Undoubtedly, the first universal law of leadership is “Maintain absolute integrity.” You probably know the word, what it means and how it applies to your everyday life. Do you know what the Merriam-Webster dictionary says about this word? The dictionary notes that Integrity as a word originated sometime in the 14th Century and is defined as “firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. An unimpaired condition. The quality or state of being complete or undivided.”
What a powerful word: Integrity. How can one simple nine-letter word pack so much punch? How can it not? Integrity is just that important.
Projecting the image that you are a righteous and honest person and living that will help in getting you established not only as a leader but also most importantly as a follower. You will be the kind of person who will follow the right people and shy away from those not moving in the direction you want to go. Best of all, those that will follow you will do so knowing that you are taking them in the direction they want to go and be in the place they see themselves eventually being in. Just remember, as with anything that is important it will not happen overnight.
As a leadership trait integrity is something that takes a long time (if not a lifetime) to master. Unfortunately, it can take almost no time to tear it down. This reminds me of a great quote attributed to Sir Winston Churchill, which he said around the time that London was getting firebomb in the early years of World War II, “To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day.”
Personally, I believe that Integrity is one of those traits in life that you have to work on every single day. There is no wiggle room; there is no taking a personal day from integrity, either you do it or you don’t.
As a leader those that you lead and those that you follow will expect nothing less than Integrity in its purest form from you. They will see that you can be counted on when things get tough. They will also expect your behavior to be the shining example of what Integrity is supposed to be. They will also expect you to be this way all the time because if you cannot be honest all the time then why bother? You end up wasting your time just trying to keep things in order. It is just not worth it, my recommendation is to just do it all the time? It will prove to be less of a hassle and everyone will respect and follow you for it.
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