Do you consider yourself to have a high level of integrity? Tom Peters once said “There is no such thing as a lapse of integrity.” You either have integrity or you do not. Too often we slip in this area and can justify it in our minds of why we did it.
We lie to our co-workers and subordinates so that they will not find out what is actually going on. We justify it by saying to ourselves that we are not going to start a rumor. Sometimes that lie is found out and then you look start to lose the trust level that those around you have of you. Why can we not be honest and just tell people that based on your position with the company, there are things that you cannot share. You do not have to justify yourself. As a company, you are always looking for ways that you can grow. Some decisions will affect people’s lives and you do not want to start a rumor about a possible change in the company that you are exploring.
Once you start a lie, it is hard to keep up with what you have told one person and before you realize it, you can not tell the truth without it messing up your story. Then you have really lost the trust that people have in you.
If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.
— Mark Twain
You need to stay true to your values. You should not have one set of values when you attend church on Sunday and then a different set at work. The principles that you believe in should show through in everything that you do. Integrity is one of the core values that you cannot do without. If your friends, family and co-workers do not have trust in you, then they will have a hard time respecting what you do. As a leader, they are not as apt to follow your lead if they do not trust your motive.
I mentioned earlier that you can tell people that you do not have the ability to give them all of the information that you know. You have a level of commitment and trust that your boss has in you to not “leak” information. If you are honest with your staff, they will respect this. That does not mean that they will not be curious. They will, though, understand why you take the stand that you do. On the other hand, if you lie to them to cover up this insider information, it will come back to hurt you. When they finally hear the truth, they will realize that you lied to them.
I can not say it enough that one of the most important principles to stand true on is your integrity. Do not let those around you sway your values. Think about your own circumstances where your integrity is trusted. How have you stayed true to your principles?
