16. Integrity arrives on foot and leaves on horseback
One mistake can be fatal for SPs because it exposes a lack of integrity in one go, without giving them the considerable time necessary to recover the defective quality.The extent to which a mistake damages SPs’ integrity depends on the extent to which it points to the lack of a virtue essential to the job and whether further errors come to light as a result. Once SPs have been discredited for mistakes, it is all the more important that they watch out for new ones, because these will weigh more heavily.
When it emerged that an Egyptian member of parliament had lied about an operation on his nose – his party prohibited cosmetic surgery so he said he had been injured after a robbery in his car – he was suspended by his party because the lie had brought him and his party into disrepute.87 Apparently Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracián is right when he says, “A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity.”88 Evidently one mistake can be fatal to integrity. That is why it is often said that integrity leaves on horseback. But that is not all: integrity also arrives on foot. It may disappear quickly, but it arrives slowly and takes a long time to build up. Why is that?
Integrity is not only about behavior; it is also a matter of personality. We read a person’s integrity from their behavior. Their actions tell us who they are, and that includes wrongdoing. One mistake can expose failings or betray a person’s true nature, casting doubt on their integrity, damaging it, or wiping it away altogether. Integrity leaves on horseback because the person fails in one go. Since the bad character or trait revealed by such an event cannot be improved or redressed from one day to the next, the consequences are far-reaching. Even if people adjust their behavior, it is no proof of an improved character. More time is needed for that proof, and that is why we say integrity arrives on foot.
The extent to which a mistake damages a person’s integrity depends on various factors. The more the mistake typifies a particular quality, and the more essential that quality is for the job, the greater the harm to the SP’s integrity. The more deliberate the behavior the more it is seen as coming directly from the person rather than from circumstances, further damaging integrity. The harder it is to restore the personal quality, the more problematic it is for the future, for others involved, and for the culprit.
A mistake raises the question of whether this is a rule or an exception. Those affected will wonder and may even investigate whether previous mistakes have taken place, looking for a pattern. Innocent, insignificant mistakes in the past may be reinterpreted, now that they are placed in a wider context and form part of a pattern. The combination of mistakes is what forms a pattern. New mistakes can become visible and reveal a longstanding lack of integrity. This is how the media works. The newsworthiness of an event becomes greater when there is a story, a pattern, and a corresponding logical context. Then it is no longer merely a question of a single mistake, nor even several mistakes, but rather a dysfunctional, defective SP.
Since others feel betrayed and realize their trust was misplaced, responses are often violent, and the disappointment and damaged image are long-lasting. In that respect the situation is much like a physical injury. Just as an injury takes time to heal, so does a transgression. Similarly a wound may heal well but still leave a lasting scar, and a mistake may be corrected but remain in memory. Just as a healed wound is more vulnerable than uninjured parts, people remain most vulnerable in the areas of past breaches. Future behavior, after all, will be seen in the context of recorded breaches, meaning that people cannot afford as many new mistakes as those who are undamaged thus far. Moreover a repeated mistake points to a failing that has improved insufficiently since the last time, otherwise there would have been no repetition.
The fact that integrity arrives on foot and leaves on horseback means that SPs must carefully consider the consequences of acting without it. One of the most important liberalist thinkers, English-American philosopher Thomas Paine said, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.”89 The same goes for integrity. It is because of these consequences that lapses weigh heavily and integrity leaves on horseback. Anyone who knows that integrity arrives on foot and still exhibits dishonest behavior shows little appreciation for integrity, and consequently others follow suit in taking