Global Integrity--2

United Nations Personnel

Moral wholeness for a whole world

See images, information, and highlights of the UN: HERE.

Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Its opposite is corruption, the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people. Global integrity is moral wholeness at all levels in our world—from the individual to the institutional to the international. Global integrity is requisite for “building the future we want—being the people we need.” It is not easy, it is not always black and white, and it can be risky. These entries explore the many facets of integrity with a view towards the global efforts to promote sustainable development and wellbeing.

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The United Nations has high expectations for its personnel. The “UN Core Competency Framework,” outlined below, describes the skills, attitudes, and behaviors that all UN staff are expected to have and to develop further. The Framework is organized into three categories: Core Values, Core Competencies, and Core Managerial Competencies. Integrity is the first of the three Core Values.

Source: UN Competency Development: A Practical Guide (2010)

https://hr.un.org/sites/hr.un.org/files/Un_competency_development_guide.pdf

--UN Core Values: integrity, professionalism, and respect for diversity.

--UN Core Competencies: communication, team work, planning and organization, accountability, creativity, client orientation, commitment to continuous learning, and technological awareness. 

--UN Managerial Competencies: leadership, vision, empowering others, building trust, managing performance and judgment, and decision-making.

Integrity

“The competency of Integrity is a core value for the United Nations: An ability to work honestly, openly, impartially and in accordance with the values of the United Nations is critical for all staff members. All staff members are required to demonstrate this value, irrespective of the nature of their role.

Positive Indicators
--Upholds the principles of the United Nations Charter.

--Demonstrates the values of the United Nations, including impartiality, fairness, honesty and truthfulness, in daily activities and behaviours.

--Acts without consideration of personal gain.

--Resists undue political pressure in decision-making.

--Does not abuse power or authority.

--Stands by decisions that are in the Organization’s interest even if they are unpopular.

--Takes prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behaviour.”   (p.5)

Negative Indicators
--Interprets principles and ethics flexibly without justification.--Seeks personal gain.

--Compromises too readily when under pressure.

--Favors certain issues, individuals or groups in a subjective way.

--Not reliable.

--May be dishonest.” (p. 11)

Note: See also the integrity rating scales for Staff, Managers, and Managers of Managers (pp. 12-14).

Applications

Review the core values and competencies for United Nations personnel (see the above link for the fuller description, pp. 5-8). Identify some ways for further developing integrity in your work setting/life (see the “Suggested Development Activities” in the above Guide, pp. p. 15-18).

Global Integrators--22

Faith-Based Foundations
Christian Worldview

 

The Swiss Alps--view from the French Jura Mountains

(November 2015)

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Member Care Updates and Global Integration Updates.

 We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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This entry identifies 10 core beliefs from a Christian worldview that are very relevant for our work as Global Integrators. These core beliefs are foundational for how we ourselves engage with the current efforts in the world community to help “transform our world” and “restore humanity.” It is still a work in progress and undoubtedly there will be additions and adjustments.

 We think that it is not necessary to downplay the central place of faith in our life and work.  Nor do we need to primarily refer to our spiritual commitments, motivations, and affiliations in generic (and safer?) terms like being “faith-based”—e.g., “I am and my organization is faith-based.” After all, there are about 6.5 billion humans that claim allegiance to some religion—by far the majority of humanity. So why not simply say, ‘I am a Muslim” or “I am a Hindu” or “I am a Christian” etc? That would make life a lot simpler. It’s also about respecting all people in all our diversity—acknowledging deeply our commitment to human dignity and worth and the common good.

So we want to just say who we are--and above all to just be who we are--as we work in global integration. That includes the central place of Jesus Christ in all that we do. For some related thoughts have a look through the previous entries on Global Integrators, Many of the core foundational beliefs below are mentioned or highlighted in the previous 20+ entries on Global Integrators, with the most important one being the Preeminent Pantocrator.

Foundations and Worldview

The Centrality of Jesus Christ

1.      God is both transcendent and personal—God is good and just; God loves people.

2.      God is involved in human affairs/history—there is a central, restorative purpose in history, although it is not always specifically clear to human understanding.

3.      Our world and people are wonderful, yet are seriously flawed and in desperate need of help.

4.      Evil exists—it is the perversion of the good, the most serious flaw. Evil is not simply synonymous with ignorance, mistakes, or misunderstandings.

5.      Personal restoration, including repentance from evil and reconnecting with God, is essential for personal transformation and world transformation.

6.   Human efforts at transformation are extremely important, yet fare better when there is acknowledgement of and dependence on God.

