There is a lot of discussion of the word integrity in business books, in politics, in universities…in every walk of life.  I read about it all the time.  But, my father, General Jim Anderson, the former Master of the Sword at West Point, taught me more about integrity than any other source.  He says:

INTEGRITY requires three steps:

1. Discerning what is right and wrong.
2. Acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost.
3. Saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right and wrong.

When My Integrity Was Challenged:

At a critical point in my career, I was faced with a challenge.  My boss asked me to put together a sales/marketing campaign that would be rolled out across a large portion of the country.  It was a big opportunity for a young sales leader trying to prove himself.  I put together a great message and campaign. My boss loved it.  I was told I would present it to more than 100 sales leaders and professionals at our national meeting in three days.

Here’s the problem.  The night before I flew to the national meeting, I reviewed the campaign and felt a pit in my stomach.  Most of the campaign operated in the gray area.  The message was compelling, and it was not inaccurate.  But the materials I proposed to use did not live up to the black and white standards of our industry.

I wrestled with what to do all night and during my plane flight to the meeting.  Upon arrival, I had only a few hours until I rolled out the campaign.  I knew that if I backed off this campaign, my boss would be stuck without a strategy, and my career could suffer.

However, I found my boss in the lobby of the hotel and announced that I could not and would not present my campaign to the group.  Shocked and not too happy, my boss listened to my reasons.  I did not want to live life in the gray area.  I did not want to hand out a strategy to 100 people that could get them all fired.  “That is not what leaders do.”

My boss, thought it over and thanked me for stepping forward.  My boss even admitted to being caught in the gray area and asked how quickly I could make the changes needed to be in the white.  I only had two hours.  But I did it.

In the process, I gained the respect of my leaders, my peers and myself by acting and speaking out on what I knew was a bad decision.

Integrity Is A Black or White Issue

So many of us are faced with decisions that challenge our integrity.  We wonder what the consequences are of fudging or working in the gray areas.  I believe that having integrity means you have no gray areas.  It is all black or white.

For the last 15 years, my father has been speaking and training organizations about character and integrity.  What I share below is a summary of what he taught me and still teaches to others.

Discernment:

Some believe having integrity is just a matter of knowing what is right and what is wrong.  If that were the case, we all would have integrity because deep down inside, we all know what is right and what is wrong.  Our Creator put that knowledge inside of us, and most of our parents have reinforced that knowledge from Day 1.

But discerning what is right and what is wrong is just the first step. It is also the easiest one.

Action:

Now we come to the hard part.  To have integrity, I must not just know what is right and what is wrong.  I must act on what I know even if it costs me personally.

Even if it costs me personally?  Now the bar has just been raised.  Acting with integrity is easy when there is nothing at risk to you.  But what if you could lose your job by telling the truth?  What if you could lose a friend if you stopped them from doing something morally wrong?  That is the true test.

 “Courage is not just one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at it’s testing point.”  – C. S. Lewis

Speaking Out:

So what if I do the right thing, if I do it in private?  What if I just say “No Thanks” on a business trip, when the guys ask if I want to go to Hooter’s for dinner?  (Are we really going for the wings?  No one believes that.)

Real integrity demonstrates itself when I am willing to speak out and say that I think something is wrong and why.  Quiet integrity in the face of a morally wrong act or injustice falls short.

In fact, when I have quietly ordered room service instead of going to Hooters, I always ate alone.  However, during those times I spoke up, inevitably others joined me for a meal at the hotel restaurant.  Speaking out for what is right inspires others to action.

The Bottom Line:

Is what my dad taught me easy?  No.  I submit this definition of integrity to you because I am tired of integrity just being a buzzword that people fail to define well.

This type of integrity is a high bar to clear.  But, if doing the right thing were easy, everybody would be doing it. 

Question:

What do you think?  What issues does my dad’s definition of integrity bring to your mind?