Reputation is the measurement of integrity, with history serving as the judge

(By Rick Lambert)

When integrity is the motivation of anyone in leadership, whether it’s positional or merely leadership by influence, it will always leave an indelible mark as proof to its effectiveness.  Integrity always stirs up the best attitudes out others.  In other words, one way to shape up the attitudes of your subordinates is to shore up your own integrity.  Work on your consistency, evaluate your ethics, and make sure the people who serve under you see that they are more important to you in your list of priorities than you are. 

• Integrity in a leader finds ways to communicate to others their importance by noticing the individual’s strengths, abilities, and talents.
• Integrity in a leader promotes a spirit of cooperation first by example (showing what behavior is acceptable), and second through instructions (telling people what behavior is acceptable).  It’s not the other way around.
• A leader of integrity has the common sense to recognize that success is not gained by any one’s single effort.  Every success must factor in people involved on indirect or direct levels of participation. 
• Integrity sharpens your vision to see the investment of others.  An absence of integrity in a leader/manager causes them to see only themselves and their own “great and noble contributions”.  Self-centeredness is the extreme opposite of integrity, and it has the opposite effects.
• Integrity is is doing what it right without compromise.  It’s using your power and influence for the benefit of others, even if they don’t recognize the strength of this quality.  In keeping with its focus, it will promote loyalty, determination, and honesty by example, and then insist upon the same being exercised by subordinates.

Since a leader with integrity is constantly looking out for the welfare others, integrity will guide the leader into defining what success looks like.  Integrity provides direction for it always concerned that things be done right.  Little or no direction is an indicator that no one has taken the time to accurately articulate the objective.  With this then, integrity pulls the reigns on a leader’s impatience.

Since a leader is entrusted with power and influence, integrity must exercise itself with humility.  “Leaders need to have considerable self-confidence, but they also must have a dose of self-doubt.  Leaders must learn how to communicate the need for advice and help, how to become a creative listener, how to empathize and understand” (Thomas Cronin).