Integrity: The Cornerstone of Leadership - A Personal Journey

John Maxwell once said, “The mark of an effective leader is one who absorbs punishment without surrendering their soul.” This powerful quote encapsulates an idea often overlooked in management training: the ability to withstand pressure with integrity. As leaders, we often find ourselves confronted with decisions that test our character and mettle. Our reaction in these situations can either strengthen our influence or erode it. I’d like to share two personal stories that illustrate this point.

The first story begins when I was promoted to a senior manager position and moved my family across the country for this opportunity. In this position, I had two dotted line reporting relationships; one with a director in the local business unit and one with the corporate IT group.

The corporate organization handed down an edict that required me to reduce my budget by 25%. I found myself in a predicament, and I asked my local boss, Larry, for his advice. Larry’s response was, “Dave, the way I see it, you have two choices: 1) Cut your budget and jeopardize the work plan that you and I have agreed to and you’re fired. Or 2) Be a good steward of your budget, reducing where you can…. You will run over budget and I will yell at you for 30 minutes at the end of the year. You’re a smart guy and I know you’ll make the right decision.” Well, being that I thought I was a smart guy, I chose the latter.

However, before the fiscal year ended, Larry retired. His replacement, upon reviewing my expenditures, initiated an extensive financial audit. Instead of being yelled at for 30 minutes, I went through two weeks of questioning the justification of every expense in our organization. I responded to many of those questions with, “I made the decision on what I thought was the best need of the business and I stand by it,” without ever revealing my earlier discussion with Larry, because I was the one who made the decision to complete our work plan.

To add fuel to this, I was being considered for another job back in R&D that was yet another promotion. But, this required my new boss to sign off on it. During this audit, I believed my chances of that were between slim and none. In fact, I believed I was going to be fired.

To my surprise, my new boss commended my integrity and while she did not agree with the decisions I made, the fact that I took ownership of the decisions I had made meant a lot. She also commented that even though I didn’t mention it, that she imagined that I was under a lot of local pressure to complete the work plan. As such, she agreed to sign off on my promotion.

The second story, however, did not have a conventional happy ending. In my new role, I inherited a $30M quality improvement budget. Amid a company crisis, I discovered that only a fraction of this budget was being used effectively. I proposed reallocating the funds to better serve the company, which I really thought was a “no brainer.” But my boss warned me, “This is a career limiting decision. You have to understand that these are my peers pet projects. They aren’t going to be happy with you pulling the plug on them. So, go think about it and let me know if you want to move forward with it.” Well, it took me a couple of seconds to think about it, and I moved forward with the reallocation.

And, her prophecy came true. My decision was indeed a career-limiting one. It eventually led to my exit from the company. However, it also paved the way to new opportunities and a fulfilling career.

Despite the two-year gap between these stories, it's crucial to remember that integrity is not a one-off event, but a daily practice. Each day, we are faced with decisions that put our integrity to the test. Whether it's choosing between what's best for the team or company and what might make our own job easier, or deciding to take personal responsibility for team or process failures, even in cultures where blame is often assigned. These moments are frequent and critical.

As leaders, we often find ourselves walking a tightrope between various pressures and expectations. But it's crucial to remember that integrity is the bedrock of leadership. Both these experiences, though vastly different in their outcomes, were instrumental in shaping my career and reinforcing my belief in the importance of integrity.