The Power of Integrity

By Mickey S. Evans

US Army, Retired, Councilmember At-Large, Position 3

As part of the Huntsville’s Promise Developmental Asset of the Week Initiative, I have been asked to share my thoughts about integrity and how integrity helps young people stand up for their convictions and beliefs when faced with challenges to those convictions and beliefs.

Integrity is usually defined as (1) adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty; (2) the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished (to preserve the integrity of the community); and (3) a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition (the integrity of a ship’s hull). 

 Are we born with integrity?  Or, is it something we must develop?  I believe that it is both.  It certainly helps to grow up with a mother, father, and extended family members who demonstrate strong character and model moral and ethical principles, honesty, and other virtues for their children to follow.  Those young people who are not as fortunate, along with those who are, can also develop rock solid integrity by associating with other good people, social groups and organizations who also model integrity.

 Once you have it, can you lose it?  Absolutely!  Acquiring the virtue of integrity requires work.  Maintaining it requires even harder work, both physically and morally.  More importantly, once your integrity is compromised, or lost, it is extremely difficult to recover.

 How do you know when you have integrity?  Your friends and associates will regularly look to you for leadership because they have trust and confidence in your judgment and will be willing to listen to you and follow you because they truly know that you care more about them than yourself.

 What must you do to be a man or woman of integrity?  First, your word is your bond.  Always do what you say you will do.  Your signature on any document, legal or otherwise, is equally important.  Backing up your word and signature with appropriate action gives you credibility with those around you and generates even more trust and confidence from them.

 Second, consistently do what is right, when it’s right, and do it right the first time when situations require you to take action.  Take the initiative and act!  William Penn once noted that “Right is right, even if everyone is against it; and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.” 

 Third, be courageous, both physically and morally.  Stand up, stand forth, speak up, and speak out about your concerns about where a situation is taking you and those around you.  It will sometimes require physical courage, but it will almost always require moral courage.  Why?  Because acting with integrity is not always easy and may even be unpopular with those around you.

 Fourth, always be honest, even if it causes consequences unfavorable to you.  Why?  Because a single lie can destroy a whole reputation for integrity.

 Fifth, be a man or woman of personal values and guiding principles.  You will develop your own set of values and principles into your adulthood.  You may even add or modify your principles over your life time.  Nonetheless, your values and principles establish who you are, what you believe in, and provide a framework for how you intend to lead your life and conduct your affairs.  My own personal values and guiding principles come from such sources as my Christian upbringing, the Boy Scout Law, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, and my oath of office as a public servant, to name a few.

 Finally, be selfless and not selfish in the conduct of your affairs.  It is certainly permissible to take care of yourself, but I believe that men and women of integrity always look at the bigger picture of how their actions will affect others around them and try to do what’s best for the group.

 My favorite American generation is that of our colonial founding fathers who dedicated their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the idea of an independent nation.  They were, although imperfect, men of great integrity who were educated and fairly well off.  Nonetheless, it was also the integrity of those imperfect, less affluent, younger men in the Continental Army, Marines and Navy whose commitment, courage, and sacrifice made that noble idea into a reality and created the greatest nation on the earth.

 Integrity knows no limitations with regards to gender, social, political, economic, or religious status.  I am convinced that if we each embrace integrity as a key ingredient to our personal successes in life, it will contribute to even greater successes in our community, state and nation.

 Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story commented in 1835: “Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors; and capacity, if wisely improved, and faithfully guarded, of transmitting to their latest posterity all the substantial blessings of life, the peaceful enjoyment of liberty, property, religion, and independence.”

 It was the integrity of both great and humble Americans so long ago that has given us the blessing of liberty we currently enjoy.  But, it will be the integrity of we Americans now living that will decide whether or not this great experiment in personal freedom and national liberty will be available to those who follow us.

 So, what is the power of integrity?  It is this.  Although integrity begins with an “I”, its application begins with me and ends with me.  I believe that I must work hard to be a model of personal integrity that younger Americans will want to emulate.

 Integrity.  Get it!  Model it!  Pass it along to those younger Americans who will soon look to you for guidance!