7.      The missio Dei--the vast, diverse, and central restorative purpose-action of God in the world-- is a relevant concept for understanding how God is at work in the world to bring transformation in many ways.

8.     People of faith (focus here on Christians, the church) can be informed by science, humanities, good practice, and especially the Scriptures as they work with others towards transformation within the missio Dei.

9.      People of faith and people of no faith, and everyone in-between, have a responsibility to love and serve others and to care for the planet.

10.  Jesus Christ is understood to be the Savior and Lord, the preeminent One, who sacrificially gave His life to restore all people to God, the One who ultimately will transform the world by making all things new. He is seen as the ultimate foundation for our efforts to make the world better, the foundation for life, faith, hope—for everything. “No one can establish a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I Cor. 3:11

Global Integrators—21

7Is for GIs

Seven Indicators for Global Integrators

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Member Care Updates and Global Integration Updates.

 

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to join together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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This entry identifies seven core indicators--seven I’s--that we think are important to help guide Global Integrators. There are surely more too! The seven indicators are qualitative markers rather than quantitative measures. The descriptions below also include Member Care Updates which provide resources that specifically relate to the indicators. Indicator 7, Imparting your life (love) links them all.

Clarify your:

Interests
Involvements
Influences

Cultivate your:

Interior
Integrity
Inspirations

Impart your life

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1. Issues--Pursue your passions.

What issues matter to you the most? What are you passionate about? What are you naturally motivated to learn more about? In short: explore, expand, engage.

Clarify your interests further as you explore what other sectors, organizations, countries etc. are doing with regards to these issues. Be prepared to expand your “experiential boundaries,” knowing that it can be a bit uncomfortable but also rewarding. It may take time and effort to significantly connect and contribute. Don’t go alone but get involved with others. Find compatible colleagues with similar interests and key groups and networks in which you can be part and engage together on global issues.

2. Involvements--Till the terrain.

How much do you want to get involved in specific global issues?  With whom? What is realistic for you given your current commitments and need to make a living? Here is a “continuum of involvement” for clarification.

Informed----------Included----------Immersed

The continuum begins with more minor involvement in a global area, such as reading the reports, a journal, or a UN publication about things like human trafficking, climate change, or the sustainable development goals (informed). It then proceeds to a midpoint and the inclusion of a global area in one’s work such as road traffic accidents, child disabilities in a specific region, or non-communicable diseases (included).The end of the continuum could involve becoming a recognized participant in a global area or part of a group (organization, sector) such as working part-time in a human rights advocate in a non-governmental organization, developing culturally relevant psychosocial support for victims of gender violence, or setting up elementary schools for refugee children in a country (immersed).

 3. Influences--Get a grid.

What has influenced your desire and ability to connect and contribute more globally? The gird below can help you clarify these influences.

List 3-5 items for each of the six categories below. As you review your past, you will likely get a better sense of what your future course might look like.

•      Principles/Beliefs
•      Documents/Materials
•      Organizations/Groups
•      People/Models
•      Milestones/Gravestones (important events/experiences, for the better or worse)

 à Charting a Future Course

Applications for Member Care—Interests, Involvements, and Influences

Strategies for Crossing Sectors: February 2014. “How do we practically connect and contribute across sectors in order to stay in touch with our globalizing world and to further develop our member care skills? The first resource links you to core suggestions for Charting Your Course through the Sectors (from chapter two in the new Global Member Care book) [interests, involvements, influences, as per above in this entry]. This chapter also updates the international member care model (five spheres, 2002, O’Donnell and Pollock) to help guide us into the next developmental phase of member care. The second resource provides suggestions for how you and your colleagues can effectively use the multi-sectoral materials in the new Global Member Care book (from the Application section on the Global MCA website). Crossing sectors is a crucial direction that supports and shapes good global practice in member care.”

4. Interior--Self-Care 

How do you cultivate your inner world? What things do you do practically for self-care, personal growth, and resiliency?

Grow deeply as you go broadly. Practice the basics of self care, such as good nutrition, sleep, expressing gratitude, prayer/reflection, time with friends, exercise, etc. especially during seasons of stress and times of adversity.

