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Core Values and Professional IntegrityLt. Col. Daniel McDowell

Dir. Protocol

Core Values: What they are?

An individual’s core values should be an accurate reflection of who the individual is andwhat this individual is about. Core values should be the very foundation that theindividual is built on. They are what drives the individual when all else seems to have

faltered. They are what the person is at his/her most basic and honest level.

In the words of author, speaker, consultant, Charles “Bill” Carpenter, “Core values aregoverning principles that help you make sound, consistent decisions. You should

carefully identify costs versus benefits, as your core values can not be compromised.

When you start compromising any of your core values you will find it becomes easier todisregard all of your values system.”

Author Kevin John says, “Having a clear understanding of your personal values is criticalto your success. Without this knowledge you won’t know what really matters to you,what motivates you and why you are doing what you are doing. You’ll be in conflict with

what you really want and your life will be unfulfilling and stressful.

If you want to be successful you need to make sure your personal values and your goalsin life are aligned. If they aren’t you will struggle to find motivation and sustain the

enthusiasm and energy you need to travel the road to success!”

What they aren’t

Core values are NOT something you wear like a coat. They are not put on when publicly

shown and taken off in private. They are not put on for political purposes, only to betaken off again when that political point is over. Core values are…the person. If they areput on and taken off at will then they are false, and that individual’s integrity is

essentially non-existent.

If you doubt the previous statement, then ask yourself the following question: If everything I do for money or perceived power were to suddenly have no monetary value

or income, what would I still be about? If you answered honestly, you would see that

your core values are all that would remain.

Take a look at what the U.S. Air Force Core Values statement says. It states quite clearly,

"Our Core Values, Integrity first, Service before self and Excellence in all we do, set thecommon standard for conduct across the Air Force. These values inspire the trust which

provides the unbreakable bond that unifies the force. We must practice them ourselves

and expect no less from those with whom we serve."

(The underline in the sentence above was included for emphasis in this article only)

Core Value Parts

Core values are made of a number of parts to make them whole. Each of the partscontributes to the total package of core values yet no single part necessarily carries more

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value than another. They should be valued equally in the make up of a person’s CoreValues. This author sees them as, 1. Responsibility, 2. Accountability, 3. Initiative, 4.

Honesty, 5. Courage, 6. Justice, 7. Selfrespect and Humility, 8. Generosity/Service .

•  Responsibility: recognizing your duties and properly executing them.

•  Accountability: recognizing and accepting responsibility for your actions andwords. Not shifting the blame to others.

•  Initiative: being alert and aware of your surroundings and situation and takingproper action when needed and appropriate to do so without being told to do it.

•  Honesty: Being as good as your word. Telling the truth. Demonstrating integrity.

•  Courage: moral and physical courage to do the right things even at significant

personal costs.

•  Justice: being willing to always be fair and consistent in issuing awards as well as

punishment.

•  Self-respect and Humility: respect and appreciate your personal skills and gifts,but never being personally boastful or prideful in word or action.

•  Generosity/Service: demonstrating a personal level of generosity that when givendoes not expect or ask for a return and being always willing to serve for the

betterment of many and not just for personal gain.

Personal Core Values are not necessarily the same as Business Core Values, event though

founded on many of the same guiding principles. An example of business/organizational

Core values is taken from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/core-

values.html : Operating philosophies or principles that guide an organization's internal

conduct as well as its relationship with the external world. Core values are usually

summarized in the mission statement or in the statement of core values.

Professional Integrity

In the succinct words of Professor Emeritus Malham M. Wakin, Brig Gen. USAF (Ret.),U.S. Air Force Academy, “Professional integrity derives its substance from the

fundamental goals or mission of the profession.” The following are excerpts from histreatise on Integrity titled “Professional Integrity” published in  Airpower Journal -

Summer 1996.

We need an ordered society; we want to be treated fairly; we seek justice. We trainour judges and our lawyers in law schools supported by the community because of 

the important value that we place on justice. Similarly, we know how crucial

education is to our society so we provide for the training of teachers; we know how

important security is to our nation-state so we provide military academies and

military training for the members of the military profession.

No member of the professions (doctors, lawyers, teachers…etc) can escape these ties

to the community since they constitute the very reason for the existence of the

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professions. Thus, professional integrity begins with this necessary responsibility to

serve the fundamental need of the community. Notice that the community makes

possible the opportunity for one to become qualified in a given profession and

usually allows the professionals the authority themselves to set the standards of 

competence and conduct of its members.

Members of the public professions are thus educated and supported by the society

because of the critical services the professions provide. In the case of teachers in

public institutions and in the case of the military profession, practitioners are

supported from the public coffers during their entire careers. Clearly, some of the

role specific obligations are based on this relationship and on the authority to act on

behalf of the entire society which is literally bestowed on these professionals. With

the authority to act goes the public trust and violations of that trust are serious

breaches of professional integrity. 

Professional integrity derives its substance from the fundamental goals or mission of 

the profession.

If our preprofessional preparation does not inculcate the habits of professional

integrity, can we have confidence that those habits will be practiced by these same

individuals when they become licensed professionals?

How are personal integrity and professional integrity related? There are varying

opinions about this. Some people believe that one can live up to high standards of 

competence and conduct in one's professional role -- at the hospital, in the school, at

the military base -- but live an entirely different kind of moral life outside the

professional context in one's private life.

What I wish to argue is that since professions exist to serve society's need forimportant values (education, health, justice, security, etc.), the means used to

provide those values and services should be morally decent means and the persons

in the professions who provide them should be morally decent persons.

Put in more direct terms, good teachers ought to be good persons, good doctors

ought to be good persons, good lawyers ought to be good persons and good military

professionals ought to be good persons. We want to live in a world where the duties

of a competent professional can be carried out by a good person with a clear and

confident conscience. That means that professional practices must always be

constrained by basic moral principles.

When professions go beyond their essential service function to society and distort

their purpose toward profits, power, or greed then they lose the trust and respect of 

their communities -- they stop being professions. 

http://www.usafa.af.mil/core-value/integrity.html