The importance of integrity in leadership

I believe in a hierarchical system in the workplace but I think we should also be in it together. A ‘them and us’ culture creates resentment, distrust and frustration.

Leaders are paid to lead, take responsibility and also take some of the flack from above and protect their team. I feel we all need someone to look up to, to ask advice from or learn from. We need someone to be held accountable to because lack of accountability breeds complacency and if we are all striving to do our jobs well, someone needs to be checking.

I have clients who are given ultimate autonomy to do what they like but leading a team or company without any guidance is anxiety-inducing even for the most self-confident person. Having a leader is important for our own understanding of if we are doing our job well.

Why do we need integrity?

Integrity is the process of being honest with yourself and others while having strong moral principles. Without integrity in leadership, team members and employees will start to feel unsafe in their roles, feel threatened and will never work at optimum productivity in they fear making mistakes or losing their job.

How does lack of integrity translate to employees feeling threatened?

When people are disingenuous, it is hard to know where we stand. We cannot predict the actions or reactions of people when they are not honest or genuine people and they function from ego, so do not always have our best interests at heart. They may want to appear like they are more important or never make mistakes which can make employees feel they are ‘out to get them’.

Three ways to show integrity in leadership

Walk the walk/ lead by example

Be someone that others can look up to. Treat everyone fairly, act with kindness, care about your team and inspire others by demonstrating that you are an embodiment of what you are promoting or asking others to do. You cannot expect others to respect you if you are expecting one thing from your team and doing the opposite yourself. If you want people to treat others with respect, you must also do the same, and that goes for anything you want your team to do.

Show vulnerability

You are also a human and no one expects you to get it 100% right all the time. Show your team that you can make mistakes and get up again from them, you can have emotions, feel stressed and get things wrong. It is all part of being a human being and if you show others that you too can be vulnerable, it gives the team comfort and confidence that it is OK to fail or make mistakes, which, in turn, encourages more risk taking.

Resolve conflict with kindness

As a leader, you have a different perspective on the organisation of the company than your team do. We all see things from our own perspective and some things you do, or decisions you make, may seem unfair or cause conflict. It is important to realise that you have the big picture of the structure and needs to do what you do. As long as you are doing what is right for the company and what feels right for you, you can deal with conflict with authenticity knowing that you have the bigger picture that perhaps others do not see.

Look for competence before capability

Seeking the positive in everyone is not always something I have observed in leaders. I have witnessed leaders deciding someone is difficult and making an effort to get them on plans and give them targets and regular accountability check-ins, rather than support them through their challenges and see what they are capable of. I understand there are people who do not want to learn, refuse to do basics of their job but there should be an abundance of support, mentoring and coaching offered before they are put on plans, as this is a sure-fire way to have people lose faith in you, lack confidence and feel like they cannot be open or honest with you.

The result is a ‘them and us’ culture

By not practising what you preach, looking to be seen as ‘in charge’ or ‘in control’ and not trying to see the best in people will result in a ‘them and us’ culture, where employees do not feel comfortable to say how they feel, express concerns or be transparent about their struggles. Open communication will never exist if employees feel ‘below’ their leaders. Leaders are in that position to support and, as much as the position is hierarchical in that responsibility falls on them and they will be paid more, a leader who leads with ego and wants to be regarded as ‘above’ their team, will never be a leader that others look up to because they lack integrity.