Integrity

I recently came across a book called "Integrity: The Courage To Meet The Demands Of Reality" by Dr. Henry Cloud, the same guy who wrote the well known book "Boundaries". On Amazon you can sometimes 'look inside' a book and read a few pages, usually in the first chapter. The title caught my attention so I checked it out and WOW!
After the first 3 pages (all you get) I was hooked, definitely planning to pick this up. You can go online and check it out yourself but here's a brief summary for those with ADD. When asked to speak to some young adults about true success, the author (when pressed) came up with 3 quick keys that are awesome.

1. Be competent in your field. Bill Gates has to know something about computers, etc...

2. Be an alliance builder. Truly successful people build relationships, networks, alliances with those they work with, inside and outside of their organization, customers, managers, others in their field, etc... A great observation. But here's the one that puts a person over the top:

3. You have to have the character/integrity not to screw it up and own your mistakes when you make them. This is huge! How many of us have worked with people who have great skills and knowledge, and enough relational skills to put deals together at least on the front end, but there is something about them as a person that gets in the way of all that ability and talent? More importantly, how does that question apply to each of us? To me? 

What keys do you find crucial to true success?

Comments

[Delton]

1 Corinthians 15:34a - Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning.

I think it starts with wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing EVERYTHING...wisdom, rather, is simply knowing right from wrong. In every circumstance and every decision, there is a right and a wrong. Sometimes it's clear, but more often it's subtle. Wisdom is knowing the difference.

Integrity, then, is choosing right with each decision, and doing so for a long time. Everyone makes mistakes, compromises, but integrity is built over time, with a consistent pattern of choosing right. We must pray for wisdom so that every day, in each and every decision, God will reveal right from wrong. Then we have to think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning.

[Rick Rodriguez]

Mark,
More than anything, integrity, seems to be in dire need throughout most of what we see and hear in the mainstream media. Specifically, most of the stuff that we are bombarded with daily about famous personalities (athletes, politicians, movie & TV personalities), and frankly, it's frustrating, that the real heroes hardly get menioned.
I've long tired of waiting for the judicial process to exonerate people that have questionable integrity: Simpson, Clinton, Bonds, Mcgwire, and plenty of other purported hereos continually challenge our sense of values, by adhering to theirs.
I appreciate the recommendation on the book, and hope to pick it up soon!