62. Integrity is the good you achieve, not just the wrong you avoid
Fear of doing the wrong thing should not lead SPs to passivity. Integrity is also contained in the extent to which SPs use their own talents and abilities, gaining value in the value they create. SPs should therefore focus on doing good and should frequently ask themselves to what extent they are achieving this.
In order to avoid getting your hands dirty too often and for the wrong reasons, you might choose to do nothing. Fear of making mistakes or wrong decisions and letting others down makes people passive. Of course, integrity is not about avoiding getting your hands dirty at any price: the end does not always justify the means. However, it is important to take care not to go too far in the opposite direction and do nothing.
Ask yourself, can you hold a position with integrity without achieving anything? The answer is no. Integrity resides in the extent to which you use your talents and skills. You become complete when you fulfill your potential and make it count. You are only virtuous when you use the virtues you have, given the opportunity. So if you fail to use your virtues when you have the opportunity, you lack integrity.
This perspective on integrity means that it is not only about avoiding doing wrong. If that were the case, it really would be a matter of doing as little as possible in order to minimize mistakes. Integrity also has a positive meaning. It is about what you actually do, and of course about what matters, the good things. Integrity gains value in the value people create. If you achieve little when you have the capacity and opportunity to do more, integrity is of little or no value. The following German saying expresses this well: one does enough evil when one does nothing good.
SPs should therefore frequently ask themselves what they are achieving and whether it is good. Is there a difference in what you do, what you contribute, and what you avoid doing in a positive sense? For example Bill Clinton judged his presidency mainly in terms of the influence he had on the lives of citizens, recording it in figures, such as the number of US citizens with a new job, house, school bursary, or health insurance.379 SPs should also ask themselves to what extent getting their hands dirty relates to the good they achieve. The more you achieve, the more this justifies getting your hands dirty. The less you achieve, the more you need to keep them clean.
These questions may seem evident, but SPs run the risk of being so caught up in hectic everyday internal worries that they ask this question too little, and when they are free they are too tired to think about such questions, never mind pondering or answering them.