{"id":20,"date":"2008-04-21T09:07:00","date_gmt":"2008-04-21T16:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25551729.post-114411846835462939"},"modified":"2009-07-06T12:57:31","modified_gmt":"2009-07-06T19:57:31","slug":"got-potential-2008-04-21-160700","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/faith\/got-potential-2008-04-21-160700","title":{"rendered":"Integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Purpose<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vol. 2 Issue 11March 14, 2008<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The weekly newsletter of True Potential Publishing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Integrity<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Integrity is an interesting word.<\/p>\n

Everybody wants it. A lot of folks claim to have it. And a lot of folks that claim to have it, turns out, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have so much of it as they led us to believe.<\/p>\n

All you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to do is watch the evening news. Preachers, politicians, business leaders; all folks you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d expect to be full of integrity, we find out maybe didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have so much after all.<\/p>\n

Like I said, integrity is an interesting word. We all use it, we look for it in others and, oh yeah, in ourselves. And we all know exactly what it means to have integrity.<\/p>\n

Integrity means \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it means \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 when somebody has integrity, he \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 umm \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.Integrity is an interesting word. We expect it in others. We think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got it, but secretly know we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have as much of it as we let on. But we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say exactly what it means when we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re put on the spot.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I figured I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d dig into it a little. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to preach to others about integrity without really having a handle on it myself.<\/p>\n

I thought about asking the folks who talked about integrity the most, you know, the movers and shakers. I thought about going to our government leaders \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but who would I ask? Maybe getting a politician\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice regarding integrity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t such a good idea right now. I thought about asking religious leaders, but that could get a little dicey too. Maybe we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d better stick with folks we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know too personally.<\/p>\n

\n

*****<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

I was a businessman in a former life. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a businessman now, I guess, but back then I was a real<\/em> businessman, if you know what I mean. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always liked books and since I was in the business world for so many years I collected a lot of books about business, leadership, personal effectiveness, success – that kind of stuff. I still have the books so I looked up what the best-of-the-best<\/em> had to say about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

This is what I found out:<\/p>\n

Personal effectiveness guru Stephen Covey has a reserved seat at the top of the human empowerment<\/em> pyramid so I thought I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d hit him first. Covey, in his modern classic, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People<\/span><\/em> has this to say:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Integrity is the opposite of being \u00e2\u20ac\u0153inwardly duplicitous.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Integrity includes but goes beyond honesty. Honesty is telling the truth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in other words, conforming our words to reality. Integrity is conforming reality to our words \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in other words, keeping promises and fulfilling expectations.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 if we have integrity, our intent cannot be to deceive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em>
\n<\/em>
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 if we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make and keep commitments to ourselves as well as others, our commitments become meaningless.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

Corporate leadership gurus James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner weigh in on personal integrity in their business textbook, The Leadership Challenge<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You cannot lead others until you have first led yourself through a struggle with opposing values \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. personal integrity is essential to believability. A leader with integrity has one self, at home and at work, with family and colleagues. He or she has a unifying set of values that guide choices of action regardless of the situation. This does not mean that leaders are one-dimensional people who only focus narrowly on their work \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. We are not suggesting that the ideal leader is a saint. However, we are suggesting that leaders who cannot personally adhere to a firm set of values cannot convince others of the worthiness of those values. Leaders without integrity are only putting on an act. The believability and credibility so essential for leadership are earned when your behavior is consistent with your beliefs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lastly, management gurus, Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, in their book, Leaders<\/em><\/span>, contribute: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In order for an organization to have integrity, it must have an identity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that is, a sense of who it is and what it is to do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

Okie-dokie. The gurus of personal effectiveness, business leadership and management have all weighed in. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s try to boil it down into something we can use.<\/p>\n

Covey seems to be good at telling us what integrity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/span><\/em>. According to Covey integrity isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/span><\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153inwardly<\/em> duplicitous<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153deceptive<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153meaningless<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

If I look up the opposite of all that, I get that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s saying integrity is similar to honesty; but he also say\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more than honesty. This is about the best I can get from Covey regarding what integrity is<\/span><\/em>: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keeping promises and fulfilling expectations<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d No wonder Covey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so popular in the business world; he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s turned integrity into a McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> slogan.<\/p>\n

Kouzes, Posner, Bennis and Nanus are a little more practical. According to them integrity has to do with knowing who you are and allowing your values to guide your actions. That sounds pretty good. You have integrity \u00e2\u20ac\u0153when your behavior is consistent with your beliefs<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Of course \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 if your beliefs are all screwed up and your behavior is consistent with them, are you still to be considered a person of integrity?<\/p>\n

Growing up, I knew a girl who thought she was a horse. She whinnied and neighed and pranced around. She loved<\/em> oatmeal. Her behavior was consistent too. I never saw her when she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t acting like a horse. Her behavior was in line with her beliefs, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d call what she was doing \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The business gurus have taken a shot at defining \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; but I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll keep looking.<\/p>\n

Webster (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always liked him) defines integrity as: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153moral soundness, probity (scrupulous honesty) \/\/ wholeness, completeness \/\/ the quality or state of being unimpaired. From the Latin integritas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c wholeness.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

I like the part about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153moral soundness<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153completeness<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153being unimpaired<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m beginning to feel like I may be getting a grip on the meaning of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

The Old Testament (ESV) mentions \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d twenty-four times. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Hebrew word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tom<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tam.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153complete<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153blameless<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153upright<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sound<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wholesome<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The word and its derivatives come from the Hebrew \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tamam<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to be complete, be finished, be at an end.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Testament (ESV) only mentions \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d once. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Greek word, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153adiaphthoria<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; meaning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153incorruptibility<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The KJV uses the word, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153uncorruptness<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Incorruptible means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153incapable of being corrupted<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (so much for the politicians). Incorruptible also means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153not subject to decomposition,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153imperishable<\/em>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153living forever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> One of my favorite mentions in the Bible is when Peter is comparing our old flesh to grass that withers and goes away, but our new flesh to the word of the Lord which lives forever. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (I Peter 1:23)<\/p>\n

So, according to the Bible, integrity means \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to be complete<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153to be finished<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It also alludes to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153incorruptibility<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153imperishability<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

*****<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funny how the experts can stumble around with a word like \u00e2\u20ac\u0153integrity<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give a whack at telling us what it isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll formulate answers that sound pretty good, but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really work – but they just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to have a purchase on the meaning themselves.<\/p>\n

Webster does a pretty good job, but my guess is that he was leaning a little on biblical interpretation anyway.<\/p>\n

The Bible, like always, cuts right to the chase and give the big picture at the same time. Living with integrity means showing signs that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re being completed. Not complete, but being completed. Completed means finished<\/em>, that restoration or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153putting back together<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the work Christ does in everyone who takes advantage of it.<\/p>\n

Someday we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll experience the full meaning of integrity. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be fully integrated, fully complete, fully finished, and fully alive.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcDeath is swallowed up in victory.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> (I Corinthians 15:52-54)<\/p>\n

Until next week. Walk in integrity.<\/p>\n

Steve Spillman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Purpose Vol. 2 Issue 11March 14, 2008 The weekly newsletter of True Potential Publishing Integrity Integrity is an interesting word. Everybody wants it. A lot of folks claim to have it. And a lot of folks that claim to have it, turns out, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have so much of it as they led us to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[134],"tags":[551,547,550,548,278,549],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","tag-incorruption","tag-integrity","tag-leadership","tag-personal-effectiveness","tag-stephen-covey","tag-the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gotpotential.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}