Member Care Application—Interior

Resiliency Toolkit–Strengthening Ourselves and Others: November 2015. “This Update focuses on developing resiliency. It provides practical resources to  promote well-being and effectiveness (WE) for workers in mission, aid, and development as well as for member care workers themselves. The resources include brief assessments and articles–core items in a versatile toolkit to strengthen yourself and others. Periodically we do special Updates that feature items to put in such a member care toolkit. Five past examples are archived HERE: 12/2009 Resiliency, 8/2010 Self-Care, 3/2012 Work-Life Balance, 1/2013 Cool Tools, and 10/2014 Creative Healing. We finish the Update with a reflection on resilience from Pearls and Perils of Good Practice (available now as an ebook) as well as one of our favorite resiliency songs, Ready for the Storm.”

5. Integrity—Being Moral

How do you cultivate your highest standards and values? To what extent do you follow them both privately and publically? In what ways can you be susceptible to corruption—the opposite of integrity--in its many subtle forms?

Integrity is moral wholeness. It is living consistently in light of your highest virtues and values (moral wholeness). It acknowledges personal weakness and wrongness, including the possibility and likelihood of self deception/justification, and seeks to live act virtuously with courage and consistency.

Member Care Applications—Integrity

Counting the Cost–Living with Integrity and Courage: January 2015. “This month’s Update is a summons to act with integrity and courage in our lives–to support us as we “count the cost” of doing what is right and helping vulnerable people. The first set of resources features three thought-provoking items: a) a TEDx presentation by a humanitarian journalist on her experiences covering war and the courage of ordinary people; b) a compelling exegesis on Christ’s parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25; and c) the millennial homily by John Paul II honoring Christian martyrs in the 20^thcentury. The second set of resources feature three items that point us towards the personal qualities needed to do member care and mission/aid well: a) the recent Global Integration webinar on healing/mental health in our violent world; b) the compilation of articles in b) Sorrow and Blood and c) Serving Jesus with Integrity. We finish this Update by taking the call for integrity and courage to the macro level: the final video lecture from Jeffery Sach’s online course on The Age of Sustainable Development (safeguarding the world’s future—people and the planet).”

Member Character: July 2012. “This issue focuses on the development of character for all those in mission/aid, especially member care workers. We see character as the core qualities of a person. These qualities are consistent over time and also reflect one’s moral goodness. Character is shaped by our life experiences, including hardship and role models. We include two set of resources from a Christian Perspective and a Social Psychology Perspective, in order to stimulate your own character growth and to support you in your work.”

6. Inspiration—Sustaining Sources

What gets you going in the morning? And what keeps you going through life? Is there a set of beliefs and values, sense of purpose and meaning, to motivate and sustain you? Something transcendent? Humanitarian principles, ethical imperatives, sense of duty, love, faith, God? How do you cultivate these?

Member Care Applications—Inspiration

Jesus Christ—The Lord of Member Care: September 2015. “This month we feature the main person in the Member Care field, Jesus Christ. We have lovingly referred to Him in our member care writings over the years by many different names: the Master Carer, the Good Practitioner, the Heart of Member Care, the Multilingual Messiah, the Pearl of Great Price, the Precious Pantocrator (The Almighty), and the Pierced-One. These names are actually titles of great honor and they are the focus of this Update: Jesus Christ the Lord of Member Care (a new title!), the One whom we all seek to know, love, and serve with all our being.“

 7. Imparting your life--Love

How much is laying down your life and serving others part of your work and life in general? How much do you want to give of yourself to others, being compassionate, maintaining the human quality of your work--doing to others as you want them to do to you?

Love is not a soft skill. It is tough work. And it is core, in our view, for doing member care well, and doing global integration well, for doing life well.

 Member Care Applications—Imparting your Life.

Ordinary Heroes: March 2013. “This month we focus on ordinary heroes, especially those whose ongoing, sacrificial and often unrecognised acts of goodness truly help others. Member care workers, and the mission/aid workers whom they support, and the people with whom mission/aid workers support, can often fit into this definition of ordinary hero. The first set of resources focus mostly on understanding ordinary heroism. The second set of resources focus on supporting ordinary heroes, emphasizing women whose lives are ransacked by exploitation, poverty, and degradation.”

Global Integrators--16

The Preeminent Pantocrator
Connection vs Contention

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, 

"who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 1:8 NASB

Christós-Pantocrator--Χριστός-Παντοκράτωρ

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skilfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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This entry continues the focus on how values are a core part of the lives/work of global integrators. It builds upon the previous entry on values (17 June 2015) and specifically looks at an ultimate, highest value.

For many colleagues in the faith-based community, the highest value is actually a person—God. For Christians like myself, knowing, loving, and serving God is understood to be the foundational value in life. So this spiritual value is not simply a minority  or dissenting, "view" within humanity, as Christians of all backgrounds make up over one-third of the world’s population--not to mention the great majority of the world--nearly 6.5 billion--who profess a religious faith (Christianity 2015, Johnson et al., IBMR, January 2105).

