INTEGRITY
Help Your Team Build Integrity with Leadership Training!
Integrity. There is a lot of talk about integrity these days and it’s just that: talk. People would like to see integrity in their workplace, government, and community. They would love to see integrity in their kids’ friends. But if you were to ask somebody how to define integrity, could they do it? Could you do it? If your kids were to ask you to define integrity, could you do it… really?
Defining Integrity
Perhaps, before we start pointing a finger at all the people and places that lack integrity, we should at least know what integrity is and what it looks like. At least you would have an answer for your kids!
Before I describe the word integrity, it would be helpful to know where the word integrity comes from. You know, etymology. The word “Integrity comes from the Latin integer- which means indivisible, whole, complete.
A person of integrity is a person who is whole, complete, singular, and undivided.
So, back to the question at hand. Integrity- how do you define it?
A person with integrity is a person who conducts their life in such a way that…
- What they think
- What they say
- What they believe
- What they do
…are all in alignment. They are indivisible. They are whole.
To help you remember this, think of it anatomically from the top down. What you think occurs in your mind, so anatomically, think of the brain. What you say comes from your mouth. What you believe comes from the heart. Finally, you do things with your hands. A person with integrity is a person whose brain, mouth, heart, and hands are all in alignment. They are all an indivisible whole.
Integrity in Your Company Culture
What would it look like in your workplace if decisions made in the C-suite were communicated and carried out in marketing, development, sales, and customer service? What would it look like if what was decided in the boardroom was actually felt by the customer experience?
Companies often like to paint their vision, mission, and values on a prominent wall of the corporate headquarters. Sometimes they even ask the stakeholders to sign it to demonstrate “buy in” to that shared vision mission, and values. But if a client or a customer were to walk into your corporate headquarters, could you honestly say that the client would feel that the platitudes on the walls are acted out in the halls? If so- congratulations. You are one of the fortunate ones. You have a corporate culture that is integrated. The stakeholders think, speak, believe, and behave in a whole and undivided manner.
When a team is well integrated and performs with integrity, people are engaged, purpose driven, and motivated. If, on the other hand, you are experiencing retention issues and a high turnover rate, it may signal an integration challenge. The challenge could be in a department, with department heads, or with team members throughout the organization.
Why Companies Lack Integrity
Today, mergers and acquisitions are commonplace across the business landscape, but they are also a common reason why companies lack integrity. While you can merge companies, you cannot merge the people in those companies. The people must be integrated into a healthy corporate culture. People coming into the new organization bring the corporate culture from their company of origin. They walk in with their company of origin mindsets, thinking, processes, procedures, communication styles, attitudes, hopes, and fears. The cultures from the companies of origin cannot be merged. They must be assimilated or integrated into a healthy corporate culture. The post-merger and acquisition organization that develops its people to think together, believe together, speak to the marketplace in one voice, and deliver to the client in a well-choregraphed action is a company whose heathy corporate culture delivers with integrity!
Integrate Your Company Culture with Fort Leadership Training!
If you experience engagement and retention challenges along with a high turnover rate, or if your customer experience scores are low, an investment in a customized Fort Leadership professional development curriculum is the solution. If your company has recently merged with another, an investment in a character-based leadership development curriculum focused on trust is essential for the new organization. Call us at (770) 597-9005 or contact us online to get started today!
