Integrity versus Honour

As it so often does, writing the previous post prompted me to think about other aspects of integrity. By and large, when I was writing the previous post, I must have at some point confused the concept of integrity with the concept of honour. Then again, I never really did think about the difference until I wrote that last post. Ahem . Anyway, really thinking about it made me realise that, to me at least, there is a difference between integrity and honour.

Growing up on a steady diet of novels about King Arthur's court, old HKTVB's wuxia drama serials and movies like Star Wars taught me a lot about what it means to be an honourable person. Under no circumstances do you betray a person you care about, or a cause you deeply believe in, or break a promise. In the age-old formula of good versus bad, the good guys are always ready to make a last stand for what they believe in, or for someone they love, while the bad guys will always backstab their comrades or turn tail and run. To be honourable was also to fulfil one's duty, no matter how onerous, to remain loyal and to stand firm for the group. Most times, to be honourable was to reflect integrity of spirit and personality.

As I grew a little older, and my morals (what ever little I currently have...) began to take shape, I began to learn also about integrity. To me, integrity was to stay true to one's principles, and to maintain a clear conscience. To have integrity in effect is to have honour to oneself, to be loyal and not betray one's conscience. Sounds very high-sounding, but we all do it everyday. We make choices based on one's principles, and when we have to compromise, we do not feel good inside. The extent and frequency with which we are willing to betray our principles (and yes, most of us do betray our principles at least a couple of times a day) is the inverse of the level of our integrity.

Integrity and honour therefore, while extremely inter-related, must be viewed as two separate and distinct entities. And most of the time, while the two go hand in hand, there are occasions where satisfying the one involves sacrificing the other. I was reminded again of this just recently, when I was called upon to explain the actions of one of my subordinates. He wasn't in the wrong. He did what was usually accepted at my workplace. But recently our upper management has been clamping down on certain internal practices which may reflect dirty spots instead of a pristine white, and therefore I was called to task to explain his actions. And in order to explain his actions, it necessitated me to shoulder part of the blame, although it was a) none of my business because the instruction to do what he did never came from me, and b) whatever he did was originally long accepted and never questioned before.

While my sense of integrity (what's left of it anyway) rebelled at what I needed to do, I knew the choice for me was clear. I had to take care of my man. And so I cooked up some cock-and-bull story about the current circumstances necessitating his actions and that I gave him the go-ahead. Throughout the entire explanation, bile was rising up my throat, and I really didn't like myself for what I was doing. But I was also imagining the look my subordinate would have given me should I not lift a finger in his defence.

I learnt something fundamental about myself that day. If I had to make a choice between integrity and honour, I would in all likelihood choose honour, unless of course I feel that whoever or whatever I'm defending deserved what they're getting. If there was ever a gray area, I would stand beside honour over integrity anytime.

Let's just hope the times when I have to make such choices are few and far between...