Qualities of Great Leaders (part 3): Integrity

By:  Dale Weckbacher

1 Sam 12:3-4

3 Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you."

4 And they said,"You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man's hand."

NKJV

Samuel was the last of the judges of Israel.  He was dedicated to the Lord by his mother at his birth and served the Lord his entire life.  In the above passage, we also see that Samuel was a man of impeccable integrity and as such had the respect of the entire nation.  Is it any wonder that when the people of Israel wanted a king, they went to Samuel to have him appoint a king for them. 

In the first two parts of this series we explored the importance of leaders possessing courage and strength as well as vision.  However, all the courage, strength, and vision are useless unless a leader can get people to follow him and followers have difficulty following someone they cannot trust.  This is why I believe integrity is the most important quality a leader must possess.

It has been said that integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.  Colonel Eric Kail has been quoted as saying, “Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.  That definition relies too much on habit.  I can be without integrity, yet trained to behave predictably in a certain manner.  Of course, discipline is valuable; but I want to know that my hands are disciplined as a result of the integrity of my soul, not my ability to follow rules without thinking about them.”  (1)  I believe that the point Colonel Kail is making is that integrity is not about doing, it is about being.  Samuel was a man of integrity not because of what he did, or did not do but because the desire of his heart from birth was serving the Lord and the people of Israel. 

Leaders of courage and strength with vision must also have their followers buy into their vision in order for the vision to go from a dream, or pipe dream, into reality.  However, buy in will be difficult if not impossible if a leader cannot be depended on to tell the truth or do what they say.  Leadership expert John Maxwell wrote a book entitled 'There’s No Such Thing as Business Ethics.'  The title shocked many but Mr. Maxwell explained the title by saying there is simply ethics.  (2)  In other words, one is either ethical in all aspects of his or her life or not. 

Integrity is not what a leader says, but what he or she does and is in all aspects of their lives.  Samuel went so far as to invite people to point out any lack of integrity in his life and nobody came forward to present anything.  Of course sceptics will say that they spoke out of fear of reprisal from Samuel.  However, the followers of Samuel believed he spoke for God and also believed that if they were to lie, God would know.  They therefore would not have feared pointing out inequities in Samuel’s life, believing that failing to point them out before God would invite judgment from God. 

President Obama has demonstrated a total lack of integrity in his presidency.  He promised that Obamacare would allow people to keep their health care plan if they liked it.  (3)  He uses the IRS to intimidate those that disagree with his policies.  (4)  He turns his back on the people under attack in our embassy in Benghazi.  (5)  He is definitely not a leader with integrity like Samuel. 

So how do we find leaders with integrity?  Since integrity is about actions not just words, we cannot simply rely on what a leader says or promises to do.  This is especially true about people running for political office.  They are seeking a job and will say almost anything to get votes.  We therefore must look at potential leaders past accomplishments and associations in order to determine if they possess the quality of integrity. 

With Obama, people that dared bring up his past associations or lack of accomplishments were deemed racist and their findings ignored.  This failure to look at Obama’s past is why we as a nation now are enduring the leadership of someone lacking integrity.  We must insure we learn from this mistake and do not make it again. 

During the next weeks and months, hundreds of men and women will be seeking election to the House of Representatives and Senate.  They will all promise to improve the lives of their constituents but it is important for voters to check into their accomplishments and associations in order to determine if they are leaders with integrity.  Soon after the 2014 elections, we will then have several men and women seeking to be our nation’s next president.  These men and women will also promise to solve all our nation’s problems.  It is also imperative for voters to check into their accomplishments and associations in order to determine if they possess the important quality of integrity. 

Next week we will look at the importance of a leader possessing a servant’s heart. 

1. Kail, Colonel Eric. Leadership character: The role of integrity. www.washingtonpost.com. [Online] The Washington Post, July 8, 2011. [Cited: March 7, 2014.] http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-insights/post/leadership-character-the-role-of-integrity/2011/04/04/gIQArZL03H_blog.html.

2. Diversity MBA Magazine. Why Leaders Need Vision, Integrity & Compassion to Succeed. diversitymbamagazine.com. [Online] March 31, 2010. [Cited: March 7, 2014.] http://diversitymbamagazine.com/why-leaders-need-vision-integrity-compassion-to-succeed.

3. Ellerson, Lindsey. President Obama Continues Questionable “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Promise. abcnews.go.com. [Online] ABC News, July 16, 2009. [Cited: October 25, 2013.] http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/07/president-obama-continues-questionable-you-can-keep-your-health-care-promise/.

4. Campbell, Greg. Obama Attempting to Make IRS Targeting Tea Party Legal. www.tpnn.com. [Online] Tea Party News Network, December 13, 2013. [Cited: December 27, 2013.] http://www.tpnn.com/2013/12/13/obama-attempting-to-make-targeting-tea-party-legal/.

5. Treacher, Jim. Benghazi: CIA operators made three separate requests for help, were turned down. dailycaller.com. [Online] The Daily Caller, October 26, 2012. [Cited: June 18, 2013.] http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/26/benghazi-cia-made-three-separate-requests-for-help-were-turned-down/.