    Honesty has something to do with facts: a honest person would acknowledge them, however unpleasant they are. Integrity has something to do with your system of beliefs (or values or principles): a high integrity person would stand by them, all the time.

    Trustworthiness has something to do with perception from another source: a person is judged as trustworthy by others; there is no merit in someone’s claim that he/she is trustworthy. Integrity is inherent to a person, regardless of how he/she is perceived by others; in fact, a person with integrity is more often than not being misjudged by others as not trustworthy, especially if the others have different set of values or principles.

    Loyalty has something to do with belonging, being part of something or following someone; a loyal person would put the rules of the organization before his/her own principles if necessary. Integrity has something to do with independence, the capability to stand alone; a person with Integrity has the moral courage to go against the flow if necessary and is not afraid of the consequence.

    There, you may now think twice before seeking out candidates with Integrity. You may just need someone to be honest (requirement of the job), trustworthy (amount of responsibilty) or loyal (high ranking position). A person with Integrity? It’s a rare bird that your organization may not have a place for. Think Colin Powell under George W. Bush administration."

    A person of Integrity may not tell the whole truth - if he/she is convinced that the brutal truth may do more harm than good. A person of Integrity may not act in her boss’ interest if that interest goes against her principles. A person of Integrity would blow the whistle or take leave if he believes that the organization/group that he belongs to is not fair with its employees or customers. A person of Integrity may not be a cultural fit after all and can be accused of not being Honest or Loyal or Trustworthy under certain circumstances. But no one can accuse her of being a person without a moral compass.

    Do we need Integrity in the workplace?

    "Of course", you would say. However, this is more than just a rhetoric question. We may argue, in principle, for the merit of a workplace infused with people of high Integrity. But our hiring and promoting practice says otherwise. It’s rare to see an organization systematically seeking out these people. On the contrary, so much focus is put on Experience and Knowledge, with little thought about Integrity. That’s how we ended up with the fancy financial tools such as mortgage-backed securities and their subsequent debacles.

    It’s rare to hear about Integrity from corporate executives such as Dee Hock, the former CEO of Visa International and the creator of the Chaordic Organization concept. When asked about the criteria for hiring or promoting people in an organization, here was his answer (1):

    "Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity;
    second, motivation;
    third, capacity;
    fourth, understanding;
    fifth, knowledge;
    and last and least, experience.

    Without integrity, motivation is dangerous;
    without motivation, capacity is impotent;
    without capacity, understanding is limited;
    without understanding, knowledge is meaningless;
    without knowledge, experience is blind.

    Experience is easy to provide and quickly put to good use by people with all the other qualities."

    It’s sad to see that the common practice of hiring or promoting people in today’s organizations does just  the opposite. It’s even sadder to hear that those financial institutions in distress must continue to pay exhorbitant bonus to the so-called experts to retain their so-called experience and knowledge.

    I would like to hear your thoughts on the subject. Is it relevant in this challenging economic situation? 

    ___________________________________________________________________________________

    (1) This quote is extracted from the sidebar of an article in Fast Company, entitled "The Trillion-Dollar Vision of Dee Hock" by M. Mitchell Waldrop.

     

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    1. Honesty is good but … | Tao of IT - Leading and living wisely in the world of Information Technology says:
      September 2, 2009 at 4:37 pm

      [...] my previous post On Integrity, I have stated that Honesty is not Integrity. That statement has brought a few protests. One [...]



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