I’m really excited to share some insights from my upcoming book, Discovering Power. In the book, we’ll be able to follow the journey of our protagonist, Sheryl, as she grapples with a concept we all know but often struggle to define: integrity.

Integrity is a word that carries so much depth and meaning.

When I speak with women leaders about their experiences, I’ve noticed a common challenge they face—a feeling of disconnect between their jobs and their true selves. This is especially true in the corporate world, but even entrepreneurs can find themselves feeling out of alignment. So often, we’re put in boxes that define us by our technical skills, leadership abilities, career progressions, or specific business niches. While our roles in these boxes may use some of our talents and traits, they often leave out essential components of who we are.

Sheryl, our struggling heroine, can relate! She’s a technologist and a corporate officer, but those roles represent only a fraction of who she is as a person. That’s where integrity comes into play for her.

On the surface, integrity means being honest and truthful in everything you do. It means being reliable, keeping promises, and taking responsibility for your actions. Integrity requires people (and organizations) to define and adhere to ethical standards: treating others with fairness, respect, and compassion, if not empathy.

But there’s another dimension to integrity—integrity as wholeness. That perspective of integrity refers to being complete, undivided, and aligned with your “true self”.

Integrity as wholeness is how you create a sense of inner harmony and coherence. It means that you’re living in alignment with your core values, beliefs, and principles in all aspects of your life—including your work! Integrity as wholeness allows you to develop complete consistency between your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions. Hint: people who embody integrity as wholeness usually radiate authenticity and congruence.

Another vital aspect of integrity as wholeness is embracing and integrating all aspects of your identity. That means really acknowledging that all our different roles and responsibilities are interconnected! You can honor the different roles you play in your life, including personal relationships, professional responsibilities, and other social or community positions, while staying true to your values and principles—and, most importantly, yourself!

And that my friends, lets you truly achieve balance and integration, without forcing you to compartmentalize or fragment your identity.

But it’s not easy!!!!

To achieve integrity as wholeness requires that you explore your inner-most self, cultivating deeper self-awareness and making conscious choices aligned with your most cherished values and aspirations. But don’t worry! This is an ongoing process, and we all are continually working to align our actions with our evolving understanding of our true selves.

The good news is that by embracing integrity as wholeness, we get to experience a greater sense of fulfillment, authenticity, and well-being. We learn to have a more genuine connection with ourselves and others!

In short, integrity as wholeness means aligning with your true self, living in harmony with your deepest beliefs, and integrating all the different aspects of your life into a cohesive whole. When honesty and wholeness work together, they form the foundation for bold action, enabling you to make the extraordinary impact on the world that you’re here to make.

So, our heroine Sheryl has the opportunity to exercise her integrity in different aspects of her life, but the big question remains—will she take it? You’ll just have to check out Discovering Power on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, to find out! Trust me; you won’t want to miss it.