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Yearning For Integrity

Guest post by: Sylvia Lafair

Article Overview: Remember Blogojevitch? Do you wonder if he ever got a haircut? How about Eliot Spitzer? And then there is Governor Mark Sanford. Go really far back to then President of the United States William Clinton and his shenanigans in the oval office with intern Monica. And now Tiger - that clean-cut guy who we have all watched grow up with a golf club always near at hand. This is an important time to compare and contrast the rich and famous and ask ourselves if they are really so different from the rest of us. I think not! I think that the self serving, the narcissistic, the "because they can" crowd is getting slammed fast and hard right now because we are no longer willing to look the other way. And, since this is a human dilemma, we all have parts of them in us!

Yearning For Integrity

Remember Blogojevitch? Do you wonder if he ever got a haircut? How about Eliot Spitzer? And then there is Governor Mark Sanford. Go really far back to then President of the United States William Clinton and his shenanigans in the oval office with intern Monica. And now Tiger - that clean-cut guy who we have all watched grow up with a golf club always near at hand. This is an important time to compare and contrast the rich and famous and ask ourselves if they are really so different from the rest of us. I think not! I think that the self serving, the narcissistic, the "because they can" crowd is getting slammed fast and hard right now because we are no longer willing to look the other way. And, since this is a human dilemma, we all have parts of them in us!

This is a time to look at ourselves. Affairs and unethical financial issues are as old as man (and woman also, if we are to be fair). Here is the key question for the second decade of this fast-passed century: are we going to continue the prevalent self serving pattern of WIIFM, you know the first question most of us want to have answered is "what's in it for me?" or move to the higher ground of integrity and systems' thinking?

Anthropologist Gregory Bateson's definition of integrity is crucial for these times as we stand, yet again, at a cultural crossroads during this time of economic tension and climate concern.

Integrity: the ability to integrate all aspects of a situation. It means considering how my actions impact you, and you, and you. It means taking into account the long range implications of what we do, how we define our carbon footprint. It means knowing that what is done today will effect our children, grandchildren, and as the Native Americans say, "unto the seventh generation". It means looking at the patterns that have led us to now and deciding if the way we are going has sustainability or, is it time to think about how we are all connected and that no one wins unless we all do.

Want to learn more? Check out Michael Hirsh's book ‘At War With Ourselves" to examine the risks and responsibilities that go along with being the world's sole superpower. And then look into "Don't Bring It to Work" for the long term patterns that get us stuck and ways to get unstuck.

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Article Tags: eliot spitzer, integrity, mark sanford, narcissistic, oval office, william clinton



Related Forum Posts
Re: The Celebrity Apprentice Finale - Well, the results are in and Piers is The Celebrity Apprentice. I know Piers raised more money than Trace and I know this was a race for raising money for charity, but I'm still disappointed with the ethics that Piers used in order to win. I like how Trump's son asked Piers something along the line if Piers would have won if Trace would have had as impressive of a roladex. I also like how Trump's daughter asked if he would have raised as much money if he had actually been nice. Personally, I would enjoy working with Trace and be able to trust him on my team. I'm not sure I would trust Piers and this means I would not prefer to partner with him. Integrity is incredibly important to me. I think a values based model in business is where we need to head as a society. If this doesn't happen, the results will be less than savory. I'm not sure I like the message this show has portrayed.
Re: The Celebrity Apprentice Finale - [quote="Tami Szabo":2fmwsw7a]Well, the results are in and Piers is The Celebrity Apprentice. I know Piers raised more money than Trace and I know this was a race for raising money for charity, but I'm still disappointed with the ethics that Piers used in order to win. I like how Trump's son asked Piers something along the line if Piers would have won if Trace would have had as impressive of a roladex. I also like how Trump's daughter asked if he would have raised as much money if he had actually been nice. Personally, I would enjoy working with Trace and be able to trust him on my team. I'm not sure I would trust Piers and this means I would not prefer to partner with him. Integrity is incredibly important to me. I think a values based model in business is where we need to head as a society. If this doesn't happen, the results will be less than savory. I'm not sure I like the message this show has portrayed.[/quote:2fmwsw7a] I agree with you completely and especially about integrity and bring trustworthy. I would definitely rather work with or for Trace. Piers was a jerk and a pompous pain during the entire show. His win at all costs and crush anyone is a rotten business attitude to show. It gets ratings, but the show is supposed to be about business. Again, this mentality is why I hate reality shows. Encouraging people to worse and rewarding obnoxious and questionable behavior is a sad way to fill many hours of television programming. Imagine all the reality shows we could eliminate if a real value based system was in place. Ivanka made a good point, he didn't have to be that big a jerk to win - but he did appear to relish that behavior. Shri


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