October 25, 2021

A person with integrity does not have divided loyalties, nor is he or she merely pretending. People with integrity are "whole" people; they can be identified by their single-mindedness. People with integrity have nothing to hide and nothing to fear. Their lives are open books. V. Gilbert Beers says, "A person of integrity is one who has established a system of values against which all of life is judged."

Integrity is not what we do, so much as who we are. And who we are, in turn, determines what we do. We are all faced with conflicting desires; no one can avoid this battle. Integrity is the factor that determines which desire will prevail. We struggle daily with situations that demand decisions between what we want to do and what we ought to do.

Integrity establishes the ground rules for resolving these tensions. It allows us to predetermine what we will be regardless of circumstances, persons involved, or the places of our testing. It frees us to be whole persons no matter what comes our way.

Source: Developing the Leader Within You