{"id":106,"date":"2021-11-09T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/?p=106"},"modified":"2021-11-12T15:56:21","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T15:56:21","slug":"integrity-continued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/integrity-continued\/","title":{"rendered":"Integrity (continued)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”<\/em> \u2013 Samuel Johnson<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Integrity is a word we hear a lot in life. We see people that are in our lives who walk in it and people who don\u2019t. We will often see that word on the walls of businesses, within their mission statements, etc.  At Atlas, it was the first Core Value we adopted. But do organizations and individuals live up to that standard or is it just a word that looks good and sounds good, so they use it all the time? These are good questions and questions that every organization (and individual), should ask themselves on a regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps a better question to ask though is: What does INTEGRITY really mean?  
Here\u2019s a few definitions from Merriam-Webster: <\/p>\n\n\n\n


1. adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. the state of being whole, entire, undiminished  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. sound, unimpaired or perfect condition<\/p>\n\n\n\n


To simplify this a bit, let\u2019s put it in verbiage we understand: Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one else is watching. I want to emphasize \u201cwhen no one else is watching\u201d because how easy is it to cut corners, or cheat a bit, because, \u201cwho\u2019s going to know if I don\u2019t say anything?\u201d Well, maybe no one for a while, but eventually, those small little compromises catch up with us. Solomon says this in verse 2:15 from the bible: “It\u2019s the little foxes that spoil the vines. Each time we compromise, it gets a little easier so that pretty soon, these little compromises become habits that we develop. These habits become governing practices that can lead to some pretty devastating consequences. Not the least of which is losing the faith and trust of others in your midst.  Having a reputation of lacking integrity is pretty hard to overcome.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Are you taking away from that verse in Solomon what I am? Compromised integrity can actually become a habit we adapt to!! That is scary to think about. But just like letting our diet get away from us (trust me, I could write about that for weeks). It sneaks up on us little by little, and before we know it, we are 10 pounds heavier! Compromising your integrity is no different. We start small, thinking not too much about it, and before we know it, we have built a foundation on unethical behavior. And well it may work in the short term, eventually it will catch up with us. And catch up hard! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett said: \u201cYou\u2019re looking for three things generally in a person – intelligence, energy, and integrity. And if they don\u2019t have the last one, don\u2019t even bother with the first two. I tell them: Everyone here has the intelligence and energy; you wouldn\u2019t be here otherwise. But the integrity is up to you. You weren\u2019t born with it and you can\u2019t learn it in school.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


To bring it home: Don\u2019t be afraid to be vulnerable with your Team. If you make a mistake, say so and do all you can to fix it. Your people don\u2019t expect you to be perfect. Do what is right, not what is easy, especially when no one else is looking! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” \u2013 Samuel Johnson Integrity is a word we hear a lot in life. We see people that are in our lives who walk in it and people who don\u2019t. We will often see that word on the walls of businesses, within … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-integrity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/samgembel.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}