If I could go back in time 15 years I would either take with me a copy of Grays Sports Almanac or I would take absolutely nothing and instead set up a business consultancy advising on the importance of 'company culture', charging businesses of all shapes and sizes huge sums to help them define their mission, vision and values. I think both would have been equally as lucrative.

I am of course joking. But it's hard to deny that there has been a huge emphasis placed on the importance of culture and values for all businesses over this period. I actually think this is great; culture truly is the greatest competitive advantage. But with this attention has come some unhealthy cynicism.

Take for example this HBR article where the author admits to literally banning businesses from using 'Integrity' as a value. Her reasoning?

"Every company should operate ethically and with integrity – and by stating this concept as one of your core values, you raise the question of why you have to point it out."

She seems to take exception to the fact that many businesses reference "ethical behaviour" in their values, thus not making it a differentiator, citing this article which presents research actually extolling the benefits of ethics-based values.

Yes, every company should operate ethically, but companies are made up of people and people are fallable. So how do you make that happen?

In defense of Integrity

The thing about acting with integrity is that it is really easy, until it isn't.

Maintaining integrity becomes hard when there are real consequences to standing up for your truth. Brené Brown puts it like this:

“Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.”

It's not just those bad people who embezzle money or cheat and lie that lack integrity - it's most of us. Ask yourself:

1. Am I genuinely truthful and honest with myself?

2. Am I candid with others? Or do I sometimes hold back from communicating what I really think to prevent hurting someone's feelings?

3. Will I disagree with someone in a meeting even if it could embarass me?

4. Do I say things about people that I wouldn't say to them directly?

True integrity really does take courage! And it's ok if we fail sometimes. It is hard.

But the benefits of consistently demonstrating integrity is that people trust your intentions and motives. They know you will do the right thing, even when no one is watching. They know that if there is an issue between you or if you disagree about something important then you'd say so. And you certainly wouldn't ever harbour a secret grudge.

In high pressure, challenging environments, it is easy for people to misinterpret words or behaviours. That then creates unhelpful narratives and insecurities which create division and cause defensiveness. When people trust your intentions through your demonstration of integrity, they will be more likely to offer a generous interpretation to your actions.

Ultimately, integrity is essential for truly trusting relationships.