Management Essay | Integrity

In many of the places I worked, the leaders were the most consequential people in the organization.

Often times, these leaders had charisma, were outgoing and energetic. Whether they were effective or not, team members listened to them and tried to follow their direction.

One notable exception to this was a person I met early in my career. He didn’t have a formal leadership position, but was regularly sought after for advice and assistance. In many ways he was more influential than the official leaders.

I wondered how this could be and began to take notes. I observed him in meetings and talked to those who worked with him.

This is what stood out:

1. Speaking precisely – talking about results or project performance, his language was always precise. He never used the words "about", "around", or "I guess".

2. Followed the rules – every organization has tedious rules that are supposed to followed but are often disregarded.

In the accounting firm where we worked a key process was to assemble project materials, known as work papers, in a bundle. A hole was punched in the corner of each page and they were tied together with a metal clip. On many occasions, I came to his office and found him “corner-punching” paper and assembling the bundles. He understood why this rule (and many more) was important and followed it.

3. Always honest – no matter the situation, he always told the truth. When others were prone to provide selective information, especially when there was bad news to report, he calmly relayed all the facts. Always it was accompanied by his suggestions to improve or remedy the situation.

In short, his super power was integrity.

As a result, his opinion as valued and his contribution respected.

Of course I admired him and sought to copy his behaviors.

One moment I will never forget was at the annual promotion day. I saw him clapping and cheering when one of his team was promoted. My immediate thought - wouldn’t it be great to achieve a status where someone of his stature cheered for me. This motivated me to work harder.

His influence also affected who I wanted to work with.

I spent less time with those who were prone to exaggeration and imprecision, because I learned language matters.

I shied away from those who took shortcuts with the rules. Observing how employees handled firm money made this easy.

And I tried to avoid altogether those who never answered tough questions directly. While technically not lying, they struggled with the truth.

Looking back, I think about him often, especially when I see another management book by a well-known business leader. To help future leaders, they suggest qualities to adopt, but integrity is seldom mentioned.

What a shame, because I learned someone with high integrity can be tremendously influential.

#Leadership #Management #Career

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