Building Integrity
Integrity is one of the fundamental building blocks to both a strong personal foundation and a fully functioning organisation. Yet from my experience of working within organisations, bringing up the subject of integrity can appear to be a trigger, resulting in resistance. People seem to find it difficult to acknowledge that they act with anything but the highest integrity. They feel too vulnerable to admit when they have acted without integrity, which makes it tricky to talk about, let alone rectify.
The Oxford English Dictionary definition of integrity is:
‘The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles… the state of being whole and undivided… the condition of being unified or sound in construction.’
I believe a contributory factor to people’s sensitivity to talking about integrity is that the dictionary definition connects it to their moral code, personalising it. Attempts to address a loss of integrity are then perceived as judgemental. In the context of work and making change happen, integrity is much more linked to ‘being unified or of sound construction’. Choosing to focus on this interpretation alone takes the personal element out of it and addresses integrity in a simpler way. Integrity in this context is about whether something is aligned and workable. If a chair has integrity, then it is well constructed and maintained in a condition that will ensure it won’t collapse when I sit down. I can rely on it to work. In the human domain, the degree to which we do what we say we will do, both in terms of our promises to others and to ourselves, is what gives us integrity. Do we keep to our word? And if we are unable to follow through on what we say we will do, do we take action to let those who will be impacted know?
On an organisational level, are people supported to act with integrity? To what degree is there transparency with clear goals, roles and expectations? This is more than just about being accountable. In the complex and ambiguous terrain of the new normal, maintaining our integrity can be a challenge. As goal posts shift and the need for high performance increases, the chance of our over or under inflated ego kicking in increases, which then risks our integrity slipping. Think about it like spinning plates. The more plates you are spinning, the harder it is to keep all of them going, so there is an increased chance of one of them falling.
When faced with multiple demands, we can find it increasingly hard to be present, meaning we make unconsciously rash decisions that impact our ability to follow through. Opportunities for short cuts tempt us and integrity then slips. Creating a commonly shared understanding of integrity and its impact that removes the moral judgement is the beginning of setting the conditions and conversations where its breakdowns can be addressed and rectified. We are all human; we all make mistakes. It’s owning up to and rectifying those mistakes as opposed to covering them up that restores integrity.
This doesn’t just apply in the realm of whether we keep our word to others, but also the degree to which we keep our word to ourselves. Being clear of our values and living a life in tune with these provides us with a sense of assuredness and ease which is missing when we act or live in ways that are inconsistent. Being aware of our personal values and what they mean to us gives us a personal framework for living and leading. When we act in alignment with these, then our integrity is consistent; we are keeping our word to ourselves. This is fundamental to being a leader. It helps us create congruence between our decisions, actions and words at the most minute level. Think about people you have come across – some will be in your workplace – who for whatever reason don’t inspire trust in you. There is something that just doesn’t add up. Maybe it’s a lack of sincerity, or they’re slightly overbearing, but how they present while appearing well intentioned doesn’t quite connect. This is inauthenticity and a sign that ego and potential games are at play. The impact is a loss of trust, risking levels of engagement and performance. What causes this slight but impactful disconnection is an incongruence between their word, be it to themselves, and living in tune with their values, or to others.
Why integrity is important when navigating egos
The bottom line of integrity is all about delivering what we say we will deliver, fulfilling our promises to ourselves and to others. When we do this it creates a sense of power and strength within ourselves. If we respond with integrity to others, this leads to the establishment of trust.
When we lack integrity, the greatest impact is a loss of power and energy, which results in us being more liable to our ego being triggered, less present, more vulnerable to getting into unhelpful games and the focus of our attention being out of kilter with our intentions. This leads to communication breakdowns and avoidance of real, authentic conversations, which are necessary to creating an engaged, high-performing organisational culture.
How to restore integrity
On a personal level
Look around you and notice where you are not living life in tune with your values. Where are you acting out of a need to please others and/or prove yourself at the cost of being who you really are?
On a relationship level
Integrity impacts our relationships on many levels, from whether we obviously fulfil our promises to the degree we say what we truly feel. The reality of our busy lives is that there are times we promise to deliver on something, but circumstances arise that mean we don’t fulfil our promise. When these circumstances arise, we can do something about it by getting in touch with the people we know it will impact and rearranging. But there are times when we don’t fulfil on our promise and let another person or other people down.
There are various ways to respond:
1. Ignore what happened and hope the affected party/ies didn’t notice
2. Take action to cover up the mistake – for example, destroying all evidence or making up an excuse
3. Own up to our responsibility and make amends
While it may seem that the third option is the most obvious one, I have seen the first two happen many times within an organisation. For example, avoiding that all important but tricky conversation or a senior leader destroying all evidence of his team’s negative feedback to avoid being taken to task by his line manager or a whole division changing the terms of their agreements to achieve budget, with massive impact on their relationships with suppliers.
Although the third option is the obvious choice, it takes something for us to follow that option. It takes a preparedness to be vulnerable; a preparedness to own up to the fact that we got it wrong; the ability to let go of making excuses for ourselves and getting over whatever shame or embarrassment we may feel. It is likely in the scenario where we are the cause of the broken agreement our defensive ego will make a lot of noise. Self criticism, blaming our circumstances or feeling inadequate are all signs our ego is alive and well.
This is when our self-awareness and self-management are invaluable. Only by catching ourselves in those moments do we create a choice around how we respond to them. This gives us a chance to avoid a defensive reaction, restore our integrity and rebuild trust .