One of the titles for God and Jesus Christ that I especially find meaningful is the Pantocrator. It means “The Almighty". This term is used throughout the Old Testament (Septuagint version--Greek) and 10 times in the New Testament (included in this entry’s opening quote). More information here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Pantocrator

Concerning Jesus Christ, the New Testament is replete with other descriptions that are in line with the references to His being the Almighty, such as this by Paul: “…all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together…so that he might have the first place in everything.” (Col. 1: 16-18, NASB). So it is ultimately His “first place”/and "preeminence"  in everything—His glory as the Almighty—that can be seen as the guiding, foundational value for Christians. Christians who are global integrators are thus intimately linked to Jesus Christ the Preeminent Pantocrator as they seek to concretely emulate His love for all people.

Is this emphasis on Jesus Christ divisive for GI? Hopefully not. Rather, it can be a great way to openly share values (including ultimate values--putting them on the table) as we work together and pursue “common ground for the common good.” I remain positive: I see relationship with the Pantocrator and modeling His love as being a helpful way to connect with GI colleagues from all backgrounds. So I approach this core life value with respect for others' values/worldviews, and thus it is usually an aligning point of connection more than an alienating point of contention.*

Final Thought

“For many [colleagues], healthy spirituality, including faith in God, is fundamental to their well-being and work effectiveness. For others, it can involve transcendent principles rather than referencing God per se. Some examples of these principles would be to “do good and do no harm” as derived from the Hippocratic Oath in the health-care fields, the “humanity principle” of the International Red Cross /Red Crescent Movement and similar groups which emphasizes protecting life and health without discrimination, the social responsibility commitment in the business/corporate sector to both “do well” (making money) and to “do good” (helping humans) (e.g., see Crutchfield and Grant 2012), the guiding sociopolitical value of“enlightened self-interest” emphasizing the well-being of others as one seeks his or her own benefit, or other benevolent principles reflected in one’s life philosophy. The point is that there are lots of points—connecting points—when crossing sectors!” Charting Your Course Across the Sectors, Kelly O’Donnell, page 9, Global Member Care (volume 2): Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity (2013)
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*For more information on religious values in GI-related work, see the materials in the August 2015 Global Integration Update, Faith-Based Partners in Transformation. Some examples:

-- Faith-Based Health Care, The Lancet, (7 July 2015) 

--Sacred Aid: Faith and Humanitarianism, edited by Michael Barnett and Janice Gross Stein (2012)

--Faith, Secularism, and Humanitarian Engagement: Finding the Place of Religion in Support of Displaced Communities, Alastair Ager and Joey Ager (2015)

--Faith and Religion in Humanitarian Action: Improving Cooperation and Effectiveness, Webinar organized by Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (June 2015)

--Faith-Based Humanitarians, Wilfred Mlay, Humanitarian Exchange, July 2004

Note from November 2015: We changed the title of this entry and the term for Christ--from "precious" to "preeminent" in order to better fit what Pantokrator means. Christ is still just as precious of course! 

Global Integrators--13

Staying Updated--Staying Outdated



Wise men and women are always learning,
    always listening for fresh insights.

Proverbs 18: 15, The Message

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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 Staying au courant is an ongoing challenge for all of us who sincerely want to “connect and contribute relevantly” on behalf of the wellbeing of people-planet. So how do we stay updated so that we don’t become outdated? Frankly, no one in any field wants to be caught “flatfooted”(see quote at end)---out of touch, irrelevant, chasing after the proverbial “global” parade. But this sense of always having to catch up, of being one or more steps behind the “action,” and of feeling dumb is a reality that everyone experiences in our globalizing, always changing, and information and event-filled world. It is the ongoing norm. It is something really important to acknowledge and to discuss.

 

So what to do? One suggestion is based on the GI definition (e.g., skillfully integrating our lives and values on behalf of the major issues in our world). Let’s consider three broad areas for staying updated and for maintaining our personal and professional development: Skills, Values, and Issues. Think of these three areas as forming part of a core “grid to guide and guide to goad,” and one that is still in process, involving crossing disciplines, sectors, cultures, countries, and comfort zones.

