You're facing doubts about your integrity as a new leader. How will you address the feedback effectively?

Reflect on your actions and decisions to identify any potential areas where your integrity might have been questioned. This self-awareness can help you understand and address the concerns more effectively.

Begin by thanking the person for their feedback. Let them know you appreciate their honesty, even if it's difficult to hear. Ask clarifying questions to fully understand the specific concerns. What actions or decisions led to this perception? Take time to honestly evaluate the feedback. Are there areas where you might have unintentionally caused this impression? If there's a misunderstanding, explain your actions and thought process behind them. Be transparent and open to their perspective.

All leaders deal with negative thinking and emotional reactions. Many leaders deal with a sense of insecurity at times, others deal with full-blown “Imposture Syndrome”. Either way, many leaders will have self-doubt at times. Others may feel they have a tenuous ability to maintain their authority or power. This can cause them to believe that they need to constantly fight to preserve their position or influence. There are also times when people are susceptible to having their decisions affected by their emotional state. These are just a few examples of common ways that our judgment and thinking can be affected by our mindset. This can cause people to be inconsistent with their choices, have tainted intuition or faulty logic.

Leaders will often be challenged about their decision-making, values, and ability to handle the position. It's essential to address the feedback with the ability to manage your verbal and nonverbal emotional responses. This proactive approach is key, as demonstrated by Steve Jobs when he was challenged by an audience member in 1997 upon his return to Apple. His response was to pause (to compose himself), then take a second pause and address the audience member with a universal truth they can agree upon. Steve Jobs did not attack the position; he found common ground.

Create a specific, actionable plan to address the areas where you've identified shortcomings. Outline clear steps and set measurable goals to ensure continuous improvement and transparency in your actions.

Self-reflection is difficult yet absolutely essential to effectively address concerns. Seeking clarification beyond vague feedback can be helpful. Honestly asking for specifics - perhaps in terms of examples- is key. Taking ourselves out of the equation and seeing the situation from the perspective of others is critical. Too many times I’ve heard people dismiss valuable feedback because they did not consider the other’s perspective. It’s important to remember that the perspective of others is essential in building trust. When we honestly reflect on our actions and take an objective viewpoint we may find opportunities to build trust. Immediately dismissing feedback diminishes our ability to build trust.

Providing a fair, consistent, and dependable level of respect to all people, regardless of their position or status. Reliable Respect allows others to always know that your thoughts, efforts, and actions are coming from a place of authenticity and empathy. There is immense value that comes from others being able to depend on your responses and contributions being reliably respectful.

Addressing your teams concerns about your integrity, will require courage and braver, vulnerability and transparency. In order to get this right engage support and don’t do this alone you will only get one chance to fix this. Specifically, if the concern is integrity, reflecting honestly is one of the most important factors in this scenario. However, when your integrity is questioned you would have to question how honestly you can actually reflect on yourself based on this. I would suggest you engage expert advice from a leadership coach. This will allow the leader to truly put the mirror up to yourself and understand why, integrity is an issue.

Encourage your team to provide ongoing feedback on your progress. This fosters a culture of continuous improvement and demonstrates your dedication to maintaining high standards.

Addressing doubts about your integrity as a new leader through open communication involves transparency, active listening, and consistent actions. Start by acknowledging the feedback and expressing your commitment to addressing concerns. Hold open forums or one-on-one meetings to listen to team members' perspectives without interrupting or becoming defensive. Clearly explain your decisions, values, and the rationale behind your actions. Demonstrate your integrity through consistent, honest behavior and follow through on promises. Encourage ongoing dialogue by inviting feedback and showing appreciation for it. Building trust takes time, but consistent open communication and integrity in actions will gradually alleviate doubts.

Valuing those who you are responsible for and providing them what they need to be successful. Integrity Leadership shares many perspectives with Servant Leadership. Employees, and those who you lead, are the priority. Their success is the indication of your success. By being Kind and providing empathy, a leader gives others what they require in order to get the best out of them.

Brainstorm 3-5 10 minute actions that you can commit to taking each week that illustrate your commitment to your values and your commitment to integrity. Think of this as an opportunity to model the ideals you hold mentally and let your action do the talking.

Facing doubts about your integrity as a new leader can be challenging, but it’s an opportunity to build trust. Start by understanding that these doubts are shaped by others' thoughts and perceptions. Approach the feedback with openness and a genuine desire to connect. Listen deeply and acknowledge their concerns without defensiveness. Share your values and the principles guiding your decisions. Consistently demonstrate transparency and follow through on your commitments. By fostering an environment of honesty and understanding, you’ll naturally build trust and reinforce your integrity.

When collaboration happens between people or between organizations, there needs to be mutual respect and trust on both sides. The collaborators need to trust that everyone will be treated fairly and that everyone’s efforts will be appropriately recognized. Learn more about what it takes to create a successful collaboration.

Overcoming questions about integrity requires you to build trust over time by consistently showing integrity. This needs to happen at the individual level and at the organizational level. But it starts with building and repairing relationships with individuals. Learn what trust looks like for each person and what it would take to repair it. Follow through and keep the dialogue going over time. If you're able to rebuild trust with individuals it will be multiplied throughout the organization, thus repairing your overall reputation.