Integrity Is an Important Concept for Leaders and National Institutions

“Every sailor knows that you can’t sail a ship
that isn’t moving forward,
strong leaders understand that to change direction,
you first have to create forward progress.”
John Maxwell

Integrity is an interesting word and is an important one for the transitions we face as a society. Older patterns of thinking and ways of looking at the world sometimes need to adjust to the newer challenges that face us. When we don't update our thinking we run into situations where the values of a wide swath of society (...as defined by characteristics such as generational, racial, religious, etc...) are not in alignment with the values of some institutions (...meaning there is dissonance that will create conflict). Without reorienting the values of one or the other (or both) we will continue to see growing differences and rubs/conflicts that will play out in different avenues. Integrity can help...but only if we live by those values, manage by those values, and use those values as something we agree upon. 

First let us discuss integrity from a leadership standpoint. Here are a couple of quick studies......

 1. Integrity Raises Organizational Effectiveness. ".....effective leadership correlates with integrity and the presence of integrity will improve organizational effectiveness." (Storr, 2004, pg. 1)

2. Integrity = Trust = Organizational Performance: Integrity is one of the most important characteristics of leadership according to a Robert Half Management Services (as stated in Williams, n.d.)

Integrity influences perceptions of trust and that in turn leads to improve organizational influence. Trust that one will act with certain values (i.e. moral conscious) allows for better management as people are willingly to adjust their own behaviors to meet current challenges because they "trust" the vision and the leader. Reasonableness, the ability to think beyond oneself, compromise, hold oneself accountable, truthfulness, moral conscious, etc. are partial indicators of integrity.

Here are a few important concepts to ponder: 

1. How might political behaviors impact positively or negatively perceptions of trust among the general population?

2. Does the ability to solve problems influence perceptions of trust?

3. What happens to trust of institutions if integrity is not seen as important or rewarded from a cultural standpoint?

4. Where individuals, departments, entities are not acting with integrity (i.e. meaning adjusting, removing bad actors, honesty, forthrightness, wise use of resources, following a value system society believes in, correcting mistakes, etc.) will it create dissonance in society?

5. Is it necessary for leaders of organizations to have integrity in order effectively navigate change?

Williams, T. (as citation of original. n.d.) Why Integrity Remains One of the Top Leadership Attributes. Economist Education. https://execed.economist.com/blog/industry-trends/why-integrity-remains-one-top-leadership-attributes

 Storr L. Leading with integrity: a qualitative research study. J Health Organ Manag. 2004;18(6):415-34. Abstract from doi: 10.1108/14777260410569984. PMID: 15588012.

(Side note: In the situation in which I am familiar, dishonest i.e. lack of integrity potentially led to different types of chaos and legal violations as they relate to civil rights  and others {We will later discuss the importance of civil rights in the development of a competitive and innovative nation. Its part of strong cluster management as well.} Where good judgement should have been forthcoming social connections warped the functionality and decisions/behaviors of important institution (s). When integrity isn't present the institution could be derailed from serving wider interests/needs of society.  Poor and/or misleading behaviors of individuals/groups can risk positive/negative perceptions of wider institutions. Such systems should be managed in alignment with American values under the definitions/rights of the Constitution and our founding fathers/mothers to maintain integrity through sense of purpose. Leaders and their networks can sometimes create positive and/or negative influence within organizations and derail and/or realign them from/to their missions. Picking the right leaders and having the proper checks and balances helps create institutional resilience. Where and how much influence individuals should have is a matter of debate when it comes to important national institutions. Too much leadership influence and they can become warped while with too little leadership influence and they struggle with needed change. So the more important the institution to society, the more checks and balances we may need. Integrity in society is still important to better ensure public perceptions of legitimate purpose and thus support. In other words, we must pick people with integrity to lead and maintain a level of checks and balance when/if systems fail.)