Integrity is your licence to practice, not your idea or skill
In the 1860s many entrepreneurs sold adulterated tomato ketchup. Heinz believed his clients deserved the best quality products. In keeping with his integrity, he decided to sell his tomato ketchup in clean, bright glass bottles.
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His honesty inspired trust in the brand, a very valuable ingredient for business longevity. Now we know who laughed last and the brand that stood till today.
Despite the clear benefits of maintaining integrity, many entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders still stop at the station of compromise.
Recently, the Forbes 30 under 30 ranking of entrepreneurs was pilloried as many of the awardees have been handed jail terms for engaging in dishonest activities.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, “integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change.”
When integrity is used in relation to someone’s work it means “someone’s high artistic standards or standards of doing their job, and that person’s determination not to lower those standards.”
The mindset to do what is right and to keep the standards (or better still raise the standards) is a fundamental trait that is shared by highly successful professionals and entrepreneurs.
The entrepreneurial journey is filled with several stations where there are opportunities to compromise. Highly successful entrepreneurs take the high road.
They put themselves under severe pressure to do what is right for all the stakeholders in the business. They keep the promises they make to stakeholders.
As Jack Welch noted in his book, Winning, “Integrity is just a ticket to the game. If you don’t have it in your bones, you shouldn’t be allowed on the field”.
No professional intending on succeeding in our complex, technology-driven, and hybrid working culture can ignore integrity in the pursuit of his/her practice.
The one and only lasting benefit of carrying a mindset of integrity and acting with that daily is the opportunity to play the game for a long time and enjoy the rewards of playing without any embarrassment.
Proverbs says “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.” Integrity is what’s needed to safeguard our obligations to all stakeholders including clients, employers, teams we work with, and professional groups we may be part of.
Even in a time of crisis, integrity is what will keep every professional and business headed in the right direction.
Integrity to the profession
Remaining true to the requirements and expected norms of behaviour in any profession is what secures the future of the profession.
To deviate from this is to destroy the very foundations upon which the profession is built. Over the past decade, I have been teaching finance professionals who are preparing to take the Chartered Financial Analyst exam.
I teach the Ethics and Professional Standards module. Many are always surprised at the level of integrity that is demanded of the members and candidates in the profession.
Given the highly competitive environment in many industries, the huge rewards at stake, and the need to deliver results, there is pressure on professionals to cut corners, overstate benefits, and compromise on quality.
Integrity builds trust in the services being offered by the members of the profession. Integrity is one of the foremost standards of conduct expected of members in almost every profession.
Every professional must identify the core integrity requirements of their profession and keep them.
Integrity to clients
Every professional makes a promise to a customer or client. Highly successful professionals do what is right and deliver their best service to the customer.
They do not deviate from established standards designed to serve the client’s best interest. Compromising for whatever reason leads to disastrous consequences for the professional.
A professional artist cannot deliberately limit his or her creativity and paint GH¢100 pieces because that is what his clients can afford.
The professional artist is significantly better off painting a masterpiece in keeping with the integrity of his practice and selling it for GH¢100.
In doing so, the professional artist keeps her promise to deliver her best and remains true to the standards of her practice which guarantees the future of her practice.
The price does not determine the standard of the practice or the offering. It is expected that every business will operate with integrity whether they list it as a core value or not.
Every professional made a promise to the world when they launched their product or service and must do everything possible to keep the promise they have made.
Integrity to the team
Warren Buffett reminds all professionals that "it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently."
When you decide to join a team in a professional capacity you have made a promise to be a valuable team member. The team is not your family.
It’s important that you keep that promise and live up to what it means to be a professional in that team.
This means you keep team agreements, perform your side of the bargain, support others to carry out their duties, bring your skills to the table, and remain committed to the goals of the team and not your individual agenda.
You are expected to share your best ideas with the team to enable them to succeed.
If you are unable to demonstrate this level of integrity in a team setting, then you are well advised to find a team where you can demonstrate integrity.
Integrity to the employer
The employment relationship requires that professionals offer their best efforts in line with the expectations of their employment contract.
Hybrid working structures sometimes make it impossible for employers to supervise the work being done by employers which has created a huge concern for employers.
As a professional, you must not deprive our employers of our skills, abilities and the time expected under your contracts whether you work remotely or not.
It must be said though that in some instances the guilty party is the employer who is always asking for additional time beyond what has been contracted for.
If other factors in the employment situation make it difficult to operate with integrity, again I will recommend that you explore other options that will provide you with the opportunity to serve with integrity.
You do not want to fall into the destructive habit of being in an employment relationship without integrity.
Ideas to Action:
Below are a couple of actions to reflect on and use to guide your practice and maintain a mindset of integrity on your professional journey.
I. Identify the specific promises that you are making to your team members and your organisation and keep them.
II. Identify practices and/or strategies you can take on a daily basis to support you to keep the standard as a professional.
III. Ask yourself questions that help you to hone your moral compass. For example, who am I? What do I stand for? What legacy do I want to leave in this team or organisation?
IV. Regularly review the code of ethics and standards of your profession, industry, or organisation and talk about it with colleagues.
The mission of The Leadership Project is to harvest highly effective leadership practices and share them in a manner that other leaders can easily incorporate into their leadership practice.
If you have got an idea or leadership practice to share, kindly write to [email protected]. Until you read from us again, keep leading…..from leader to leader, one practice at a time.
