This week I have been thinking a lot about integrity. About what it is and why increasingly I feel that this value is lacking in business. So what is integrity? The dictionary definition is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles” and “the state of being whole and undivided”, so how come I am not experiencing this right now? And it seems I am not alone, many of my friends have been commenting on this too recently.
To lead effectively good leaders must demonstrate the right virtues They must demonstrate honesty, humility, authenticity, credibility, courage and accountability. But the most important leadership virtue is integrity. In their book, “The Corporate Mystic Dr. Gay Hendricks and Dr. Kate Ludeman, define integrity the following way, “The mastery of integrity comes down to three things: being authentic with yourself, being authentic with others, and doing the things you have said you would do.”
And perhaps that is the challenge. So often I come across people not walking their talk. They are not being authentic and not demonstrating consistent, honest behaviour. They are misaligned and in-congruent and maybe that is why I struggle to connect with them.
Leadership is influence, but we need leaders who can be trusted and act with integrity. Integrity is a critical factor in the performance of executives and managers. If you are in a leadership role, you have the power to influence people in your organization. When relationships in your organization are built on trust and integrity, you can be sure that your team will be able to reach higher performance. As Stephen R. Covey says, “Personal integrity generates trust and is the basis of many different kinds of deposits.” Lack of integrity can undermine many relationships.
Just as lack of integrity erodes relationships so acting in integrity builds relationships, and in my experience can be the defining difference between business success and failure
So today’s thought is what relationships are you undermining and putting in jeopardy by not being authentic and in integrity?
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
