Wow – he looked at me with quite amazement and big eyes. He couldn’t believe it! Again and again, he checked it and looked between me and what he held in his hands. He was happy, that was sure – and very thankful, too.
I just brought back his purse and everything was still in it. Nearly 150€ and some coins, all his paper and additional stuff I even didn’t checked. What was normal for me was something absolute surprising for him it seems. I was already on my way, while he was still in a bit of shock rigidity. So, I wished him a pleasant day, gave him an encouraging smile, and wanted to leave.
He stopped me, telling me he wanted to give me a banknote. “Let me say thank you by giving you a reward for finding my purse”, he said. I insisted to not take it. I said: “I already took my reward and kept it for myself.” The man was a bit confused as he checked that he got everything back what he lost. I continued with a wink: “I kept my integrity!” He smiled at me and understood – I would not take more than a big thank you. We wished each other all the best and continued our paths.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
This little story and the quote by C. S. Lewis, an author and literary scholar, nicely describes my thoughts. Integrity is my most important value and even more, it is for me non-negotiable. In private life like in business.
What is Integrity…
Integrity means the honesty and truthfulness of one’s actions and adherence to a code of moral and ethics. I recognize it when someone act in ways that are consistent with his or her values and even more: when he or she is consistent with used words and promises. Integrity is therefore not a single state or action, it is a series of actions, it is a reputation that needs to be build up over time. It is built upon many of our day-to-day sayings, doings, and decisions. Therefore, integrity always means the correspondence between personal values and actual actions. And for sure it can be destroyed much faster than it is build up.
For some of us it might be a constant challenge to keep and support our integrity. Especially in current times with crisis all over the world and where potentially people do not care about any moral principles or ethics. But being able to show respect to people, regardless of their position, religion, race, or gender, admitting when you are wrong and most importantly taking responsibility for your action, is a superpower which is still simple to show and so important.
I always try to follow my values and ideals through all my actions and not to violate or undermine them. Over the years, I have developed my own strong value system. And consequently, integrity is my number one value in that list and for me non-negotiable. It is integrity that enhances all other values as well.
… and why is it important.
As said, you can prove integrity in anywhere in your life, in your private life and in every business situation. We are building up our relationships ideally on integrity, because then those relationships are built with the foundation of trust as well. And what could be wished more for a relationship or organization alike than being build up based on trust? Therefore, colleagues and employees with integrity will not only look for and perform to the best of their ability, but they also together with their co-workers will form a culture of trust and performance which is a magnet for everyone around as well.
And in the opposite direction, this will lead to a huge damage if integrity is missing – within the own organization but also for the whole reputation of the business.
No question, integrity is the primary way companies can earn the public’s trust or lose it. And no secret, if the businesses or companies lost their trust, their leaders will do too. Failure of leadership makes distrust the default and low performance the result. There I see the main importance of integrity.
Consequently, if employees stand up for a true culture of integrity, if they all take their commitments seriously, from the normal employee over the leaders to the Executive Board, business will thrive. Workers who show integrity are also showing common traits such as taking their commitments seriously, being accountable for their business results and showing reliability. So, integrity is important for business growth and for me the basis for sustainable success.
How to prove integrity – my 5 tips for leaders
Knowing the importance of integrity for business organizations and for leaders, how could you then prove integrity? How can you show integrity as a leader? Here are my 5 tips for leaders to demonstrate and live up for integrity.
- Be wise – not impulsive
In stressful, negative situations, never follow your first impulse. For sure our brain sends these archaic impulses in seconds when we perceive a stressful situation – Fight of Flight. And more often people tend to fight, because physically even thousands of years later, it does not matter whether we are confronted with a saber-toothed tiger or “only” with our colleagues. The amygdala, the small part of the limbic system, triggers those processes in mini-seconds and floods our organism with the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Unfortunately, this then disrupts your rational thinking. And even more, values that you want to strive for, easily are forgotten in such situations.
Therefore, my rule is when I realize those impulsive, emotional triggers: I take a deep breath and sleep over it for a night before I response. While I put this emotional distance into place, I’m enabling myself to come up with a way of acting that is more rational than emotional, and which then as well can better match to my own values. By the way: a super nice easy to read book is “The Chimp Paradox”. It exactly explains this little chimp in our head and how to live with it. If you feel that the chimp in you is taking over too often, read it and learn how to live with it.
- Respect others’ opinions
Showing respect is one of the best possibilities and a foundation for integrity. Even more, if you respect someone’s opinion while you disagree, you show that you can see things from different perspectives. Having open-minded discussions and debates without getting personal will help you to be a trustful leader. In turn, people will appreciate your fair treatment. Showing respect starts with listening, first regardless of whether they have something profound to say or not. By giving the other person your time, focus and ear, you are giving them the chance to be listened. And all change and growth continue then in a dialogue anyway, and therefore respect is also helpful to reduce conflicts, stress and problems in the working environment.
In fact, especially in discussions where I would disagree or have another opinion, I actively remind myself to ask at least 3 questions before we take a decision. For example, I ask “Why did you chose that idea instead of. So, what process did you go through to reach that conclusion?”, or “What if we did nothing at all, what would happen?” and for sure always: “What do you need from me in order to make that happen?”. And finally, please always keep in mind that you should use the tried-and-true ‘treat others how you want to be treated’ philosophy when responding.
