3 KEYS FOR LIVING IN INTEGRITY

“To become a person of integrity, you must make a commitment to be on the side of truth.” - Terry Mante

LIVING in integrity could be hard but compromising integrity could be quite expensive. Integrity is hard because it is not cheap. It requires a price characterized by toughness, discipline and sacrifice. Although the price for integrity is high, its prize is enviable.

How can we integrate the virtue of integrity in our lives? What can we do to ensure that our lives are characterised by integrity? I have three ideas for you: Speak the truth, synchronize your life and sincerely turn around.

Speak the truth

To become a person of integrity, you must make a commitment to be on the side of truth. Sometimes, it seems convenient to compromise the truth in order to look good in the eyes of people. In the long term however, it turns out that telling a lie under any circumstance is a serious breach of one’s honour, dignity and conscience.

There are times when telling the truth may put you out of favour with people. Scenes like that put us in awkward situations and could compel us to sacrifice the truth for favour with people. Yielding to such a temptation may be enchanting momentarily but later, you will realise that even the people you sacrificed for will not have trust in you.

Synchronize your life

One of the definitions for integrity is “the state of being whole or undivided.” Practicing integrity in life means building a life that is together. It is a life that has no chasm between what is private and what is public. Real integrity is a life that does in private what it portrays to the public. It is a life that is not afraid of being caught.

Legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey considers real integrity as “doing the right thing, knowing that nobody is going to know whether you did it or not.” If something is right in public, it must be right in secret too.

Sincerely turn around

Although integrity is a commitment to say and do what is right all the time, you will certainly not do what is right all the time. As human as we are, there would be times when we shall be sincerely wrong. Sometimes, we say or do things with the conviction that we are right but it turns out that what we perceived to be right was not exactly so.

People of integrity do not invent excuses to justify actions or expressions based on false perceptions. Rather, they boldly admit their error and change course to move on the path of truth.

It is also likely that once a while, you may yield to the temptation to compromise the truth. If that happens, your conscience will prompt you. Don’t defy your conscience. You may be found out. Don’t attempt to defend yourself when what you do in darkness comes to light. It may be shameful but if you admit your mistake, you will set yourself on the path to regaining your integrity.

Two rewards of integrity

• Trusted identity: Integrity gives you a good name. It gives you an authentic voice. It gives weight to your character and enhances your reputation.
• Trans generational impact: People who live with integrity are able to pass on enduring legacies. If you live in truth, what remains of your life will stand the test of time. You will touch lives even beyond life.

You may not be perfect. You may not be right every time but integrity will earn you credibility and respect.

© 2014 Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network

Accra, Ghana

CCC's RANSFORD OBENG - a paragon of simplicity

Pastor Ransford Obeng of Calvary Charismatic Centre, Kumasi, Ghana

Recently, I spent a weekend in Kumasi moderating a number of focus group discussions for a marketing research firm I work with.

So while there, I decided to spend Sunday morning at Calvary Charismatic Centre (CCC), a church headed by Pastor Ransford Obeng. In Accra, my regular place of worship is the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC). However, I didn’t fellowship with any of the ICGC assemblies in Kumasi.

So what informed my visit to CCC? For several years, Obeng has been a regular fixture on the cast of guest speakers who feature at ICGC’s annual Destiny Summit. Notably, Obeng is the only Ghanaian preacher (of course except summit host Mensa Otabil), who gets featured at that high profile international conference. This is a conference that has featured global pastoral and leadership brands such as Fred Price, Mike Murdock, Marvin Winans and Sam Chand.

It dawned on me that outside of Destiny Summit, I don’t hear much about Obeng even though Pastor Otabil speaks very highly of him. Whenever he introduces Obeng at Destiny Summit, Otabil extols his (Obeng) personal simplicity and leadership sophistication. That faithful Sunday, I went to CCC not only for a worship experience but for an excursion as well; to verify how simplicity and humility produce sophistication and excellence in leadership.

So here was I in my moment of truth. In my short-sleeve, light green-patterned Woodin batik shirt, worn over a pair of light brown trousers, I rode in a cab to the spacious campus of the church.

Impressions at CCC

My first observation was made at the parking arena. It was well-laid out, spacious and starkly clean. Although there were several hundreds of vehicles already parked and others being parked, there was still so much space. This made the parking lot very orderly (of course not without the assistance of the well-trained traffic assistants).

I looked around and also realized that people were huddled in various small groups (of about 15) for Bible studies. I strolled around for a while before making my way into the empty auditorium (empty because all the congregants were in their various Bible study groups. These group studies took place under sheds purposely built for that a sign that everything is taken seriously). In my estimation, the auditorium could sit about 4000 congregants in a meeting. And by the way, this is the auditorium Pastor Otabil rates as the nicest he has ever preached at in Ghana.

