I’m a dedicated listener to NPR, and if you are as well you will have noticed that this week they started their semi-annual fund drive. The hosts were asking people to donate while mentioning that only a tiny fraction of habitual, dedicated listeners actually do, and it got me thinking about integrity.
I consider integrity as doing what’s right, even when it’s inconvenient. It’s such a simple definition and ideal, but such a difficult one to live. All of those millions of people listening to NPR tell themselves comforting excuses about how they can’t really afford a donation right now, but will definitely give in the future. There are no consequences for this behavior. Others
have always stepped up in the past, and NPR has continued on without their involvement. It’s so easy! The only reason to actually give, is that it’s the right thing to do.
Integrity has a civil engineering definition as well, referring to the structural strength of an object; how likely is it to fail under stress. I find this definition enlightening. A wall with structural integrity doesn’t fail when hit by a storm, just like a leader with personal integrity, real integrity, doesn’t fail under stress. Even when things are hard, even when no one would ever know, they are still much more likely to do the right thing.
Integrity is doing what’s right, even when it’s inconvenient
Underlying Issues
Have you ever been in a meeting with management and been tempted to take credit for an idea developed by someone on your team, or to duck responsibility for a mistake? The team member who came up with the diea isn’t there; they would probably never find out. That mistake was REALLY more of a team effort; lots of people could have done things better. Do thoughts like these go through your mind in moments of stress and accountability?
You can tell yourself that it’s just this one time, but it never is. These thoughts, these excuses that we tell ourselves aren’t the real problem, they’re symptoms. If you would consider taking more credit than you really deserve, it indicates the wrong mindset. It’s a sign of putting yourself before the team. Avoiding responsibility for a mistake the team made indicates insecurity. Maybe you’re afraid of criticism. These are underlying issues that can seriously eat away at a leader’s credibility and the team’s effectiveness.
Priorities -> Goals -> Behaviors
It’s critical to always be honest with yourself and to critically analyze your motivations. Your priorities dictate your goals, and your goals dictate your behaviors. If you consciously put the team first, then you’re much less likely to do something to compromise that like stealing credit or redirecting blame.
Integral Leadership
These little things are so important, because, like a wall, any act that lacks integrity, compromises the integrity of the whole. Take a single brick out of the strongest wall, and it becomes ever so much weaker and leaves a gap that makes it much easier to take another brick, and another… Eventually, what seemed like such a small thing that could never hurt such a sturdy wall, has caused it to become frail, full of holes, and ready to fall down at the smallest stress. Your personal integrity works the same way.
Don’t kid yourself to think that no one will notice these lapses. Everyone knows a leader with integrity; it’s in everything they do. A leader who genuinely puts his team first has an undefinable credibility with the team that cannot be bought any other way.
A team led by a genuine leader is like a highly trained special operations team instead of a group of hired mercenaries. Team members won’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves for the team and a leader who would do the same, while the mercenaries will scatter when things get hard. It can be hard to tell what kind of team it is when things are going well, but the difference is night and day the moment there’s a problem.
I have personally struggled with owning mistakes in the past, and every instance where I compromised my integrity haunts me. Each was an opportunity for genuine leadership lost, an opportunity to set the example for my team and learn from the mistake wasted. I now make a conscious effort to recognize this behavior, try to realize when I am engaging in it, and to hold myself accountable. Even more, I try to work on the underlying issues that cause me to engage in this behavior in the first place. It’s a struggle, but trying to make myself better and holding myself to a higher standard is the only way I can ask the same of my team.