INTEGRITY

Last Sunday, a long time friend of mine, Joseph asked me an excellent question:- “ John, what do you mean by integrity ? Why integrity is so important in today’s society and in the business world ? “

Integrity is the primary competency that encompasses the others. Acting consistently with principles, values, and beliefs means being purposeful in everything you do and say. Integrity is authenticity. It is saying what you stand for and standing for what you say. Awareness is the first step to being able to act with consistent integrity. That’s why it’s so important to be clear about what’s in your moral compass. Acting consistently with your moral compass also means letting others know the principles that are most important to you, as well as holding yourself accountable for decisions and behaviors consistent with that.

Joseph had spent 30 years selling second hand motor cars. One day there was a young lady visiting his showroom with a view to purchase a car. The lady was interested in one of the car, but Joseph knew very well that that car was involved in a serious car accident 3 months ago. Joseph was not too sure to let the lady know of the actual situation of the car. He was in a dilemma. Thus, Joseph asked the young lady to inspect the body of the car, the engine, and the chassis number. The young lady was very satisfied and confirmed to Joseph that she would like to purchase the said car. Joseph told her that the car had undergone major repair and renovation. It was a good car. One common question that arose was that, did Joseph practice integrity in his business dealings with the young lady ? Was Joseph ethical and uphold the principles, values and beliefs ?

In corporate settings, a lack of integrity, usually signals a lack of moral competence, as was the case with Joseph. But at times, a lack of integrity stems from a deeper lack of moral intelligence. Did Joseph told the young lady the truth ?

Leading with the truth

In organizational settings, telling the truth often means defining reality under challenging circumstances. When times are tough, leaders need to be able to tell the truth while providing people with real reasons for hope and optimism.

Recently I have visited a computer shop with an intention to purchase a new lap top for my personal use. I was impressed with the features and benefits of one of the lap top at the shop. Thus, I asked the shop assistant for the price of the lap top. The shop assistant told me that the lap top was re-condition one. I was amazed with her truthfulness to share with me the truth about the age of the lap top. She was honest, truthful and uphold her ethical business values. I respect her for daring to speak the truth about her product.



Telling the truth about Performance

Many of us are afraid to discuss poor performance with a subordinate. We imagine that people will be upset and we do not want to be responsible for causing them pain.

During the Chinese New Year holidays last week, I was told by my friend that he had received a three months bonus. But when he returned to work on Monday this week, he received a show cause letter so to why his service should not be terminated for making 3 mistakes last month.

The bonus was paid, because the manager was not honest with my friend’s performance problems. His manager was non assertive. He felt that telling the employee the truth about his performance was a criticism.

Personally, I know of many cases where an employee was fired on Friday showed up for work as usual on Monday because she did not realize that she had been terminated.



Good Intentions

Truth telling works best when paired with the emotional competency of self awareness. We need self awareness to understand how our own goals and desires influences what we say to others. Leaders who limit information about pending changes should rigorously examine their motivations. Although it is important they pit personal stock option considerations over employee well being, clearly violate principle of integrity.

We need emotional competencies to understand other’s emotions and be able to discuss the truth in ways that people can accept and use productivity. Employees sense when their leaders make self serving decisions or shade the truth about pending changes. The resulting negative impact on morale performance can undermine the implementation of any change effort.



How truth Fuels Performance

Truth telling has a huge impact on leadership effectiveness and work force engagement. When people work for a dishonest leader, they censor information to protect themselves from a negative or unpredictable reaction. The dishonest boss creates a climate dominated by political intrigue. Instead of working productively, people who work for dishonest superiors spend a lot of time wondering about their manager’s agenda, trying to gather information, trying to jockey for power, and doing only those things they think will keep them out of harm’s way. In contrast, leaders who are known for honest superiors relax because they know there will be no hidden surprises coming out of the organizational woodwork. People accomplish more and are able to work with great creativity when they do not have to waste energy watching their back.



Honoring Confidences

One of the most frequent promises leaders are asked to jeep is to preserve the privacy of others. A common complaint about low integrity leaders is that they have failed to keep confidences. Some leaders betray confidences with good intentions because they believe that sharing the information with someone else will help the person who revealed private information. Others wrongly believe that it is acceptable to share confidential information about a third party that they trust will not pass the confidential information to others. It is ironic that some of us expect a third party to keep a confidence that we ourselves have betrayed. When you discuss private information about another person with anyone, you can assume that it will become public – and that the person whose confidence you betrayed will know that you were the source.

When leaders betray confidence, they lost more than the respect of their work associates. They also dry up valuable sources of information because their employees and colleagues learn to withhold sensitive information from a loose lopped leader.

Leaders who pass on confidential personal information do not suffer as much career damage as those who lack other dimensions of integrity. If the leader has an otherwise good reputation, people may try to compensate by emphasizing forcefully to the leader that certain information must be held in confidence. When a well intentioned leader hears the urgency of the request, he will usually get the message.

Integrity competencies are clearly central to your effectiveness as a leader.



Conclusion

Speaking the truth by upholding the highest values, principles and beliefs will enable us to conduct our business and life with high moral values. Back-stabbing, telling lies, spreading rumors are on the contrary.

Leadership integrity is the most powerful retention tool. People see your leadership and they want to be part of the team where you lead with high moral leadership practices.

If you hear something in confidence that you strongly believe needs to be shared with others, ask for permission to share the confidence or work with the person who disclosed the information to find a way to communicate about the issue in a protective way.