Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts... Integrity is binary: you either have it or you don’t.

In this post, you'll discover 3 ways to improve integrity within work.

The original meaning of integrity, is to be whole or complete. If you are one way on the inside and another on the outside, you lack integrity. I have always understood this to mean being aware of your parts (transparency) and making sure that each part tells one story.?

How does this apply to you and your work??

As a business leader, work on transparency to elevate your level of integrity.?

Integrity is difficult for businesses that lack transparency. Having hidden agendas or making decisions with concealed sources do not allow for integrity in the workplace, simply because they are not transparent.?

Working in businesses experiencing change, it is important to be transparent about all new rules, expectations for departments and results required from staff, to maintain a sense of integrity. Why? When you are transparent, it is easy to maintain a sense of integrity.?

A great example of this came this week from the company #OATLY. #OATLY launched a site, where they publish and respond to all complaints. This one move sky rockets and protects their integrity through transparency. This is a great move from a purpose perspective, but an even more astute move from a business and branding perspective.?

Think about it. Transparency is something that we will see more and more of. It is inevitable, as information becomes more readily available, with more and more things tracked, the idea of attempting to conceal core facts about your business will become more and more expensive, impractical or in some cases, impossible. By publishing all complaints and responding to them in a creative, fun way, OATLY sets out their character and give us a preemptive strike. Smart!

You don't need to go as far as Oatly do. Starting small goes a long way.

Here are three 'simple' ways to become more transparent about your character and standard as a business, to improve integrity within work.

• A company manifesto to set out (or go beyond) the missions visions and values. More than a code of conduct, this is a document to anchor all behaviour.
• OKR’s for each departments, explicitly linked to the manifesto, and with clear SMART goals for department managers.
• Self-generated or negotiated KPI’s for each member of staff, starting with an explanation of how these results link to OKR’s and the manifesto.?

Sounds simple, but it can be a challenge.

???? DM me for tips and tools on improving transparency in your organisation, to shift the dial on integrity.?

One last reflection.

Not having integrity does not mean you are a hypocrite. The truth is, in an aggressive growth or acquisition phase, with multiple departments and multiple employees, a single and coherent anchor of character may be difficult, or even undesirable.?

The danger is that a lack of integrity, from departments or bosses, will always leak. Typically, in toxic competition between departments, quiet tap-outs with employee engagement or a?breakdown in trust between people. The latter being very dangerous, as it robs organisations of psychological safety, and?can severely disrupt organisational culture.?

As a business leader, work on transparency to elevate your level of integrity.?

#oatly #integrity #psychologicalsafety #purposedrivenleadership #learninganddevelopment #toolkit #thursdaythoughts ?#ledelse?