What
are some standards that are most important in your life? How did you acquire
those standards? How have they changed over the years?
To
me, in this context, a standard is something that I measure others and myself
by. After giving this some thought, integrity and empathy were by far the most
important standards for me.
Integrity
to me is doing your best when no one is watching. It is taking pride in
something that others may not appreciate or even notice. Growing up I often
worked with my dad doing handyman work or putting up siding on houses. I
learned that old homes settle and because of the settling you have to install
the siding slightly off level to trick your eye into thinking everything is
level. I remember my dad explaining to me how we needed to measure everything
out and run chalk lines against the house. Knowing that this would add hours to
our work I asked my dad, “Can’t we just put the siding up? Are they even going
to notice?” My dad responded, “But I’ll notice it every time we drive by this
house.” This conversation has stayed with me. My dad taught me to take pride in
your work even when others don’t notice or see the value. For example, my boss
may not notice that I pitched in to help a co-worker with a project they were
struggling with. However, my co-worker now sees that I have integrity and will
gain more trust in me, support me, and possibly return the favor someday. I
also see this as a standard of a good leader. A good leader will have the
integrity to “do the dirty work” and give praise to the team vs. the team doing
the work and then accepting the praise for themselves.
Integrity
also has an element of empathy too. Empathy is looking at something from
someone else’s point of view. It’s questioning how my actions, or inaction, affect
those around me? I see this combination of integrity and empathy all the time in
the workplace by a coworker pitching in even though they don’t have to, or the
person who doesn’t care that others are picking up their slack. However, the
meaning of empathy changed for me while I was in college from going from a
singular to plural perspective. I took a lot of classes that focused on
international politics, religion and ethics. I realized that empathy is more
than just putting myself in one person’s shoes, but putting myself into a group
of people’s shoes. For example, when looking at current events I ask myself, “How
might group X feel about this? How has their history, social and political
experiences shaped the way they feel and react to this situation?”
However,
I’ve learned there is a consequence to empathy and integrity. For me, empathy
also leads me to feel angry and frustrated, and integrity calls me into action.
When I can see a social or political problem from multiple sides, but I see
others looking at the issue in one dimension I get angry. The more you truly
care about something the more it will affect you. There are times that I wish I
didn’t care, and that I could be one of those people that don’t watch the news,
or think about others might feel, and live in ignorant bliss. For me empathy and
integrity in relation to critical-thinking standards is like Plato’s allegory
of the cave. Once you leave the cave and you see the light you are forever
changed, and therefore you cannot return to the cave, even if you may want to.
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