Skills: also including competencies in relational, cultural, and leadership areas

Values: also including core commitments, character strengths, and moral integrity

Issues: also including current events, global concerns, and sustainable development

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What types of strategies do you have for staying updated in the above three areas? What else would you add or adjust?  Here are some examples for me:

Skills

--continuing education as a psychologist
--attending events/training in the humanitarian and development sectors (live and in vivo)
--working on language abilities in Spanish and French

 

Values

--reviewing good practice and ethics codes, reading accounts of/materials from people practicing moral integrity  
--practicing Christian spirituality including self-reflection, prayer, and applying Scripture
--interaction with colleagues for clarity and accountability

Issues

---tracking with global mental health
--attending events in the Geneva area (e.g., human rights, staff wellbeing, peacebuilding)
--getting information from different news sources

Final Reflection

I really appreciate the thoughts and frankness in the quote below by fellow psychologist Glen Moriarty from Regent University. The quote appears in his article published in the special issue on the future of integration, Journal of Psychology and Theology, Spring 2012. I have taken some liberties in adding my own remarks in brackets to further clarify what I believe are important points and directions that build on Glen’s observations.

“If we want integration [of psychology and theology] to be a credible and relevant voice in all corners of our world, then we need to be proactive about learning, engaging and collaborating with Christian mental health professionals outside of North America. [Kelly note: and proactive about the major need for collaborating with mental health professionals of other faiths or no faith and with colleagues from other sectors]…Soon the mental health professions will also scale up. [Kelly note: many have already been doing so for years now]. We want to get in on the ground floor—not once institutions are already established. Kelly O’Donnell has insightfully called this “global integration.”....We in the integration field find ourselves in a unique position. Unfortunately, globalization and technology have caught us flat-footed. ..We have a time limited opportunity to make a huge impact in the future of faith and psychology...We can begin by answering the question I started with: Where do we want to be in 10 years? [Kelly note: and where do we want to be in 2050—when an estimated one-third of humanity may in fact live in ‘misery and squalor’—potentially 3 billion humans!]” (Glen Moriarty, “Where Do We Want to Be in Ten Years? Towards an Integration Strategy for Clinical Psychologists,” Spring 2012, Journal of Psychology and Theology)

Global Integrators--11

First Love

Values that Guide and Goad GI

We think that the time is coming for a diversity of colleagues to come together intentionally, visibly, and practically on behalf of global integration (GI). GI put simply is how we skillfully integrate our lives and values on behalf of the issues facing humanity. Likewise we think that the time is coming for colleagues to carefully reflect and act on what it means to be good global learners-practitioners--to seriously consider what it means to be what we are calling global integrators (GI-People).

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This entry is definitely a work in progress...

GI at its core involves values. Core values. Not just good actions or recognized codes of practice or even human rights standards. But rather the underlying, deeply help moral convictions that motivate action, foster commitment, and priortize goals. Values that guide us and which goad us as Global Integrators. Values that reflect both desire and duty--and delight!  

I like to think of the core of the core of these values as our First Love. It is our highest good and our core existential belief which shapes and supports us, our work, and our world. GI would never be the same without core values. And core values would never be the same without our First Love.

Listed below are five of my core of the core values--First Love--that guide me and goad me as a growing Global Integrator who is a committed Christian. It is helpful to make them explicit as they are deeply ingrained with who I am, my identity. They also are a reflection of the "faith-based" influence on personal and organizational involvement in the secularized humanitarian/development sectors.

 1. Shema+. Love the one Lord God with everything that you are (Deuteronomy 6:4,5)

2. Agape. Love never ceases (I Corinthians 13:8)

3. LTP. Loving truth and peace at all levels of relationship (Zechariah 8:19).

4. GloballeluYHWH (Global-alleluia-Yahweh).That God may be known and loved, and praised by all peoples. 

5. TBA...something like personal transformation as well as public transformation as a core component of well-being for all people and the planet...something like character and virtue...something like the necessity to explicitly consider moral measures, moral motivations, moral means, etc. as per the example of the current papal encyclical on climate change...

Note though that values--my values--often get mixed up with other, well, lesser values (motives/commitments/goals--mocogo) which I don't usually like to admit or show to others and which I am sure are often under the radar of my own self-surveillance. Some of these less noble examples: self-interest (what's in it for me?), convenience (could it interfere with my lifestyle?), fear (what would people say or think?), getting attention and getting people to like me (am I really special and important?) etc.  

So, staying in tune with such a "mocogo mix" is a good idea as Global Integrators seek to let their First Love shape and support their GI involvement. And making one's First Love explicit is also a good idea, knowing that there are a variety of world views whose pathways can lead to similar core values and core of the core values.