A write up - Integrity – A Way of Life!
In a way, the words ‘Life’ and ‘Integrity’ are synonymous. Ask me how? Come to think of it, can life even exist if it is not an integrated ‘self-sustaining’ piece? Life is here on this planet ONLY because, the very silent neutron and the centerpiece proton encircled by the hyperactive electrons ‘stay together’ in harmony. If their bond becomes unstable or ‘unreliable’, they disintegrate and life, as we know, ceases to BE.
The usual and casual question humans ask when they meet is ‘How is life?’ It is also customary to either say ‘Fine’ as a mechanical reply or if time is there, crib about our current ‘life situations’ rather than connecting with the pulsating life inside. Looking at human life, it is crystal clear that ‘integrity’ forms the bedrock of our very existence. Nature is testimony to this fact that any imbalance in co-existence leads to chaos and calamities.
Coming to social life, if there is a discord between ‘what we say and what do’, cracks in our personality are spotted easily by fellow beings around. Integrity is in fact the hall mark of leadership and it is undoubtedly because our Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, ‘walked his talk’ that an illiterate and afraid population of 30 crore Indians followed him with fervor to achieve freedom.
While for decades’ various leaders struggled to bring focus to the Indian freedom movement, in one act of sacrificing his attire and integrating himself with the poor masses of the country, Gandhi could muster enormous following and achieved Indian Independence. The citizen did not see any gap between his ‘sayings’ and his ‘doing’. Because of his ‘integrated self’ that he is called ‘Mahatma’.
Coming to commercial organizations, where economy dictates actions, practicing what we preach through manuals, procedures, policies and circulars has to become a way of life. Else, compromises creep in and rationalizing actions to achieve quick results will erode credibility of individuals. The very journey is as important, if not more, as the destination. Any ‘means’ cannot be adopted to achieve intended ‘ends’.
After all, organization is nothing but a group of individuals with a same purpose and therefore Integrity of the Institution is dependent upon every single member and his/her everyday actions. Employees must not only be transparent in decision and action but also seen to be fair by customers and stake holders.
Humanity’s perennial problem is due to the unstable mind housed in a stable body. While the body ‘takes care of itself’ even when we are asleep during night and in fact repairs and integrates itself to keep it ready for the next sunrise, once woken up, all hell breaks loose due to the non-stop non-sense called the mind. While ‘conscience’ makes feeble attempts to keep the man on his tracks, the din in the head ‘interprets’ situations to suit his survival moment to moment.
Have we not heard of persons of repute ruining their image due to one-little misstep in their lives? The challenge, therefore, before us is to make integrity as a way of life. How do we do it? Just like the way we do most of our daily mundane activities in a ‘habitual manner’, without even requiring our high-level-modules of our brain to attend to, being transparent and fair should become part of our ‘selves’. A secret to achieve this is to keep watching the ‘monkey’ mind and leave it always tamed to our conscience.
The usual and casual question humans ask when they meet is ‘How is life?’ It is also customary to either say ‘Fine’ as a mechanical reply or if time is there, crib about our current ‘life situations’ rather than connecting with the pulsating life inside. Looking at human life, it is crystal clear that ‘integrity’ forms the bedrock of our very existence. Nature is testimony to this fact that any imbalance in co-existence leads to chaos and calamities.
Coming to social life, if there is a discord between ‘what we say and what do’, cracks in our personality are spotted easily by fellow beings around. Integrity is in fact the hall mark of leadership and it is undoubtedly because our Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, ‘walked his talk’ that an illiterate and afraid population of 30 crore Indians followed him with fervor to achieve freedom.
While for decades’ various leaders struggled to bring focus to the Indian freedom movement, in one act of sacrificing his attire and integrating himself with the poor masses of the country, Gandhi could muster enormous following and achieved Indian Independence. The citizen did not see any gap between his ‘sayings’ and his ‘doing’. Because of his ‘integrated self’ that he is called ‘Mahatma’.
Coming to commercial organizations, where economy dictates actions, practicing what we preach through manuals, procedures, policies and circulars has to become a way of life. Else, compromises creep in and rationalizing actions to achieve quick results will erode credibility of individuals. The very journey is as important, if not more, as the destination. Any ‘means’ cannot be adopted to achieve intended ‘ends’.
After all, organization is nothing but a group of individuals with a same purpose and therefore Integrity of the Institution is dependent upon every single member and his/her everyday actions. Employees must not only be transparent in decision and action but also seen to be fair by customers and stake holders.
Humanity’s perennial problem is due to the unstable mind housed in a stable body. While the body ‘takes care of itself’ even when we are asleep during night and in fact repairs and integrates itself to keep it ready for the next sunrise, once woken up, all hell breaks loose due to the non-stop non-sense called the mind. While ‘conscience’ makes feeble attempts to keep the man on his tracks, the din in the head ‘interprets’ situations to suit his survival moment to moment.
Have we not heard of persons of repute ruining their image due to one-little misstep in their lives? The challenge, therefore, before us is to make integrity as a way of life. How do we do it? Just like the way we do most of our daily mundane activities in a ‘habitual manner’, without even requiring our high-level-modules of our brain to attend to, being transparent and fair should become part of our ‘selves’. A secret to achieve this is to keep watching the ‘monkey’ mind and leave it always tamed to our conscience.
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