Integrity: Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason

by Barbara Killinger

Drawing on her clinical practice and pioneering efforts in workaholism Dr Killinger describes the personality traits and psychological, philosophical, historical, and familial influences that help develop and maintain integrity. She also looks at how integrity is undermined and lost as a result of obsession, narcissism, and workaholism. Richly illustrated with personal stories, Integrity offers a positive "how to" perspective on safeguarding personal and professional integrity and on encouraging our children to develop this vital character trait. Killinger concludes that integrity is not possible without compassion and makes it clear that doing the right thing includes doing it for the right reason.

Genres: Nonfiction

214 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1900

Reviews

[Michaela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chapter 9 could have used expansion of the Jungian concept of the Inferior Function in terms of compensating for your dominant personality pattern. Based on author's background, very work-addict focused. Loved this part given current political situation: "Another modern-day thinker, John Ralston Saul, suggests that self-loathing is the key to our present-day weakness for idealogy. The aim of ideologues is to bamboozle the majority into acceptance. In The Unconscious Civilization, Saul calls the small, elite minority claiming to have the "truth" the elect. Their primary loyalty is to their own group, and they think of the ordinary citizen with contempt, and discourage and even punish outspoken individualistic or democratic expression. The passive citizen who willingly sacrifices freedom fo thought and unquestioningly accepts the elitist version of reality is in danger of slipping into an unconscious form of self-contempt. According to Saul, the current obsession with modern management and corporatism was born in the nineteenth century as an alternative to democracy. These elite systems promoted the legitimacy of groups over that of the individual and were fostered by dictators such as Italy's Mussolini and Portugal's Salazar. Illusion is prevalent in today's corporate society where technocrats are gods. Since the oil crisis of 1973, Saul explains, there has been no real growth: instead, only debt, inflation, and high unemployment. Yet the elite have built an artificial sense of well-being in which "truth is not in the world, but instead, it is in the measurements made by professionals." Saul further warns that the French aristocracy, the Roman Empire, and the Russian elite were all in a similar state fo effervescence before their fall. Elitism also leads to demonization, the denial that there is any goodness or moral value attached to the other side."

[Marjanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, and I feel like it should have made more of an impact on me than it did. The author discusses what integrity is (the part of the book that made me feel like I didn't have enough), what can cause people to loose their integrity (the part that made me feel like maybe I wasn't so bad after all), and how we can keep from loosing integrity (the part that made me hopeful). The part I liked best was when the author discussed why things and people often act like they do, primarily that we are living in a narcissistic society. This actually seemed to explain a lot to me. Like why people tailgate and cut you off in traffic and why they are inconsiderate. Anyhow, there is a lot to take out of this book and it would probably be beneficial for most people to read.

[Clivemichael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some guiding principles, exercises and points of reflection make this a useful read.

[Vishnu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book on a difficult yet most important subject!

[Erica Sietsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was interesting but something about the way it was written detracted from the content
.. It read really slow.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of ideas crammed into less than 200 pages.

And then I get to the last page and the book ends with an homage to Jean Vanier. A new edition or addendum might be in order...