Part 1: Why Integrity Matters
Chapter 3 of 3: Integrity
What are the characters that will deliver in the real world:
- “The ability to connect authentically (which leads to trust)
- The ability to be oriented toward the truth (which leads to finding and operating in reality)
- The ability to work in a way that gets results and finishes well (which leads to reaching goals, profits, or the mission)
- The ability to embrace, engage, and deal with the negative (which leads to ending problems, resolving them, or transforming them)
- The ability to be oriented toward growth (which leads to increase)
- The ability to be transcendent (which leads to enlargement of the bigger picture and oneself)”
Integrity involves having all six of these traits. Having all of them will lead to results in your work performance and in your relationships. There are gaps with respect to these six traits. We may be strong in one area but weak in another. This is gap is an opportunity to grow…trait number five. As we go through the journey of working towards integrity, Cloud offers three things to keep in mind:
- “To see the nature of reality results, fruitfulness, and success. This means to face up to the fact that the nature of reality is that we can only deal with it to the level of our integrity of character. There are no shortcuts, tricks, fooling it, or any other way to be successful if we do not possess the stuff that each situation is demanding from us. We must bend the knee to the necessity for personal development. To the degree that we do that, we are getting closer to whatever our goal is. To the degree that we avoid it, we are getting further away.
- To understand the components of character itself. To diagnose a problem is a lot of the cure. To understand what the real issue is leads us to knowing what to do. As we take a hard look at dissecting the six areas of character into what makes them work, we will know what to focus on in our personal development. We will be able to see exactly what issue is holding us back, and to put our arms around it and begin to grow.
- To work toward a full integration of character and wholeness as a person. Instead of compensating for incompleteness by asking our areas of strength to do things they were not designed to do, we can begin to gain the strength that real integrity provides: no cracks in the armor. As we integrate and become whole, each time we take a step, there is no dysfunction that makes us end up two steps back. Integration brings the greatest amount of fulfillment for everyone concerned and the greatest wake wherever we go.”
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