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When his team fails, a
true leader stays in front and takes responsibility. When his team
succeeds, a true leader stays behind his team during celebrations. |
Vadim Kotelnikov
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Integrity means being honest,
trustworthy, and reliable. Having integrity means that you live in
accordance to your deepest values, you always keep your word, and
you're honest with everyone.
People who operate with integrity
have an underlying value system that is manifested through their
behavior and consistently adhere to a clear code of conduct.
Fundamental values-based character
strength and deep-rooted integrity will help you pursue your life
vision and maintain strong human relationships regardless of
short-terms happenings.
Integrity is one of the top
leadership attributes. Leaders with integrity practice what they
preach
lead by example and act in accordance with their words.
They know that high trust levels
between the leader and the followers never fail.
They realize that their behavior,
methodologies, decisions, words, and actions, help to create the
company's true values and its culture, so they do what's best for
the business and treat people right.
Integrity in leaders refers also to
owning up to their mistakes, as opposed to blaming their team or
making excuses.
How Make Integrity
Your Nature
Formulate your noble core values and let them guide your thoughts,
words and deeds.
Know who you are what you stand for.
Hold yourself accountable not just to
superiors but primarily to your higher self and also to your
colleagues and staff.
Have a clear vision of who you want to
be. Adopt a
continuous improvement attitude and do
self-audit periodically to identify and remove blocks on your
way to the desired integrity practice.
Firmly believe that doing the right and ethical thing is the
overarching way to deal with people and to do business.
Act with Integrity. Walk your talk and
lead by example. Those who operate with integrity consistently
adhere to a code of conduct and have an underlying value system that
is manifested through their behavior.
Lead with Integrity
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Integrity is defined as the quality of
being honest and having unshakable moral principles, situated at the
intersection of consistent actions and strong values. In other
words, it’s a quality of people who do the right thing at all times,
even when no one is looking, and especially when it is difficult to
do so.
In a survey of over 3,000 employees and chief financial officers in
2016, integrity was highlighted by both groups as the most important
attribute in a leader. Forbes states that integrity was ranked
higher than other leadership qualities like fairness, decisiveness,
and stability. Among employees, 75% indicated integrity is the most
important attribute, while 46% of CFOs have the same views.
If you’re aspiring to be a good leader in your organization, here
are four reasons why you must lead with integrity:
Build credibility
The most glaring benefit of practicing integrity in leadership is
that it builds credibility with clients, investors, customers, and
talented professionals. Integrity in operations entails transparency
to make sure that necessary reports are filed accurately and on
time, and that organizational commitments are met.
However, credibility is also derived from the personal integrity of
an organization’s leaders. From a stakeholder’s point of view,
Business Insider shares that personal integrity is important because
people trust will you and do business with you, which means that
even large and international brands are judged daily by the quality
of its leaders.
Create a gateway for trust and inspiration
Leaders with integrity also do a greater job in gaining the trust of
their colleagues and inspiring them to do better. Fraud specialist
and ethical author Dr. Christopher Bauer argues that integrity is
most crucial at the helm of any organization. Leaders need to model
and actively reinforce integrity for everyone in the company to
create a culture that values integrity. A previous LearnLoft post
explained that you risk ruining the entire organizational culture if
you do not practice this virtue. Bad leaders forget the importance
of their words and can say false things or make promises they do not
keep, which can crush morale and company culture.
Equip you for the challenges ahead
Part of practicing integrity is being unafraid of inconvenient or
uncomfortable truths. It allows you to see the world as it really
is, not as how you wish it could be, an ability that is present in
the best of leaders. This refusal to compromise or to cheat will
give you the courage to do what is right and will help you avoid
deluding not just your stakeholders, but yourself as well.
This also means that integrity can help you continue growing and
learning. Part of this awareness of and commitment to the truth is
knowing how much there is left for you to learn. Menlo Coaching
share that this integrity in receiving feedback is important since
support without criticism is never helpful for growth. Too often,
leaders lacking in integrity eventually fail because they are
incapable of examining themselves and considering how they can be
wrong.
Commitment to success
Lastly, practicing integrity as a leader is a commitment to success.
On a personal level, it lets you hold yourself accountable not just
to superiors but also to your colleagues and staff. This honesty and
openness can help you learn what you can do better and fix mistakes
you would never have been aware that you’ve committed. On the
organizational level, integrity allows you to lead your team towards
the company’s vision and goals since your moral compass will lead
you there.
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Integrity is not a bunch of value or
ethics. Integrity of the coherence between how you are, how you
think, and how you act. |
Sadhguru |
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