Strengths and weaknesses - Integrity part 2

Let's think a little more about integrity and what it means.  While my first reaction is that a person with integrity "walks the talk", there is actually more to it than that.  Of course integrity is about being principled and honest, but a dictionary also points to other definitions:

• the state of being whole and undivided
• the condition of being unified, unimpaired and sound in construction
• lack of corruption

When applying the term integrity to things, it refers to them being effective and "running on all cylinders".  Can this definition also apply to people?  Cloud sees integrity as being a fundamental aspect of character. It covers:

• the ability to connect authentically - which leads to trust
• the ability to seek truth
• the ability to finish tasks and get results
• the ability to embrace, engage with and deal with the negative - which leads to problem resolving
• the ability to be oriented towards growth
• the ability to be transcendent which leads to bigger picture thinking

All of the above are important - all need to be integrated.  For example a person who is a good problem solver but who is not orientated towards growth will tend to be a "maintainer" who fixes things.  This person would end up simply flat-lining.  Another example is that someone may be good at building trusting connections but may have difficulties seeing the truth and so have blind-spots when dealing with people. This person may end up making connections with people who it would be better to avoid.

Integrity is about wholeness and balance.  Cloud warns us that "strengths turn to weaknesses without the other parts of a person to balance them out".  Today I'm looking at these various aspects of character and considering which ones I'm strong in and which ones I'm weak in.  What do you think? How balanced is your character?  The following few blog posts will dig deeper into each of these character traits, starting with trust.

Photo Credit: antonychammond via Compfight cc