From my files: Integrity
Greetings from another hemisphere! As you read this, I’m in South Africa speaking to thousands of people about leadership. (See Events in the sidebar for details.)
For today’s post, I thought I’d do something a little different. Over the years, many people have asked me how I find so much information and material for my teaching. I answer that I’ve been filing it all away since I was a young adult. In case you’re unclear on how old I am, that’s a lot of years that I’ve been filing. (And if you want more info on how I file, read this post.)
At this point in the conversation, the more strategic questioners have one thing to say:
“Wow. I wish I could see those files.”
So this week on the blog, I thought I’d give you a glimpse at what I file. I’m opening up one file drawer and sharing some of my quote collection with you. I hope it inspires and encourages you.
On Integrity
Integrity is: Doing what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, and how you said you would do it. –Byrd Baggett
Always believe what a person does, not what he says. –Fred Smith
One of the primary rules of navigation is this: What’s under the surface should carry more weight than what’s above the surface if the ship is going to make it through storms without capsizing. That’s exactly how it is with integrity. What’s under the surface had better be greater than what you’re showing to the world, or you’re never going to make it through the storms of life. –Pat Williams
Wisdom is knowing the right path to take … Integrity is taking it. –MH McKee
People of integrity expect to be believed. They also know time will prove them right and are willing to wait. –Ann Landers
Watch what direction the feet point, when the mouth stops. You want a consistency between mouth and movement. –James Dignam
Integrity is keeping my commitment even if the circumstances when I made the commitment have changed. –David Jeremiah
Personal integrity is important, not because it gets us what we want, but because it helps us be what we want. –Michael Josephson
A man of character will make himself worthy of any position he is given. –Mahatma Gandhi
Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful. –Samuel Johnson
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not. –Oprah Winfrey
The time is always right to do what is right. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Integrity is not a 90% thing, not a 95% thing; either you have it or you don’t. –Peter Scotese
Integrity has no need of rules. –Albert Camus
In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality for a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man’s associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. –Dwight D Eisenhower