- Act fact based
On the one hand side, this should be an easy tip – on the other side, well… too often it is not. But if you want to act with integrity, facts need to become your basis for decisions. You need to know all the relevant facts and never let your actions be guided by prejudices, hearsay or unconscious bias. Only objective information can contribute to a well-founded opinion. Therefore, always look for the facts before you act. However, the challenge is still, how can I spot facts versus opinions, especially in an intellectual debate? The simple answer is: If you can argue about it, it’s an opinion.
And here for sure comes the challenge: those opinions are much easier to include in any discussions and much faster spoken out. Where else facts require deep and profound knowledge as well as clear and precise messaging. But the beauty is: facts are unarguable and fully verifiable.
How do I prepare for these situations: for sure being excellent and experienced in your area of expertise always helps. In addition, especially if I’m confronted with areas where I might lack a bit of knowledge or experience, I for sure prepare myself accordingly. And this includes to get all the facts together by myself before I’m entering the stage (of the discussion or the meeting). And if I must rely on the preparation of others, I use my reminder from above: If I can argue about it, it’s an opinion, not a fact. Finally, let me add that acting fact based does not mean to keep emotions completely aside. I’m also a big fan of hearing and listening to your feeling, your intuition. But knowing the limitations of intuition is necessary as well. And only if you can master both, fact-based decisions making in combination with your intuition, you will be successful. Anyway, intuition is build up on experience, and the better fact based experiences you have, the better you will get with your intuition.
- Take responsibility for your actions
Another important trait of integrity is that you are taking responsibility for your actions. Always being transparent and open, not hiding anything should be your mantra. Be honest if you make a mistake, own up to it and for sure take responsibility. You are accountable for your actions but holding yourself also responsible for mistakes sometimes is missed. But by actively speaking it out in case of an issue, being true to your word, is showing that you are trustworthy. And trustworthiness hinges on being dependable. And all together is built upon the fact, that once you’ll say something, you follow through in going it no matter what. It then also helps that people around you understand that you are logical and reasonable, especially if you are taking my 3rd tip into account as well, acting fact based. If your actions reinforce your words, the message you are sending is even stronger. And always keep in mind, that keeping your word has nothing to do with being nice or too soft. We are not talking about pleasing everyone around you. No, definitely not. In fact, you as a leader, you are asked to take also tough decisions and act on those. But you should be conscious enough to know your limits. Knowing your weaknesses or blind spots is the essential ingredient before taking decisions and then to be able to take responsibility for your actions.
I always stand up for my actions – in fact, I have faced in the past some very serios discussions with managers above me up to the Executive Board. And yes, in those discussions it would have been potentially easier if I would have just accepted any unprecise messages or if I would have thrown others in front of the bus to save myself. But for sure I did not – I have faced such discussions, I have endured them (and they were really not funny), but afterwards I was even stronger. Not only I have taken full responsibility for my actions and decisions, but I now can also easily face any other challenge. Once you walked through such tough phases, the next time (trust me) you are much more relaxed as you know you will survive it. You can even here find beauty in darkness.
- Build up your credibility
By following above 4 tips, you are anyway on your way already to build up your credibility. Because this is my 5th tip for leaders: continuously work on building up your credibility. You should make good choices for sure in all areas of your life, no matter if in business or in your private life. Because those good choices will build up also your reputation with others. And while people always talk, and they don’t limit their talk to business topics anyhow, modeling your credibility is your must do as a leader. So, staying engaged with the people around you, you will not only encourage your colleagues to follow suite, but you will also be seen as a role model. And with that you can positively change the whole culture of your own organization. For building up your credibility it is essential to be transparent with your dealings and that people know for what you stand up. People will respect you for that. Finally, to build up your credibility, you need to understand that this will be an ongoing effort, such like building up your integrity overall. Never stop learning but make learning an ongoing process for you. Therefore, always stay up to date with everything connected to your business such like industry trends. Arm yourself with knowledge and actively use it to transform your business and improve your leadership skills.
For me that means I’m reading and listening to podcast a lot. I’m investing in my own development measures and do trainings, next to what is offered by my company. And by sharing my knowledge, for example with this post and my podcast, I’m practicing active learning by sharing. And sharing is caring anyhow, and this again brings us back to our ultimate goal, of being a leader with integrity.
“Empty words” – this is how we describe statements from people who are not followed by deeds. Because only the acting, not speaking according to the guideline of one’s own values, characterizes a personality of integrity. Personalities of integrity want to play a part in building a high performing culture in the workplace. They never let their actions be guided by prejudices or unconsciously formed bias. And because integrity is nothing which you could do half-baked through, you can’t stand somewhere in the middle. Integrity can be either build up or destroyed by your action. You won’t be a mere observer, but you will stand out, you will be a leader.
However, speaking honestly, none of us is perfect. We are human beings – we are not gods. And the more people around you are not living up to your own values, the harder it might get for you to not fall to their moral level. In those situations I always remind myself of the iconic statement from Michelle Obama:
Let’s go high, up to the top, without limits!
Let me know your thoughts. If I talk about “integrity” what instinctively comes up for you? How does this word feel? Is this an attribute that you value or take pride in? And what tips can you share to show and live up for integrity? Eager to hear and read your thoughts.