I love math. Integers, integrals, integration—I always have, and I probably always will. Calculus and differential equations were my favorites because they involved lots of integration.
One day I was telling my friend Molly how, when I’m driving, my brain is constantly calculating time to destination, speed, distance, and all the rest. She laughed and said, “You need to stop talking like that if you still want to be my friend!”
These days, I still do integration. However, I do it in a different way. Now I integrate ideas and concepts, and I help students do the same.
A new semester has begun, and I’m back teaching Ethics and Leadership. One topic we spend a lot of time on is integrity. When I ask students, “What is integrity?” most respond with the familiar line: “Doing the right thing when nobody is watching.”
That’s not wrong. It’s just the starting point. I encourage them to go deeper.
The word integrity comes from the Latin integrare, meaning wholeness, soundness, and completeness. In other words, integrity is about being fully integrated. What we believe and how we act line up.
Philosopher David Luban[1] describes integrity as the alignment between our principles and our actions. He talks about the “high road” and the “low road.” When our actions align with our principles, we’re on the high road. But when they don’t, we feel it.
That uneasy feeling in your head. Or, as Navy SEAL Admiral McRaven (ret) describes it, that sick feeling in your stomach that tells you something isn’t quite right.
It often shows up in small moments. It could be cutting a corner at work, staying silent when you know you should speak up, or justifying a decision that doesn’t sit well with you.
And then we have a choice.
We can take the low road by adjusting our principles to match our actions. Or we can return to the high road by recognizing the misalignment, taking responsibility, and making a correction so we don’t repeat it.
To live with integrity and to experience the wholeness it requires, we have to be clear about our values and consistently act in alignment with them, even when it’s uncomfortable.
As we begin this new year, I’ll leave you with a few questions:
- What does integrity mean to you?
- Have you ever written down the values you hold most closely?
- Have you done that work with your team?
If you haven’t revisited those values recently, this week is a great place to start. And if you’d like help bringing your team into alignment, drop me a line and let’s get started.
Fly high,
Barbara
Need help? Connect with me at CaptainBarbaraBell.com and of course check out my book, Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High. #integrity, #coaching, #ethicalleadership, #leadership, #veterans
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash
[1] Luban, David, “Integrity: Its Causes and Cures” (2003). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 149.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/149