I decided to take a tour of the auditorium. While doing that, I was approached by a gentleman who politely prompted me that I could not walk around while the group Bible study was on-going. When I informed him that I was a visitor, he offered to assist me find a group to participate in the Bible study. After the group study, the church re-converged on the main auditorium for the plenary service.

Overall, it was a well-coordinated service. I looked forward to seeing Pastor Ransford and his team of armour bearers majestically stride into the service. Wrong Terry, wrong. This is the church of Pastor Ransford ‘Simplicity’ Obeng. The man had been seated all along. After a lovely shadow theatre performance by the Children’s Department of the church, Obeng (with his tablet, Bible, note book and microphone) climbs the stage, mounts the pulpit and asks that the praise team leads us in a short time of music. His costume was a non-elegant short-sleeve striped shirt over a pair of black trousers.

He walks back stage for a short while. Initially, I imagined that he had gone to the wash room to pay his water bill. When he returned to the pulpit, he explained that he had to go and express his appreciation to the children who had just performed. He was so touched by the shadow theatre that he had to meet them personally and immediately to encourage them.

He preached for just about 20 minutes and the service was over.

Service in session at CCC

Obeng’s modesty

• The obvious lack of strict protocol around this great pastor made a strong impression on me. The fact that he walked on stage without any form of introduction (which is not normal in charismatic denominations), carried his own preaching tools without the help of any armour bearer makes his style remarkable.
• His confession that until that day, he had never seen a shadow theatre was another mind blowing deal for me. I asked myself, ‘How many pastors will make such an admission before their congregation?'
• I had the opportunity to get close and say a quick hello to him, without any appointment. This was possible because he hang around to personally minister to some of the congregants who needed to be ministered to.

Now, make no mistake. CCC is a big church that can ‘rival’ any church in any part of the world. And hey, don’t think that because it’s in Kumasi, it is not international enough. CCC is a typical English-speaking church.

Before I left that Sunday, I picked up a lesson that I can be simple, modest and humble, yet effective, influential and sophisticated. I left with a prayer and resolve that I no matter how great or influential I am or become, I would remain humble and modest. So help me God.

© 2014 Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network (PEDNET)

Accra, Ghana

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR LIFE

In our school days, whenever a student did well at the end-of-semester examinations, it was not uncommon to hear them say “I got an ‘A.’” However, if it turned out that the student performed abysmally, one was likely to hear them complain that “The lecturer gave me a ‘D.’” Why is it that when the grade is good, they say “I got” and when the grade is not good, the mantra is that “The lecturer gave me?”

Very often, I read stories about accused persons who plead for clemency in the law courts on grounds that the devil caused them to commit the offences they were being tried for. Devil indeed!

What about people who blame government for every misfortune in their lives? When they run out of cash, it’s the fault of the government. When they are late for work, they blame the government for not managing the flow of traffic well enough. Could the person with cash flow challenges take a second look at their spending behaviour? Could the late employee try to leave home a bit earlier in order to avoid being late?

I know that we will not always be in control of all the factors we require for success but we should also realize that we always have a part to play. Before you take a swipe at the system or the devil, consider whether you have done your homework. So I ask you, “Have you done what you are supposed to do?”

Years ago, I wrote a book captioned Attitude is Everything. I prefaced that book with a pearl of wisdom from Confucius. This ancient sage of Chinese philosophy taught that “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.”

We all want the world to be a better place. We want the economy of our country to improve. We wish the fortunes of our families would experience a turnaround. However, we sometimes fail to see that we, as individuals are primary constituents of our families, nations and the world as a whole. The state of the world, nation and family is a reflection of the state of individuals who constitute the whole.

Even though it is important to hold government accountable, we must also endeavour to play our role. You must take responsibility for your personal life. Your employer may be paying you peanuts but how you deploy your peanuts is your own business. Your spouse may be cheating on you but if you decide to seek revenge by doing likewise, that is up to you. Other road users may jump the red light but if you do same and traffic police stops you, it’s on your head.

Even though other people and some extenuating situations could have an effect on us, we are ultimately responsible for the final outcome of our lives. If we decide to take charge of our lives, we can produce the effects we desire. Whatever will be in your life is up to you.

You must be definite about what you want in life. Sometimes, what you want will be in sharp contrast to the prevailing realities of your life but you must determine to drive yourself towards what you want. It’s time to own your life. Don’t be a passenger or a pedestrian in your own life. Be a driver. Get yourself where you want to be.

Again, from my book Attitude is Everything, I clarify that “The difference between those who give up or mess up and those who consistently progress is neither in the succulence of opportunities one has nor in the intricacies of challenges that confront a person. To me, the real difference is in the way we respond to situations.”

© 2014 Terry Mante

CEO, Personal Development Network (PEDNET)

Accra, Ghana

Tel: +233.267.186.420