All Things Inspired

Who are you when you think no one is watching?

The world we live in today is flooded with cameras everywhere. We constantly see videos on social media depicting both bad behavior and good behavior. While many videos online today are staged by people acting out scenarios for viewership, a number of real time events do show instances of where people are filmed in ethical situations. Some react with integrity, whiles others react dishonestly. That begs the question, who are you when you think no one is watching?

Integrity is not something you measure or monitor of yourself. It is your moral compass. It is what drives your natural reaction to do the right thing. Integrity is tested when no one is watching. Its an unwavering commitment to always do the right thing. Some may label this as reputation, but I believe integrity and reputation are not the same thing. Reputation is what tends to be framed by other people's perception of you. Your integrity is the definable outcome of how you react in morally challenging situations.

Integrity is a central point of one's core values. Unfortunately, many lack this trait today. If you believe yourself to be a person of integrity, I would challenge you to define and put to paper what your core values are. I have done this for myself and have them posted on the wall of my office. The following graphic is representative of what you would see on my wall.

This is a confirming exercise of how to identify your core values and post them where you can see them everyday.

While we said earlier that integrity is not something that you would measure of yourself, that it is just what comes natural to you, I know there are ways to quantify integrity by asking yourself the following questions:

How do you treat people when they have no significance to you or can do nothing for you?
When you speak about people, do you talk to them directly or talk about them to others?
When you are caught in the act of saying something you shouldn't have, do you react with "I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that", or do you really mean "I'm sorry I got caught saying that"?
Are you the same in a crowd of people as you are when you are alone?
Do you often put others ahead of your personal agenda?
Are you able to make tough decisions even if they might have personal consequences for yourself or others?
Are you transparent with other people or do you put on an artificial persona?

Take heed to the fact that integrity does not mean you are trying to feed someone else's self-esteem to gain some type of benefit for yourself. Integrity must be displayed as genuine and not self-serving.

In my research on Integrity, I found a great acronym for integrity from Jay Mount Consulting LTD. Here's what that looked like...

I - Inclusivity: Welcome everyone.

N - Nobility: Act with honor.

T - Transparency: Be open.

E - Ethicality: Choose right over easy.

G - Genuineness: Be yourself.

R - Responsibility: Take Ownership.

I - Intuition: Following moral instincts.

T - Trustworthiness: Earn trust.

Y - Yielding: Stick to your values.

That covered integrity pretty well. At least some very strong points to ponder as you determine integrity within yourself.

As we continue to focus on transformational growth in our articles, I think it is important to understand that integrity is a foundational point of emphasis in terms of personal growth. You can foster development of your growth with a strong set of core values focused on integrity. To help you embark on your journey to transformational growth, let's review what integrity means...

Honesty - you should always be honest, speak the truth even when it might be uncomfortable.
Courage - it takes mounds of courage to stand up for what is right. There could be consequences that you should be prepared for.
Consistency - integrity is not a part-time endeavor. Your actions must reflect your core values as should your spoken words.
Accountability - taking responsibility for both your words and actions. You may not always make the right choice, but if you are accountable for the wrong choices you make, you will benefit from the experience.

Now let's review why integrity matters...

Inspiration to others - when others are witness to your actions, you may just inspire them to raise their standards as well. That's powerful influence!
Building trust - integrity matters because you build trust and respect from others. You never have to apologize for doing the right thing.
Leadership - you don't have to have the title to be a leader. There is a leader in every one of us. But for leadership to be effective and successful, integrity is important. In fact, without it, successful leadership crumbles.
Peace of mind - regardless of what others do around you, you always stand to gain peace of mind by doing the right thing.

In closing, you should always strive to live with integrity. It's not so hard to accomplish if you always do the right thing, be honest, speak with conviction, and do what you say you are going to do! Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Just remember before you act that there are cameras everywhere. People are watching when you might not suspect it. So, who are you when no one is watching?

Be inspired! Inspire others!