The Value of Integrity

Written by Leslie Bosch, PhD on August 21, 2022. Posted in Leadership, Resiliency.

Are you wondering about integrity? This article defines integrity and highlights its vital role in a variety of life domains.

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Table of Contents

What is integrity?

The origin of the word integrity is defined as “distance from evil and being without suspicions. Raising the soul away from disobedience and all ugliness.”

While the meanings of words change over time, this isn’t the worst definition. It might lack the straightforwardness of a more modern definition, however:

Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

We can achieve integrity through a collection of values that preserves our moral principles. It involves holding a profound sense of right and wrong according to your distinct set of core values and aligning with those values. At the heart of integrity is sticking to your ethical and moral principles in all areas of your life.

Integrity Is:

Amongst the most valuable characteristics, people look out for in others
It is an unwavering and firm devotion to ethical and moral conduct
A person with an enviable moral commitment, honesty, and readiness to do what is right
Doing what is right without being influenced by the situation, people, or even your feelings
Being emphatic, considerate, and honest to the perspective and lives of others
Standing up for your ideas and perspectives in a kind, professional and respectful way.

A survey polled 100 working-class adults over 35 to find out the character they believed was most important in their co-workers and leaders. More than 80 of the people surveyed placed integrity amongst their top 3 characters while everybody listed it amongst their top 5 most desired qualities.

Without a doubt, integrity is a profoundly sought-after quality. After all, wouldn’t everyone love their co-workers to be honest, trustworthy, considerate, empathetic, and kind?

A business or company staffed by people with integrity is much more likely to achieve great success. Integrity is essential for achieving long-term and sustainable business (and personal!) success and growth.

A workspace (or social circle) becomes even more productive and enjoyable when every member acts with integrity. This is because every member feels respected and supported by others.

While practicing integrity is easy to learn, it can become quite difficult to stick to it all the time. However, if you stay committed and take small steps every day, you too can commit to a life of integrity.

Being a person of integrity will have an amazing and profound impact on not only your personal life but every other aspect of your life as well.

Five Reasons Integrity Is Important in Life

Integrity is the single most important quality you can develop. It has the power to improve every area of your life. It is one of the core qualities required for a happy and successful life.

Living with integrity means living life according to your values and morals. You are fair to everybody and do not compromise your values for any reason.

Having integrity is important for several reasons:

You Have a Reputation for Being Reliable

People trust and rely on you more when you have integrity. People trust a person who sticks to their values and morals without compromising when things get tough. When you do not have integrity, you lose people’s trust, which can have negative consequences across many areas of your life.

You Become a Better Person.

Generally, integrity makes you a better person and significantly improves your potential. When you have integrity, you are your true self and do not compromise to fit in or gain the approval of others. Having integrity means having healthy morals, and this is vital for good relationships.

You Become More Confident

A person with integrity is more confident and secure about who they are. Low self-esteem is often a result of not living your values and continually bending to everyone else’s whims.

Confidence is strengthened when you have integrity and can stick to your values and ethics. Confidence is a powerful attribute that will help you in many areas of your life.

You’ll Be More Admirable

Integrity is an admirable trait. Everyone wishes to associate with someone that sticks to their values and morals without compromising. When you have integrity, everyone knows that what you show is who you are, rather than pretending to be someone else. This makes you more admirable.

You’ll Become a Better Leader

Integrity is important if you want to become a true leader.

Integrity is a core trait for leaders, and if you aspire to be a better leader, you must exhibit strong values that you live by. A good leader doesn’t compromise on their values or pretend to be what they are not.

When you have integrity as a leader, you will inspire everyone around you to be better versions of themselves and follow in your footsteps. When they see their leader always sticking to good morals and ethics and never compromising, they will emulate these values themselves.

Why Integrity Is Important in Relationships

According to GoodTherapy:

Integrity “means to be a good person and citizen, one who doesn’t lie, cheat, or steal. Having integrity means having a system of morals and ethics that I believe in and do my best to adhere to in all my dealings.

Integrity may not always come easily for any of us. Even the kindest and most loving among us can struggle to do the right thing at times. There sometimes seems to be a small tug of war happening in the event of a moral challenge or difficult situation, and the cartoon vision of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other might come to mind.”

Vulnerability, honesty, and authenticity are frequently associated with integrity. It is built on the principles of respect and compassion, which help you retain your feeling of self-worth while also ensuring the success of your relationship.

Let’s think about what integrity implies in a marriage or other romantic partnership. It encompasses everything mentioned above and more. It entails prioritizing a partner’s pleasure alongside our own. Yes, we make good decisions for ourselves, but we also make good decisions for our relationship, which will benefit our lives and happiness as a pair.

When such choices improve the relationship, it may be necessary to make difficult and unselfish decisions. While you don’t have to agree with your partner all the time, you can still show compassion and openness toward them and learn to appreciate their differences.

