Integrity
A Personal Reflection by Mel Pyne

“Integrity is the first and foremost principle of leadership.  It is actually the core of effective leadership, and leaders who have integrity live consistently with their personal values and beliefs.  For a person who has integrity, there is no two-sidedness; there is no ambivalence around choosing right or wrong.  There is consistency, there is congruency, and there is conviction to do the right thing for the right reason.  

“To me the essence of integrity is honesty; honesty with yourself, honesty with others.  A person who has honesty creates a reputation for credibility.  Honesty and credibility leads to trust and trust leads to positive communications and positive communications lead to positive relationships.  It is through relationships that leaders accomplish the work of leadership. 

 “As Peace Health leaders we need to be true to ourselves, we need to be true to others, we need to be true to the mission and the values of the organization.  We need to be leaders of credibility. We need to be leaders of honesty.  We need to be leaders of trust.  If we are that type of leader, then others will follow us and we will be able to carry out the mission to which we are called to lead this organization in fulfilling its vision and its mission. 

“I think you have to model integrity through all aspects of your life.  It is not that you can be a person of integrity at work and not be a person of integrity at home or at church or in the civic involvements that you have.  It is at the core of who you are.  You are either a person of integrity or you are not.  You are either honest or you are not honest.  You are either credible or you are not credible.  So, it is not so much a behavior that you check off that you do at work, it is who you are.

"As we think of leaders who we most admire like Lincoln, Mother Teresa or Gandhi, they are leaders who have built their personal leadership on a foundation of integrity. I think as Peace Health leaders we need to be thinking in those terms, building our lives and our leadership on a foundation of integrity."