10 Elements of Leadership - Element 3: Ethics and Integrity

Great leaders exhibit 10 elements of leadership consistently. We've talked about communication, and we've talked about executive presence. If you need a refresher on those topics, please check out the videos under the Resources tab of the Wynstone Partners website.

Today we're going to talk about ethics and integrity and a broader way to look at it.

Now a lot of you are probably thinking,, "Boy this is a waste of a perfectly good video because what does anybody need to tell me about ethics and integrity?"

Well I thought the same thing, until I was at a performance review a few years ago with my boss.

"Have you ever bought a fake Rolex?"

It was early in my career, and I was considered a high-potential employee. So I assumed my boss was going to give me a few tips on how to take it up a notch, maybe get a few of my accolades, and maybe even get a peek at my new next big job.

So it was one of those review processes where 3 meets expectations, 4 exceeds expectations, and 5 greatly exceeds. 2 is doesn't meet, and 1 is doesn't have a clue.

So I was looking forward to review. I was having my review, and I was getting my 5's on how great I was, quite frankly I was tolerating a few 4's that he gave me. Kind of throwing him a bone that, yeah sure, I can improve here and there.

But when it came to ethics and integrity, he rated me a 3.

He rated me a 3!

So when he gave me that 3 rating, I just kind of put on the brakes and said, "Look boss, I'll take you inputs on where I can improve and how I can be better, and that there's always an opportunity to do things in a different way. But I will not tolerate a 3 on ethics and integrity. I feel very strongly about that. That I carry the values and principles that this company has taught me, and I'm always respectful of humanity."

He looked at me and he said, "Hmm. You go to China a lot, don't you?"

I said, "Yeah, of course, I'm responsible for the business."

He said, "Have you ever bought a fake Rolex?"

I said no.

He said, "Have your people ever bought a fake Rolex that you know about?"

I said yes.

He said, "Did you stop them?"

Of course, I said no.

And then he went on to say, "You know how hard we've been working on stopping counterfeit batteries at Motorola and counterfeit products, and how that erodes the company's performance, and quite frankly how unethical it is. Yet you're supporting counterfeit products, or at least you are through your people, in some other area. Does that make sense to you? And by the way, are you teaching any ethics and integrity courses to your group?"

Create a culture of Ethics and Integrity.

I made the mistake of limiting the topic to me personally, rather than looking around me and creating a broader culture of ethics and integrity.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do you teach ethics and integrity?
• Would you stop behavior that's inconsistent with ethics and integrity?
• Will your people follow you through a fog?
• Do they trust you?
• Do you know that they're looking at you at all times?

This is the scope of ethics and integrity that great leaders think about. It goes beyond the self but rather influencing the culture around you to set the bar higher and higher.

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Thanks for taking the time to expand your thinking on ethics and integrity! In our next video, we'll be talking about vision and strategic thinking.

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