Jelena Dincic
We live in a world where all sorts of compromises are made.
I mean, there are people out there who’d sell their own grandmother if it would get them a million followers on social media – I’m serious!
But not everyone can be bought and not everyone is ready to make compromises, there are still some high-integrity people out there.
They’re shining examples of honesty, trustworthiness, and unwavering moral character.
Join me as I go through the 12 lines high-integrity people refuse to cross and who knows, you might just recognize them as lines you’re not willing to cross either.
1) Lying
It may not seem like a big deal – a little lie here, a little lie there – but it’s just not something that high-integrity people do.
They respect honesty in others and want others to be able to trust them.
And even if nobody ever found out, they would know they were dishonest and it would keep them up at night.
They’re 100% committed to telling the truth – even when it comes at a price.
Well, there is a small exception, and that’s the telling of white lies. Every now and then a high-integrity person will tell a white lie to spare someone’s feelings, so I’ll change it to 99% committed to telling the truth.
2) Stealing
Why would you take something that doesn’t belong to you?
I don’t get it and neither do high-integrity people.
They don’t steal.
And it’s not because their religion forbids it or because they don’t want to go to jail!
They don’t do it because they value honesty and trust and because they’re accountable for their actions.
What’s more, they truly believe that we should respect each other and that includes respecting each other’s belongings!
3) Cheating
Look, high-integrity people are not made of stone, they’re made of flesh and blood and that means that they have needs like everyone else.
But, they don’t cheat.
They may get tempted to, but they don’t.
Now you may be wondering, “What if they’re in a bad relationship that’s been stuck in a rut?”
They still don’t cheat.
If they want to be with someone else, they’ll speak to their partner and say, “Things haven’t been working out between us for some time. I think we should see other people.” Or, “I’m sorry, but I’ve met someone else.”
Not cheating is about respecting the other person – even if there’s no love left – enough to be honest and not do anything behind their backs.
4) Betrayal
And just like they wouldn’t cheat in a romantic relationship, high-integrity people would never betray the trust of others, be they friends, family, or co-workers.
Do you know how some people talk about their friends behind their backs?
Well, I know quite a few and let me tell you, those are not high-integrity people.
And do you know how secrets get out?
Not through high-integrity people, that’s for sure! You can trust them to take your secret to the grave. I’m serious!
Simply put, they understand what it means to be loyal and reliable, two traits they themselves highly value in others.
5) Discrimination
Wouldn’t it be great if there were more high-integrity people in positions of power?
I’m talking about everyone from administrators to politicians.
You see, the wonderful thing about people who have high integrity is the fact that they have lines that they refuse to cross no matter what, and those lines include discrimination.
You’d think that by now people would be above discrimination, but no. We live in a world where discrimination is present in all sectors of society and is difficult to eliminate.
If we could just have more people with integrity who refuse to discriminate against others based on race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation, we’d have a much fairer and just society.
6) Harassment
The truth is that there’s nothing honest or honorable about any kind of harassment, bullying, or intimidation, which is why you won’t find high-integrity people crossing that line.
They’re not bullies and they don’t abuse their power.
They believe in taking the straight and narrow path instead.
7) Corruption
Well, I think it’s pretty obvious but I’m still gonna go ahead and mention the fact that corruption and integrity are in complete opposition.
I mean, how can you have integrity if you’re corrupt?
The answer: You can’t.
So, if you come across bribery and misuse of power, you can be sure that no high-integrity people were involved – they wouldn’t even think about crossing that line.
People with high integrity are transparent, accountable, and fair in everything they do.
8) Unethical business practices
Hello!
Have you been listening?
Of course, high-integrity people don’t conduct unethical business (or other) practices.
No matter how insignificant something may seem, and despite the fact that they can get away with it, they refuse to cross that line.
That means no price-fixing, no monopolistic behavior, and no misleading advertising.
Needless to say, they support fair trade and prioritize honesty and ethical behavior in all their business practices.
9) Violence
Here’s the thing: High-integrity people believe in peaceful conflict resolution.
They believe that violence is never the answer – even when they’re provoked.
That’s because when you respond to violence with more violence, you’ll end up with a never-ending cycle of brutality.
Instead, they’re always seeking dialogue and trying to understand where the other side is coming from.
10) Plagiarism
Okay, so it’s not as easy to get away with plagiarism today as it was in the past because of the sophisticated plagiarism checkers that exist, but it’s still possible.
However, it’s not something that high-integrity people would even think to do.
Not only do they respect other people’s work, but they also wouldn’t get any satisfaction from getting credit for other people’s work.
11) Conflict of interest
People with high-integrity work hard to avoid any situation where there’s a conflict of interest.
For example, say a high-integrity person was responsible for hiring at a company.
If they have a close personal relationship with one of the candidates, they’d recognize the conflict of interest – that their personal relationship could compromise their objectivity and fairness in evaluating the candidates.
So, to keep things fair and maintain their integrity, they’d disclose the conflict of interest to their coworkers and get someone who is impartial to help with the hiring.
12) Compromising personal values
Finally, I need to mention how important personal values and ethical principles are to high-integrity people.
Even when there are challenges and consequences to saying “no”, high-integrity people refuse to compromise their personal values and give in to external pressure.
The way they see it, their values are part of who they are and if sticking to them means losing business partners or even friendships, that’s a risk they’re willing to take.
In short, their resolute commitment to personal values helps them navigate through life with integrity and earn the trust and respect of others.
So, after reading this article, would you say you’re a high-integrity person?
