Honesty and Integrity
Definition: Integrity is the practice of being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one’s actions.
Quote: Integrity is not a given factor in everyone’s life. It’s a result of self discipline, inner trust and a decision to be relentlessly honest in all situations in our lives. John C. Maxwell.
“Integrity the choice between what convenient and what’s right- Tony Dungy”
“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” ― Spencer Johnson
“Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.” -William Shakespeare
“Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving.” ― James E Faust
Integrity is some you earn by being honest. My dad “Samson Nembai” usually say ” You can wash dirt on your cloths with soap but If you loose your trust from people thats something you will find it difficult to clean it. Integrity is doing the right thing if no one is watching.
When we live our lives with integrity, it means that we let our actions speak for who we are and what we believe in. Integrity is a choice we make, and it’s a choice we must keep making, over and over and over again.
Without Integrity, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.” Honesty and integrity are two important ingredients which make a good leader. How can you expect your followers to be honest when you lack these qualities yourself? Leaders succeed when they stick to their values and core beliefs and without ethics, this will not be possible.
The Three Biggest Reasons Why Integrity is So Important
Reason #1: Living, working, and leading in integrity means that we don’t question ourselves. When we listen to our hearts and do the right thing, life becomes simple, and we live in peace. Our actions are now open for everyone to see, and we don’t have to worry about hiding anything.
Reason #2: When we operate from integrity, we gain the trust of other people, especially those we work with closely. This is crucial especially for those in positions of leadership. Others see you as dependable and accountable for your actions. Trust develops, people feel safe in your presence, and you gain influence.
Reason #3: We become role models, whether we like it or not. Why? Because integrity is a hallmark of ethical leadership – companies, clients, co-workers, stakeholders, churches, communities, and families want leaders that they can trust, and when you demonstrate integrity, you show everyone you can be trusted and respected.
Honestly
Almost everyone has been hurt at some point because of a secret, a distorted truth, a lie, and/or the discovery of something that should have been talked about openly. Dishonesty hurts because it undermines the relationship, breaks trust and is the opposite of intimacy. That means that instead of feeling secure in the fact that you know the other person and are known by them in turn, you now have doubts about them and no longer feel totally safe in the relationship.
Being honest isn’t always easy, otherwise we’d all do it all the time, but there are five main reasons why honesty is important:
1) Without honesty there is no foundation for a lasting or enjoyable relationship in any context, whether that be with a family member, friend or romantic interest. Honesty is a voice for love that builds trust. Without it, even ‘I love you’ becomes a lie in itself and there’s no real security in the relationship.
2) People can’t read your mind. Being honest doesn’t just mean telling the truth about factual information, but also about the way you’re feeling. If you were hurt by something someone did, they may not even realise unless you are honest with them about how it affected you. If instead you hide the way you feel, then you disempower the other person from doing something about the problem and refuse the relationship the opportunity to grow. They may also feel hurt if they realise you were upset with them but said nothing, or if they know you’re not being honest with them about the way you feel. All of this festers and damages the relationship, while on the other hand, being honest about your feelings can bring healing, solve a problem, renew hope and foster good communication.
3) When people don’t know the truth, they will try and guess it. That is, not being honest about something causes people to try and figure out what you’re not saying, or what the truth actually is. This breeds gossip, which can then foster more lies and deception that other people may mistake as truth. Finally, this causes many more people to feel hurt and betrayed when the truth is finally revealed, all of which could be avoided if honesty was applied in the first instance.
4) People are usually more hurt by the concealment of the truth than by the truth itself. Some people lie because they’re afraid the truth will get them in trouble or cause another pain, but more often than not, while the truth may be painful, it is still usually less painful when delivered honestly than when it is wrapped in deception. Holding back on it or lying to cover it only causes people to feel betrayed as well as hurt, and to then question why you weren’t just honest with them in the first place.
5) Being honest improves the relationship and saves us from having to live a lie. Lies rarely come on their own: one will usually be needed to cover another until it spirals out of control. This becomes complicated for the one who started it and confusing for the one receiving it. More than that, living a lie is hard work. It means not being yourself or enjoying relationships, and that is not comfortable for anyone. On the other hand, while being honest about difficult situations may be uncomfortable at first, if it can be worked through, the relationship is strengthened, trust is built and love is deepened.
The best relationships are the ones with honesty. It may mean difficult talks and awkward confrontations, but being honest also means better relationships with others and with yourself.
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