“Look for three things in a person: intelligence, energy, and integrity. If they don’t have the last one, don’t even bother with the first two.”
– Warren Buffett, Businessman
Here is a quote that says a lot about the importance of integrity in all walks of life. If someone with as impressive a track record as Warren Buffett places integrity as the number one quality we should look for in a person, I think we should take a few minutes to understand why integrity is at the top of his list. .
Reading the definition of integrity given by the National Center for Textual and Lexical Resources of France , I admit that it is a little intense: character, quality of an incorruptible person, whose conduct and actions are irreproachable.
It is a goal to achieve and a guide that allows you to make decisions every day. We should not aspire to become perfect, but we must ensure that we make our decisions based on moral and ethical principles.
Integrity allows:
- Building trust
- Credibility and reputation
- Alignment with your values
- Ethical decision making
- Creating a positive environment
- Resilience and conflict management
- Responsibility and self-confidence
- Positive influence
To become a good leader in your workplace or community, the people you influence must have confidence in you. If people perceive you as having integrity, this will also project an image of an honest and reliable person.
Basing your decisions on moral and ethical principles will also positively strengthen your reputation, which will subsequently impact your credibility when you speak or stand in front of your group.
This will be of great help when it comes time to deal with the management change for your team. Normally, people are reluctant to change their ways mainly because you are asking them to step out of their comfort zone. Being perceived as reliable, honest and credible will have the impact of comforting them and positively influencing their opinion of the new methodology.
Acting with integrity will also be very calming for your mind, because it means that your actions will be aligned with your values and principles. This will bring you inner peace and great satisfaction with your approach.
A good example that I just experienced was when I was offered to become a member of a group for my business development. Throughout the presentation of the vehicle favored by the organization to achieve financial freedom, I felt all queasy inside and I had a stomach ache to think one day having to follow this path to free myself from my financial burdens . The whole thing was completely legal with no ethical issues, but was not aligned with my values and principles so I refused. Instant relief…
The element that interests me most in all the reasons for being a person of integrity in a leadership position is to exert a positive influence on the group we influence or are responsible for. This leads to the creation of a positive work environment.
As a promoter of servant leadership, having a quality that allows me to make the employees on my team happy and positive motivates me to the highest level. A good leader is also able to influence team members to adhere to this approach of integrity, which will increase transparency, mutual respect and collaboration in order to improve team morale and productivity.
Integrity in the workplace
In reference to reputation and credibility, I have an example that happened to me when I left my role as a production supervisor to become a warehouse manager. During my first discussion with one of my new employees, he mentioned to me that he was fearful because I had the reputation of being “by the book”.
I had never spoken directly with this person and he already knew my way of doing things and my rigorous management. Although I was happy to see that my reputation had preceded me, I took a few moments to explain my approach and reassure him of my caring intentions combined with my expectations of responsible and ethical behavior from my team members.
Still during my management period at the warehouse, a few weeks before the annual evaluations, we received the company’s evaluation scale which included a part on know-how and a part on interpersonal skills.
During all my meetings with the work teams in preparation for the evaluations (at least 3-4 months before the date of the review), I clearly mentioned that I gave more importance to interpersonal skills than to technical knowledge.
A key point was also that even if my employee was the best forklift driver with the most efficiency, if his behavior was terrible and he treated his teammates poorly, his evaluation would be negatively impacted as well as his salary increase.
Weeks passed and reminders to difficult employees didn’t seem to make a difference. During evaluations, these employees received poor feedback on their performance because of their behavior and most of them didn’t care because, for them, an evaluation was worthless.
That all changed when I told them he was getting a below average raise or in one case, no raise at all. At that point, the message got through and, despite complaints from employees who felt cheated, the conclusion was that I had simply followed through on what I had promised. I had acted with integrity with a certain dose of managerial courage.
This sounds intense and it was not an easy situation to deal with, but you have to think about the long term impact on the good employees pulling the boat. When we walk the talk, employees know that they must respect the manager’s framework and expectations or there will be consequences.
This is not to cause fear, but to empower employees. The caring manager remains there to support and provide the tools necessary to accomplish tasks, but he must also adjust behaviors that do not fit with the company’s expectations.
The other side of the coin
A second example that demonstrates the other side of the coin occurred when I was a production supervisor. The team responsible for health and safety in the workplace (OHS) sent us a guide to sanctions for behavioral deviations from employees who do not respect OHS rules. I took 30-60 minutes per small work team, almost 6 hours, to speak to all my employees and explain the company’s expectations and the consequences of poor behavior.
A few days later, one of the mechanics brought me a bypass key left on a machine, which allows the machine to continue to operate even during maintenance or repair, and said to me “Who is going to get suspended”.
Since the employee in question was on another shift and the mechanics were not under my responsibility, I was not the one who was going to manage the whole thing. However, when giving the key to my boss the day after the event, I mentioned to him that if we respected the charter, the responsible employee should be suspended and that my employees expected this conclusion.
Unfortunately, the employee was not suspended and received no sanctions. When I mentioned the whole thing to my team, but mentioned that behavior of this kind on their part would be managed, the same mechanic mentioned to me that there was now a precedent and that a sanction could not be given . I was really disappointed when I met with the manager in question because we had missed the chance to be consistent with our guidelines. We had lost our credibility.
Do you see the difference between the two situations and the long-term effect on team cohesion and the credibility of managers?
Statement ~ Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett Investor – Philanthropist
Finally, here is an example of Warren Buffett’s vision about integrity which was published in Les Affaires magazine on December 9, 2022:
Warren Buffett famously told Salomon Brothers employees when he took over the company in 1991: ” Lose money for the company, and I’ll be sympathetic. Lose a shred of its reputation, and I’ll be ruthless. ”
He also suggested the following behavior guide: If you have no problem having your actions described in detail on the front pages of newspapers, where your family and friends will read about them, then go ahead without fear.
At Morningstar, we turned that into, “Would you have a problem with this appearing on page C1 of the Wall Street Journal?”
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Need help improving your leadership skills or building a culture of caring leadership? Do not hesitate to contact me. I will be happy to listen to you and provide you with the tools you need for the future.
Always remember: how does your mood impact your performance and overall attitude? Imagine if all your employees or collaborators were happy…
Carl-Michael Tessier
Coach in high-performance team development and tailor-made support
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