L - I = Death x 1000

Today I want to talk only with leaders. Now before you tune me out by saying you are not a leader, please consider this. If you walked a dog, fed a child, woke up a spouse, took a shower, or responded positively to your alarm clock then you are a Leader! Leadership comes in many forms and sometimes it means simply leading yourself. In my view self leadership is actually the most important form of leadership. Now that only the leaders are listening, let me explain my formula in the title. L – I = Death x 1000 translates to Living without Integrity causes Death 1000 times. I bet that really cleared things up didn’t it?

Today’s discussion is about the “I” in V.O.I.C.E. The “I” stands for integrity in the moment of choice. I read a great deal and sometimes I can not for the life of me remember my references. Something I read recently said that when we yield to act without integrity we die a thousand deaths. I wish I could remember the specific reference, but it reminded of the Al Pacino quote in Godfather number whatever, “every time I try to get out they pull me back in”. This is what happens when we fail to live with integrity. So what is integrity? Simply described, integrity is keeping promises. Integrity is a spiritual matter. This is true because most of the time matters of integrity are private and come from the soul. In fact, integrity is usually not an issue until you finally get caught or called on it. However, as a leader, you must understand that 90% of all leadership failures are character failures (integrity). Stephen Covey writes in the 8th habit that they surveyed 54,000 people and asked them to identify the essential qualities of a leader. The number one essential quality was integrity. In his best selling book “Leadership Jazz” Max DePree when talking about integrity said “Behavior is the only score that is kept”.

To have integrity is to be integrated into your principles. Yet to be fully integrated you must understand and live by your principles. In today’s society and workplaces, the social mores and norms are usually contrary to having integrity. If this statement shocks you or you disagree, just check after your next meeting. I guarantee you that after the meeting half of those present will speak negatively about the people in the room. If you don’t go to a meeting, listen for the duplicity in the speech of those that you know, work with, and yes, even your friends. All of these speak to matters of integrity.

Integrity like most principles works like a muscle. To have it you must work to build it. But, before you can build any muscle, you must acknowledge that it is weak. You don’t start out an exercise program by lifting 200 pound weights. Rather, you start slowly with weight you can manage. With integrity the “weight” is keeping promises. When you fail to keep a promise either to yourself or to others you tend to feel upset or angry. To change this make a conscious decision to make small promises that you can and will keep. Start privately such as promising today that you will not eat that dessert or that you will watch 30 minutes less television and spend the time reading a book. Or, promise yourself that today you will spend 30 minutes one-on-one with your child. The honor you will feel from keeping the small promises will yield growth of your integrity muscle and you can move on to keeping the bigger promises. Remember the words of Tom Peters “there are no momentary lapses of integrity”.

Stephen Covey writes “integrity is the child of humility and courage. Humility acknowledges that there are natural laws that govern the universe”. Ambrose Redmoon said “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else [your integrity] is more important than fear”. I say, “Remember that Integrity is not subordinate to loyalty, rather, integrity is loyalty”. Be humble, be courageous, have Integrity.