Integrity means addressing important issues head-on and honestly. It means sometimes you need to compromise with your partner for the greater good.

A relationship lacking integrity might involve “keeping count,” criticizing, undervaluing the other’s needs, and bringing up old wounds. If this sounds like you, remember that you can still exhibit integrity if you are dedicated to fixing the situation with kindness, humor, and compassion.

Maintaining integrity in a relationship will help you build a foundation of trust, allowing you and your partner to feel valued and appreciated. This can improve relationship happiness and longevity, particularly if both individuals are committed to real growth.

These days we may not talk about integrity as much, but it is critical to the success of any relationship and a vital component of both parties’ satisfaction. When we do the morally right thing for ourselves, we are doing it for our families as well.

Integrity and Its Role in The Workspace

A person with integrity displays good moral and ethical values and generally does the right thing.

Integrity is the bedrock upon which employees develop relationships and trust, and it is one of the most important qualities that employers look for in new hires. According to a Study by Marrkula Center for Applied Ethics, “To have integrity means that a person is self-aware, accountable, responsible, and truthful and that their actions are internally consistent.”

Integrity as a workplace virtue fosters better relationships, respect, and confidence – the foundations for a high-performance. Employers are constantly on the hunt for potential workers who are trustworthy, have moral conviction and the intuition to do the right thing.

Integrity is most often demonstrated in the workplace by acting with respect and honesty. Essentially, it’s treating people as you would want them to treat you, regardless of how you are feeling at the time. This behavior is essential for a productive and engaging work environment.

Dependability, honesty, loyalty, and sound judgment are essential manifestations of integrity in the job. It is crucial in the workplace because it fosters a positive culture. A positive culture values open communication, sound decision-making, and a solid moral compass that guides all acts and choices. In a culture deficient in integrity, reckless behavior and distrust create an uneasy and hostile work atmosphere.

Another important aspect of integrity is demonstrating a high level of ethical awareness and sensitivity. Respect, sincerity, fairness, equity, decency, diversity, and individual rights are all values commonly attached to integrity. These values are important and should be demonstrated and valued in the workplace.

Showing integrity in the workplace encourages the people around you to also be more reliable and honest. It increases the likelihood of people trusting you.

Integrity is crucial in work for a variety of other reasons as well:

The employment process makes a person more appealing to potential employers.
Encourages people to be consistent in their job and ensures that they produce the most excellent quality work possible.
Allows people to develop polite and trusted relationships with their coworkers and bosses.
Encourages people to communicate with them openly and honestly.
Ensures that personnel follows business policies and procedures regularly.
Supports responsible conduct in all aspects of a person’s job
It empowers workers to accept responsibility for their work and acknowledge when they’re incorrect so they can make the necessary improvements quickly.

Five Tips to Help Strengthen Your Integrity

A simple way to think about integrity is always asking yourself the question, “how would I behave if the world is watching me.” Acting with integrity means you do the right things, even when nobody is watching you.

Integrity is important. When integrity is missing in our lives, we experience a lack of support, loss of trust, and ultimately, we fall short of achieving true long-term success.

Living with integrity can be quite challenging. However, here are a few tips to strengthen your integrity.

Keep Your Agreements

At the core of being a person of integrity is the ability to stick to your word. These include promises you make to yourself as well as promises to others. While breaking a promise is easy, no matter how small, every broken promise erodes trust and can eventually destroy a relationship. Consider writing your promises down to help ensure you keep them.

Examine Your Values

Reconsider your values.

What are your values?
Where did they originate?
When last did you go against these values, even in the tiniest of ways, and what was the reason?
Have your values changed?

By carefully examining your values and establishing which are most important, you can adjust your actions to match them.

Surround Yourself With People Of Integrity

The saying “We are known by the company we keep” is true and proven to be accurate. While our schedule will expose us to several types of people daily, we must consciously create relationships with people who value ethics and integrity. When faced with challenges, their presence and support will keep you from compromising your integrity.

Stand Up for Your Beliefs

Apart from making you feel better, standing up for your beliefs is an amazing way to strengthen integrity. However, you should do this calmly and respectfully.

Standing up for your beliefs can be exceedingly hard and truly impossible in some cases, but remember, staying calm shows you are confident in your beliefs. Don’t be afraid to be firm, though. You deserve to be heard.

Be A Role Model to Others

You should be clear, open, and consistent with your values and morals. Your family and friends should be encouraged to question you, especially when they feel you acted without integrity. We are less likely to fall off the integrity bandwagon if we know people are looking up to us.

In sum, integrity plays a vital role in all areas of our lives. It serves as a compass and protects against stress.

If you’d like support figuring out what’s important to you, book a free 20-minute consultation and let’s talk about how coaching can help.