It has never been more important to show integrity in leadership. The workforce is increasingly feeling burnt out, mental health challenges are growing and wellbeing initiatives in our workplaces seem to be falling short.
It may seem strange, but having free fruit and pizza on Fridays doesn’t really seem to help with wellbeing after all!
Not only that, but many employees are looking for companies that offer greater flexibility and better conditions.
When they see a leader lacking integrity, they’re not likely to want to stick around for long.
What Does It Mean to Show Integrity?
In my opinion, to show integrity has several aspects.
First, it means doing what you say you are going to do.
Next, it means owning your mistakes and being open about the times when you are unable to deliver (for whatever reason).
And lastly, it means acting in alignment with your values.
Is Integrity a Binary Thing? Do You Either Have Integrity or You Don’t?
This is an interesting question.
I believe even the best leaders can have lapses in integrity.
Unless you are some sort of perfect robot, it is going to be difficult to fulfil the three aspects above all of the time.
The aim is to be showing integrity most of the time, rather than aiming for perfection.
Sometimes, you’ll be stressed and forget to communicate. Or you could promise something and never follow through.
And other times, we might even act against our values because we’re under pressure.
So I don’t believe it’s an all or nothing proposition.
I wrote some more about this particular topic in a previous article: Why Even Good Leaders Can Show a Lack of Integrity.
So How Do We More Reliably Show Integrity?
Here are a few ideas for showing up with integrity, more often.
People generally respect and like to work for a leader who shows integrity, so they are well worth the effort in my opinion!
1. Set Intentions to Show Integrity More Often
Intentions can be a powerful tool for helping you follow through on what you promise.
Specifically, I’m talking about “Implementation intentions” which were developed by Peter M. Gollwitzer and Gabriele Oettingen.
These researchers found the three things that most often stop people from taking action include:
- Remembering to act
- Deciding the right moment to act; and
- Having second thoughts at the moment of action.
So, they designed implementation intentions to counter these problems.
These are simple statements of intent which follow a simple if / when -> then structure.
For example, instead of saying “I’m going to go for a run today”, this would become:
“At 12pm, I will put my running shoes on and go for a run.”
The key here is that there is a trigger for the action and you are also specifying how you will act in more detail.
Research has shown that there is a significant increase in the possibility that someone will complete an action, if they specify a trigger in this format.
Sometimes I work with coaching clients who want to change their behaviour in some way, such as to listen more, or ask more questions of their people during meetings.
This might look like:
“When I see the pink post-it note, I will remember to listen.”
This makes the pink post-it note (for example) the trigger for the action, and improves the likelihood that the action will be remembered.
I use this format in my new Useful Thinking Journal which helps leaders reflect, understand their situation and improve. Click here to try the Useful Thinking Journal for yourself.
Learn More: Thoughtful Leader Podcast #196: Integrity Risks for Thoughtful Leaders.
2. Understand Your Values
I’ve written about the importance of understanding your values before, but it’s worth reiterating.
My experience is that some people do go through the effort to identify their values, but in some cases, the importance of them doesn’t really sink in.
They simply get a list of values, choose the ones they like and then say “these are my top five values”.
That’s fine, but we actually have to make sure they really are the right values for you … and then use them effectively.
I recommend testing your values to see whether they are really valid.
To test out your values, you can:
1. Look at past experiences (good and bad) that are burned strongly in your memory.
How do your past experiences relate to the values you’ve chosen? In my experience, there is usually some kind of link.
For example, when I was in primary school, I was teased by my fellow students because I’d joined the class one year later than everyone else. I went straight into year 2, because I’d already learnt to read.
I vividly remember my classmates chanting “Benjamin’s gonna cry” one lunch time. I laugh about it now but at the time it wasn’t great.
So how does this link to my values?
The link I see is to my value of inclusion or belonging. Ever since that time, I’ve been very aware of situations where people feel excluded or unwelcome, and try to prevent this from happening.
2. Look for the motivation beneath the value.
An example I sometimes see is people choosing “family” as a core value, because they love their family.
Now while I don’t doubt they love their family, it’s worth testing this one out.
Do you work in a high-paying, challenging role simply to make money to support your family? If so, then maybe this is the correct value.
But if you actually feel motivated by the sense of satisfaction and achievement while doing this work (while supporting your family at the same time), then perhaps a value is actually achievement or success.
The point is, don’t just take the words at face value, and don’t select values based on what you think you *should* choose.
Reflect on them and test them out, because they are only valuable when they really represent what we stand for and value as individuals.
👉 To take my online course on understanding and using your values, click here.
Now That You Have Your Values, What Do You Do?
When you understand your core values, you need to make sure you are behaving in alignment with them.
When you are acting in accordance with your values, it will feel right.
You’ll be more likely to follow through and do what you say you’re going to do, because you’ll feel compelled to act in alignment with your values.
Learn More: Thoughtful Leader Podcast #206: Lead Better By Understanding Your Core Values.
3. Communicate Your Intent
It’s much easier to show integrity when you can be authentic. And you’re more likely to be authentic when you communicate your intent to others.
That is, you explain what you are trying to achieve, and why you are trying to achieve it.
I was recently working with a leader who was going through a big restructure at work.
There was a lot of uncertainty and he and his team were unsure about what was going to happen with their team. There was also the potential for job losses.
This leader noticed that during this time, some of his colleagues started to “schmooze” the senior leaders in the company, in an effort to influence them so they could safeguard their jobs.
He said to me, “It’s so transparent and just seems so dodgy.”
Being Authentic Helps to Show Integrity
He didn’t want to act in this way, but he could see the benefits of building relationships with the incoming senior leaders, so that they at least knew what his team did and could make an informed decision about the future of the team.
I asked him why the behaviour of his peers seemed so dodgy.
He said “It’s because it’s so obvious what they are doing, but they think nobody else sees it. It’s really inauthentic.”
He knew it was smart to build his relationships with the senior leadership team. But he was stopping himself because it felt dodgy.
Eventually, he decided that it wouldn’t feel dodgy if he was open about what he was trying to achieve. And that was, to make sure that the senior leaders understood what his team did and why it was important.
So, he told his team that they were going to start meeting with some of the senior leaders more often and be more visible while the transition was taking place, and the reason why it was important.
It no longer felt dodgy. It made sense, and he was open about it.
When you communicate your reasons, people are clear about your intentions.
And you’ll feel like you have your integrity intact, because you are acting in alignment with what you communicated.
Of course, if you can’t communicate your intent without feeling dodgy, then this is a handy clue that maybe your course of action is… well… maybe a bit dodgy.
Showing Integrity Will Help You Stand Out
Being able to show integrity is an important part of good leadership.
Often the challenge comes when we are juggling priorities, struggling with large workloads and feeling under pressure.
Acting in alignment with your values, communicating your intent and then setting intentions can help you show integrity more often.
You might find that people want to work for you because of it.
What’s your best tip for demonstrating integrity? Let me and all the thoughtful leaders know in the comments!
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