Integrity

“Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth” (Matthew 22:16). Teaching in accordance with truth: his hearers saw in Jesus a person whose words and actions came together with the ring of credibility.

A Character Issue

Integrity is about character. Character encompasses more than beliefs and opinions. It denotes the core values and commitments that define a person and ultimately shape the person’s life. We live out of our character regardless of the stated beliefs, opinions or values that we proclaim. Character flows from the soul of the person. Integrity refers to the consistency of character that matches words and actions, vision and choices, values and behaviors. It is life lived with consistency. Character refers to those internal core values that shape all that a person does.

A life lived with integrity is one in which all aspects of a person are fully integrated; it is a holistic life. In mathematics an integer is a whole number that cannot be divided into parts which are themselves whole numbers. Integrity is like that. It is that coherence of character that presents a single face to the world: “What you see is what you get.”

In his marvelous book Leadership Jazz, Max DePree talks about voice and touch. Integrity keeps voice and touch together, being sure that what you say is matched by what you do—external consistency—living what you believe, communicating the same truth in your words and your living. DePree’s comments focus on the second level of integrity—internal consistency. At its core integrity is living with words and actions that reflect the internal values of your soul.

Integrity is about truth and honesty. It means saying what you mean and meaning what you say, letting “your `Yes’ be yes, and your `No,’ no” (James 5:12). Integrity assumes a correlation between what you say is true and what is actually true. This is difficult in a world in which truth is increasingly seen to be relative, but for the Christian that means correspondence with truth as it has been revealed by God.

Being Trustworthy

Internal and external consistency produce credibility and trust, which we might call integrity of relationship. Personal relationships are built on trust; they require that persons be credible, believable, trustworthy. Trust is both earned and given. Relational integrity assumes that the person who presents himself or herself to you in relationship is in fact a true expression of that person—the assumed consistency of word and action, the assumed correlation between character and presentation.

Just as trustworthiness between people is based on consistency in character, so in organizations there should be coherence between the culture or values of the organization and the actual policies, processes and behaviors of the organization. In Organizational Culture and Leadership, Edgar Schein argues clearly that every organization has its own culture, that is, an underlying set of assumptions, beliefs and values that control the way it lives out its organizational life. The actions of an organization over time always reflect this organizational character or culture. Many organizations these days also are attempting to express their corporate values in creeds or other publicly stated value commitments. In this case integrity refers to the consistency between the stated values of the organization and the actual actions of the organization that flow from its culture. Where there is consistency, there is integrity. Where there is no consistency, there is organizational dissonance, and people get caught in the middle and trust is lost.

Integrity is about consistency of living that allows the character of one’s soul to find expression in the living of one’s life—in word and deed. Organizationally integrity means the culture of an organization finds congruent expression in the policies, procedures and stated values of the corporate community. Integrity is about truth, honesty, trust and consistency; it is a matter of character.

» See also: Loyalty, Workplace

» See also: Organizational Culture and Change

» See also: Organizational Values

» See also: Promising

References and Resources

J. P. Hess, Integrity: Let Your Yea Be Yea (Scottdale, Penn.: Herald, 1978); W. L. Sullivan, Work and Integrity: The Crisis and Promise of Professionalism in America Today (San Francisco: Harper, 1995).

—Walter Wright