What does integrity actually mean? Have you ever thought about it? What would be your spontaneous answer if you were asked this question? Take a moment to think about it and make a few notes before continuing to read.
Are there people in your life whom you would trust without hesitation? Do you know why? What exactly makes you trust them? Or is it easier for you to describe the people you would never trust: What is the reason for your mistrust?
When beautiful and hopeful words are spoken, but actions do not match those words, the integrity of the person or company in question suffers. The result is a deep level of trust. You know best what that means.
The same applies to promises that are made and then not kept, or when excuses are used to find a way out. In such cases, we are dealing with people who are not congruent—not consistent. When there is a gap between intentions and behavior, it leads to uncertainty. Often, we are not even aware of such behavior ourselves. It happens as part of our habits. We then wonder why people feel insecure or treat us with suspicion.
For most people, integrity means honesty. But that alone does not define integrity. Integrity is the courage to do the right thing, even when it is difficult. It means deciding to tell the truth in a situation, even if it is unpleasant or even hurtful. That takes courage and confidence to be able to deal with the reactions and consequences.
It is by no means always easy to tell the truth or stand up for my values. How often do we succumb to the temptation to want to look good and betray our values, opinions, or convictions? The fatal thing about this is that you are not harming your fellow human beings, but above all yourself. You lose credibility with others and lose your self-confidence.
I hear time and again from employees and managers that loyalty is a value that ranks highest. As long as the company behaves loyally toward them, they can easily uphold the value of loyalty. However, if they feel that the company is treating them disloyally, for whatever reason, they begin to set rules or conditions behind the value of loyalty.
People have beliefs, standards, and attitudes; these contribute to their behavior. The reasons why we have these particular beliefs, standards, or attitudes are based on the values behind them. When our behavior is consistent with our values, we possess integrity.
Integrity plays an important role, especially in leadership positions. leader with integrity leader trustworthy leader and remain steadfast even in difficult situations. They possess strength of character, which is characterized by inner competence and is reflected positively on the outside.
We recognize integrity in the quality of our relationships, in leadership behavior, and in challenging situations. People with integrity can be relied upon to keep their promises. Such leader by their convictions, live by them, and radiate authenticity. This naturally has a positive influence on employees. It becomes easier to delegate new tasks and demand accountability and results when there is a high level of trust.
If you want to know how your integrity is currently doing, ask yourself the following questions, which were once formulated by Stephen M. R. Covey:
The bottom line: People with integrity live in harmony with their values. If you want to have integrity, you first need to start thinking about your values. You have already read about values (see also Credibility – the basis of trust and How identification arises) several times in the Grundl Leadership Institute blog. However, this is only a grain of sand when it comes to this topic.
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