Integrity - Possible Strengths

Do you have these strengths? If not, how strongly does this factor apply to you?

• Honesty - You communicate openly, telling people exactly how things are. You hate deception, ensuring you inform people of the full picture. You want things out in the open rather than covered up. You admit your mistakes rather than let someone get the wrong impression. If not so scrupulously open, you will ''package'' things to present yourself in a positive light. While you might not tell outright lies, you might be economical with the truth, just telling that part of the story that is least damaging to you. Or you might evade embarrassing questions by changing the subject.
• Principled - You are guided by clear principles, i.e. treating others as you want to be treated. It's more important for you to do the right thing than take the easiest course of action or do what's in your interest. You sacrifice your own interests rather than violate your principles. If less strongly principled, you cut corners for personal gain.
• Trustworthiness - You uphold your commitments, even at some cost to yourself. You hate letting anyone down and you avoid promising things that you can't deliver. You keep others informed of obstacles or setbacks that might prevent you from delivering on your promises. You are very responsible. If not so highly trustworthy, people might still be able to count on you much of the time. But you will not put yourself out to uphold commitments if they become unexpectedly inconvenient. You follow through only if it is not a major hardship for you to do so.

Potential pitfalls

• Diplomacy - being bluntly honest and direct, upsetting people, damaging relationships.
• Inflexibility - sticking to your principles no matter what.
• Naivete - letting others take advantage of your conscientiousness.
• Lack of political skills - wanting to be judged solely by the quality of work, not selling yourself, seeing politics as ''game playing'', beneath your dignity.
• Arrogance - only your principles are right, all others second rate.
• Excessive detail - offering people more detail than they want in the interest of scrupulous honesty.
• Cynicism - the opposite of being naive - finding it difficult to accept the way things are where few people have as much integrity as you.