Four Traits Bold Leaders Share: Part 1, Integrity
Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
Integrity is about acting on your commitments and purpose every day and setting an example for your team to follow.
I once worked with a founder who had developed the bad habit of showing up late to his one-on-one meetings with his executive leadership team members. When he showed up 15 minutes late for our coaching session, I called him out on it.
“Are you open to some constructive feedback,” I asked him after he’d rushed into the room and plopped himself down in front of me, catching his breath and waiting for me to speak.
“Yes, sure, Nick,” he said. “Am I in trouble?”
You couldn’t fault his sense of humor, that was for sure. After a pause, I said, “When you show up late as you did today, I make up a story in my head that you don’t value our time together. When you show up late, it also makes me feel that my role with the firm is viewed by you as inconsequential.”
He wasn’t expecting this, and after a long awkward pause, he said, “Nick, that’s not it at all. Your work is absolutely critical for me and the team right now.”
I saw that he was being sincere and had been totally caught off guard by my comment. I added, “I appreciate what you’re saying, thank you. It makes me curious, though, about how many other members of your team feel the same way?”
The team members felt very much the same way I did, and it had eroded their confidence in the founder’s leadership. However, the story had a positive ending because the founder made a significant personal pivot in his behavior and never ghosted anyone on his team again. He had a blindspot, and it took a third-party like me to point it out to him. It often does.
As part of my work with the company, I provided him with a 360 feedback summary with some coaching around his blindspots, which he presented to his team during the next quarterly offsite. Soon after, making a few adjustments and being affirmed by his team renewed their trust in one another and he was able to lead his firm to 300% growth over the next three years.
A lesson in integrity
Did you know that 33 percent of all new CEOs fail within 18 months, and nearly 66 percent of all start-ups never survive to see their third birthday? It’s true, and according to the latest research from McKinsey, the main culprit is a lack of boldness in the context of the company's mission, vision and core values.
I’ve seen this first hand as a founder and a coach who has worked with dozens of founders and CEOs over the last 20 years. My experience suggests that a lack of boldness comes from a lack of conviction. And a lack of conviction generally comes from a gap between a person's calling and conduct. If you’re not truly living out your message, then you’ll lack the moral authority to lead others with confidence and boldness.
And so, you hesitate, and the team senses your incongruence and behaves with less confidence and boldness than you’d like.
I have found that there are really four pillars to “living out your message” in your company. All are important and connected — but they aren’t identical. The four principles include:
Integrity: Knowing your company's purpose and living it personally are two different things. Integrity is the vigilant fit between a person's calling and their conduct.
Energy: Resonant energy is contagious and uplifting. When leaders exude enthusiasm and passion for their purpose, it inspires their team members and stakeholders to share their sense of purpose and motivates others to work towards common goals.
Focus: You probably have way more ideas than the time and resources to execute. The only way to roll is to focus on the outcomes that enable you to scale your impact.
Commitment: Founders need to demonstrate a commitment to personal and professional development in order to grow with the business through successive stages, from infancy through adolescence.
With respect to the real-life example of the founder who was late to meetings, the principle of integrity came into play when his team saw a gap between the diligence and accountability expected of them at work and the lack of accountability shown by their leader. That’s a trust-buster every day. This lack of trust at the level of personal integrity makes it harder for your team to believe in the mission, vision and values, which can come to feel like little more than words on a website.
My colleague Rob Craven has written a longer contemplation on integrity here. I encourage you to read it because it explores emotional intelligence, impeccable agreements, healthy responsibility and conscious communication as core attributes of integrity that leaders should model for their teams. If it sometimes feels like no one really gets it or is willing to match your level of integrity, the reason just may be you, not them.
Integrity lies at the core of effective leadership. And your ability to lead boldly! Your team looks to you as a role model, and they will follow your level of commitment. Never exceeding it. Upholding high standards and staying true to your values will not only earn their respect but also inspire them to play a bigger game.
Our next blog will explore the second pillar, energy. In the meantime, let me know how you are authentically connecting with your team, leading with purpose, and upholding the highest standards. And if you’d like to assess how you’re doing against the four pillars, feel free to take our complimentary, confidential survey below.
Sincerely,
Nick Van Nice, ScalePassion