Regardless of fame, money and power, integrity brings success :

Never give in, except to convictions of honour

by Lionel Wijesiri

In my long experience as a senior corporate executive interviewing hundreds of applicants, I have noticed that year after year, recruiting the ‘right’ type of employee is becoming more and more elusive. Of course, there are plenty of qualified young people out there, but an important human quality seems to be missing in most.

What are we looking for? Brains? Energy? Know-how? Of course, these things are desirable. But they will carry a man only so far. If he’s to move to the top and be entrusted with making decisions, there must be a plus factor, something more than mere ability. There’s only one word to describe this magic characteristic: ‘integrity.’

Basically, the word means wholeness. In mathematics, an integer is a number that isn’t divided into fractions. Just so, a man of integrity isn’t divided against himself. He doesn’t think one thing and say another - so it’s virtually impossible for him to lie. He doesn’t believe in one thing and do another - so he’s not in conflict with his own principles. Integrity gives a man that extra energy and clarity of thought which make achievement inevitable.

Meaning

What is integrity?

* Integrity means living up to the best in yourself. Some years ago, a well-known writer who had lost a fortune in bad investments became bankrupt. His intention was to pay off every cent he owed, and three years later he was still working at it. To help him, a newspaper organized a fund, and important people contributed considerably. It was a temptation, accepting it would have meant the end of a wearing burden. But, he refused, and returned the money to the contributors thanking each one of them.

Seven months later, with his new book, which was a hit, he paid the last of his debts in full. He was Mark Twain, who wrote ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer’ and its sequel, ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.’

* Integrity means having a highly developed sense of honour. Not just honesty, but honour too. Ross McGinnis, American gunner, was manning the .50-calibre machine gun on the top of his vehicle in Baghdad, in 2008. An insurgent threw a grenade into the vehicle. McGinnis, aged 19, yelled “grenade ... it’s in the truck!”

Without hesitating, he jumped on the grenade, and ‘pinned down’ the grenade. At that moment, he had the choice to either jump out of the vehicle, or sacrifice his life by covering the grenade and prevent others from death. He took the second choice. “The right choice always requires honour,” his parents said later.

* Integrity means having a conscience and listening to it. “It is neither safe nor prudent,” said Martin Luther, facing his enemies in the city where his death had been decreed, “to do nothing against conscience. Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise.”

* Integrity means having the courage of your convictions. It includes the capacity to cling to what you think is right, go it alone where necessary, and speak out against what you know is wrong. In the operating theatre of a hospital a trainee young nurse had her first day of full responsibility. “You’ve removed 11 sponges, doctor,” she said to the surgeon. We used 12.”

“I’ve removed them all,” the doctor declared. We’ll close the incision now.”

“No, sir,” the nurse objected. “We used 12.”

“I take the responsibility,” the surgeon said grimly,“Suture!”

The nurse blazed, “You can’t do that, sir. Please think of the patient!”

The doctor smiled, lifted his foot, and showed the nurse the 12th sponge. “You’ll make a good nurse,” he said. He had been testing her for integrity - and she had it.

* Integrity means obedience to the unenforceable. In a way, this is the heart of it. No one can compel you to get involved. No one can make you obey your conscience. A person of integrity does these things anyway.

During World War II, when allied armies were slashing across France, an American colonel and his jeep driver took a wrong turn and ran into an oncoming German armoured column.

Both men jumped out and took cover, the sergeant in some roadside bushes, the colonel in a culvert under the road. The Germans spotted the sergeant and advanced on him, firing.

The colonel could easily have remained undetected. He chose, instead, to come out fighting, with one pistol, against tanks and machine guns. He was killed. The sergeant, taken prisoner, told the story later.

Why did the colonel do it? Because his concept of duty, though unenforceable, was stronger than his regard for his own safety. Difficult? Yes. That is why true integrity is rare, and admired. But, in terms of ultimate reward it’s worth all the effort. Just the dividends that integrity pays, are great.

Acquire

How does one acquire integrity? There’s no ‘right’ answer. The first step is schooling yourself to practise total honesty in little things: not telling that small lie when it’s inconvenient to tell the truth; not repeating that juicy bit of gossip that is quite possibly untrue; not charging that personal phone call to the office.

Such disciplines may sound small, but when you really seek integrity and begin to find it, it develops its own power that sweeps you along. Finally, you begin to see that almost anything worth having has an integrity of its own that must not be violated.

That is a foolproof formula for success because regardless of fame, money, power or any of the conventional yardsticks - if you seek and find integrity, you are a success.

“Never give in!” said Winston Churchill. “Never, never, never, never. In nothing great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”

And he never did.

How about you? Do you have this extraordinary quality in you?