Importance of Integrity, Civility and Ethics

Why is it important to have qualities such as integrity, civility and ethics?

• Are these qualities important for a successful career? Why?
  

  Importance of Integrity, Civility and Ethics

  Human beings are complex species – capable of high-order functioning and thinking, yet still with primal instincts shared with the other members of the animal kingdom. We eat, drink, sleep, and procreate. These things we do in order to survive. However, if we act based on instincts alone, then this world we are living in will be swallowed by chaos. For instance, if we are angry and we have a gun, the emotions alone can force us to pull the trigger on the subject of that anger, but because we are run by ethical thinking as well, and we have a conscience that dictates us to act with integrity and follow the civil laws of society, then we choose not to. If we are hungry and we don’t have money, we can easily be persuaded to loot and steal by our primal needs, but because we have laws and rules to follow, then we look for a job instead to bring food to the table every day. Hence, ethics, integrity and civility are not just virtues we aim to strive for to be better individuals, but they are actually essential to our survival as well. These abstracts are the cohesive bonds that hold society together, and ensure generations of righteous and honourable living under laws and norms that supply people the correct guidance to which life must be lived, while ensuring that their basic needs are provided as well.

  Ethics

  Ethics are morals – the calls of our conscience telling us what is good and bad, what must we follow that will benefit not only ourselves but the greater majority, and the consequences the actions we chose to take. Morals are what become society’s norms, the written and unwritten rules and laws each individual must follow for peace and order, and proprietyof communities and the larger society.

  Integrity

  Integrity is equivalent to honesty or truthfulness, the virtue we look for companions, partners, and co-workers; basically the people we have relationships with or even those we just interact with for a short period of time. People with integrity are easy to trust, and build long-lasting relationships with. Long-lasting relationships establish strong bonds within a group or organization, or unit of community, and in turn strengthen the society as a whole. For instance, if the boss acts with integrity towards his subordinates, trust becomes a give-and-take element between the two. This results to better performance, particularly on the part of subordinates who start to work not only for themselves, but for the sake of the good boss and the company as well. A good-performing team will bring the company to success (Dessler, 2013). Likewise, parents who show integrity and trust in their relationship live together longer, therefore strengthening families, the basic unit of society, and rearing good children who became role models and assets of the next generations (Hinckley, 2003).

  Civility

  Civilityor respectis deeper acknowledgement of the humanity of a person – his basic rights and freedom, regardless of his gender, job, economic status, age, or ethnicity. It is honouring and giving regards to the person, and not his background. Respect begets respect. It is easy to act polite towards a person who speaks with respect, is humble and does not intimidate.