Of the five key leadership traits, intelligence, self-confidence, determination, integrity and sociability, the one trait that will most likely determine how readily or effectively followers will support a leader is integrity. Palanski and Yammarino (2011) point out research by Bass and Steidlmeier, 1999; Craig and Gustafson, 1998; Howell and Avolio, 1995; Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991; Parry and Proctor-Thomson, 2002 and Simons, 1999, has determined “that integrity is essential for effective leadership.” If the leader’s integrity is questioned, leaders lose their potential to lead.
It is very difficult to clearly define integrity. In their review of scholarly literature, Palanski and Yammarino (2007) found five major themes that described integrity: wholeness (similar to what we think of as a person’s character), authenticity, consistency in words and actions, consistency in reaction to adversity and, moral/ethical themes. They contend that there are few theories or rigorous empirical studies of integrity because of this lack of common meaning. In a subsequent study, Palanski and Yammarino (2011) have determined within the context of leadership, a leader’s behavior integrity is closely related to trust. Therefore, no matter how integrity is conceptualized, for ease of interpretation, trust is commonly related.
At one point in my career, I had a job in inside sales for a small manufacturing company. My manager, who was in charge of the internal and external sales force, was visiting a customer. The customer had a broken device from one of our major competitors. Our boss offered to take the device and fix it for the customer. His true motivation for taking it was not to fix it but to have our engineers examine it and possibly gain some new engineering knowledge from the device. While this kind of activity may not be unheard of, what was most unsettling, when this customer began calling repeatedly, demanding the return of the device, my boss instructed us to make excuses for why it wasn’t fixed. At the same time, based on my interaction with and observation of this manager, I would describe him as smart, self-confident, determined, and fairly sociable, however, his lack of integrity made it unbearable for me to follow him. In that situation, the only alternative I could see was to find a new job. I was only with that company only three months!
Given the fact that every day there are leaders who exhibit a lack of integrity, from those who make the news and many more in the shadows as I described above, more training and education on the subject is needed, as well as continued attempts at empirical study. Fortunately, education has begun at the K-12 level with the development of curriculum that addresses the concepts of integrity such as “character, values and [ethics]” (Northouse, 2013). Only time will determine if this early educational intervention proves to be successful.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Palanski, M. E. & Yammarino F. J. (2007). Integrity and leadership: Clearing the conceptual confusion. European Management Journal, 25 (2007), 171–184. Retrieved from http://sk8es4mc2l.search.serialssolutions.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/?genre=article&issn=10489843&title=Leadership%20Quarterly&volume=20&issue=3&date=20090601&atitle=Integrity%20and%20leadership%3A%20A%20multi-level%20conceptual%20framework.&spage=405&pages=405-420&sid=EBSCO:Business%20Source%20Premier&aulast=Palanski,%20Michael%20E.
Palanski, M. E. & Yammarino F. J. (2011, August). Impact of behavioral integrity on follower job performance: A three-study examination. The Leadership Quarterly, 765-786. doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2011.05.014.