At the very heart of our circle of influence…
Page 91. At the very heart of our circle of influence is our ability to make and keep commitments and promises the commitments we make to ourselves and to others and our integrity to those commitment is the essence and clearest manifestation of our proactivity. It is also the essence of our growth. Through our human endowment of self-awareness and conscience, we become conscientious of areas of weakness, areas of improvement, areas of talent that could be developed, areas that need to be changed or eliminated from our lives.
— from True North (Ethics, Integrity, Truth, Values)
In the book
Integrity is the instrument working when no one is watching. Who you are matters more than what you do. At its heart, integrity is simply the making and keeping of commitments — the promises you make to others and to yourself — and that is the clearest evidence that a person is running their own life rather than reacting to it. Your grandfather's word, I hope you will say of me, was immeasurable — that I was reliable, that I followed through on anything I said, that honesty and consistency were not negotiable. […] Trust the instrument over the feeling. When fear, greed, or the crowd say down is up, hold your heading and do the right thing because it's right. Keep your word. Integrity is making and keeping commitments; let your word be immeasurable. Calibrate to truth. Avoiding the truth steers you by illusion; confront the brutal facts and examine your own beliefs honestly. — True North (Ethics, Integrity, Truth, Values)