The Real Deal: The Barriers to Integrity

The root word for integrity is integer—a whole or complete number. Leaders who focus on integrity chose to live a “whole” life.

Of course, they won’t do it perfectly, but in spite of normal and expected human frailties, a principled leader strives to be whole, undivided. He or she is “the real deal.”

William Pollard wrote in The Soul of the Firm,

As we seek to understand and apply a cause for our work, our desire is not to be known for what we know but for what we do and who we are. We must be people of integrity seeking to do that which is right even when no one is looking and staying committed whether the test is adversity or prosperity.

Yes, that’s exactly it. Integrity.

Fear

Anyone called into the principal’s office in elementary school understands the fear associated with integrity. Do I tell the truth? Do I keep my friends out of trouble? What will happen to us if I tell the principal exactly what we did?

If we do not combat fear, a downward spiral begins. Fearful thoughts lead to paralysis. President Harry S. Truman once said,

The worst danger we face is the danger of being paralyzed by doubts and fears. This danger is brought on by those who abandon faith and sneer at hope. It is brought on by those who spread cynicism and distrust and try to blind us to the great chance to do good for all mankind.

When we are paralyzed by fear, we tend to lose perspective and often make decisions or act in ways that do not support our integrity. Fear-caused paralysis then leads to procrastination.

Fear does tend to immobilize. Our people, the project, and the organization wait for us to act, and we cannot. When they observe our inaction, people begin to wonder what is so important about the assignment or initiative. Our lack of action sends a powerful—if unintended—message: Our actions (or resulting inactions) do not match our intentions.

Finally, as we hit bottom in this fear spiral, procrastination leads to purposelessness. We find ourselves losing our vision and hope. We vacillate and lose heart. We are paralyzed, we procrastinate, and then we simply give up. Integrity and living a life of quality sink below our radar. We expect—or others expect us—to deliver results, but we are bound by such fear that we lose our sense of direction and, along the way, our core strength.

Compromise

Compromising values happens gradually over time—one little lie or indiscretion adds to another until, almost imperceptibly, integrity and character erode. Finally, at some point our integrity is overwhelmed.

Most people don’t just plunge into compromising situations. It happens one step at a time.

Many of the business tragedies we are living through today started as minor omissions or small wrong decisions. Over time they grew, and suddenly the CEOs found themselves telling lies to their stockholders, employees, and the media. Records were fudged; fortunes have been lost. And it all started with one small compromise.

Hypocrisy

Sir Francis Bacon once wrote, “A bad man is worse when he pretends to be a saint.” Hypocrisy, like fear and compromise, can destroy integrity and render leaders trustless.

In leadership, integrity is about actions matching beliefs. Do leaders “act” the part or are they genuine? Does their walk match their talk?

I once worked with a company where the CEO played many “parts.” In fact, he played so many parts that on many days the employees could not uncover who he really was. He was one person to the stockholders, another to his direct-reports, and a third person to employees (when he chose to speak to them). He would talk eloquently at company meetings about teamwork but work hard behind the scenes to create fear and tension between the divisions. He would promise profits to the shareholders but make wasteful decisions that eroded profits and cash flow. Eventually he left the company, but the wake of his hypocrisy nearly bankrupted the organization.

Fear, compromise, and hypocrisy are daunting barriers to a life of integrity. But living the alternative—a whole life of integrity—is definitely possible and well worth the effort.

One last thought:

If I don’t believe you have integrity, I’m not interested in being influenced by you.  If we think about it we would probably all agree with that.  Leadership is only influence!  If you lose your integrity, you lose your ability to influence, you lose your ability to lead!