“If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” – Harvey Mackay
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If what you say and what you do are the same, then you are a man of integrity. Such an attribute is manifested by American novelist John Grisham, author of the blockbuster books that become smash hits when adopted into the silver screen. He has been called “a straight arrow making his way along a very crooked path.”
In an interview with a magazine, Grisham has said he would rather be a nice guy than resort to filling his books with sex and gore. He doesn’t want to write anything that would upset or make either his mother or his children uncomfortable.
Most people who heard his belief try to persuade him to do the contrary. He would never go far. But he proved them wrong; his approach has paid off big. The Firm and The Pelican were proof that he is on the right track. Films made from his novels are a box office sensation!
The dictionary defines integrity as “a firm attachment to moral or artistic principle; the condition of being unmarred or uncorrupted; wholeness, completeness.”
And that is the number one qualification most companies are looking for in an employee. John Beckett, chief executive officer of Beckett Corporation, explains: “The chief trait I look for is integrity… I believe if the trait is embraced and in place, other qualities such as honesty, diligence, and a good work ethic will follow.”
Among leaders, integrity should be the number one trait, too. As Max Depree points out: “Integrity in all things precedes all else. An open demonstration of integrity is essential; followers must be wholeheartedly convinced of their leader’s integrity. For leaders who live a public life, perceptions become a fact of life.”
Most of the time, politicians lead a dual role. What they say is not what they do. That’s hypocrisy. Allow me to share the story below. It may be a joke but there’s truth to it:
Two old ladies were walking around a somewhat overcrowded churchyard and came upon a tombstone. The inscription said, “Here lies Juan dela Cruz, a politician and an honest man.”
Reading the inscription, the oldest of the two ladies thundered, “Good heavens!” The other lady wondered and asked why? This was the reply she got: “Isn’t it awful that they had to put two people in the same grave?”
“I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked, and being really good all the time,” Oscar Wilde once said. “That would be hypocrisy.” The wolf in sheep’s clothing is a fitting emblem of the hypocrite.
Unlike hypocrites, people with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. As V. Gilbert Beers, the senior editor of Christianity Today, puts it: “A person of integrity is one who has established a system of values against which all of life is judged.”
While searching for a story on integrity, I came across the story of sports hero Reuben Gonzalez that was shared by speaker and career coach Shravan Shetty. It happened during the final match of his first professional racquetball tournament.
“Gonzales surprised the racquetball world with his sportsmanship,” Shetty wrote. “In 1985, still looking for his first pro tour win, he and Marty Hogan, the sport’s perennial champ and pit bull, were locked in a give-game battle in Arlington, Virginia.
“It was tied at two games apiece, with Hogan serving and up 10-8 in an 11-point final, when Gonzales ended a furious rally with a forehand kill. The referee called the shot good. Gonzales regained the serve, momentum and the opportunity for a tremendous upset.”
What happened next astonished the spectators, according to pro Jerry Hilecher. “Rueben overruled the ref and called a skip (the ball touched the floor before hitting the front wall) on himself, handing the match to Hogan,” Hilecher was quoted as saying.
“No one could believe it,” Hilecher continued. “It was unheard of. It gave Rueben lasting respect from the other players and the fans.”
According to a report, when Gonzalez walked off the court, everyone was stunned. So much so that the next issue of a leading racquetball magazine featured Gonzolas on its cover. The lead editorial searched and questioned for an explanation for the first ever occurrence on the professional racquetball circuit.
“Who could ever imagine it in any sport or endeavor?” the editorial inquired. “Here was a player with everything officially in his favor, with victory in his grasp, who disqualified himself at match point and lost.”
When asked by news reporters why he did it, Gonzalez replied without much ado: “It was the only thing I could do to maintain my integrity.”
“When integrity is viewed as the exception rather than the norm of life, there is cause for worry,” said C. Welton Gaddy. “When simple honesty is praised as courage, times are not good.”
“Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together,” Billy Graham once pointed out. “We must constantly strive to keep our integrity intact.”
Another old saying should remind us well enough: When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character (integrity) is lost, all is lost.
Carlyle Marney tells of an incident from the Korean conflict in which General Dean was given only a few short minutes to write a letter to his family before being shot. He wrote only eight or nine lines. In the heart of this message was a brief sentence to his only son, Bill: “Tell Bill the word is integrity.”
