I have a lot of trouble with integrity. That’s not a personal confession and it’s not a statement about today’s (occasionally challenging) business climate. Instead, it’s a problem I have with the word itself. My difficulties emerge when I’m doing a values exercise with a senior team. As we discuss what makes their organization unique, someone inevitably suggests that “integrity” be included on the list. That’s when my brow furrows and my headache starts.
According to a Harvard Business Review article[1], 55% of all Fortune 100 companies define integrity as one of their “core” values. When working with a senior team, I could just cite that statistic if I wanted to discourage the inclusion of integrity on their list. Or, I could add that integrity was one of Enron’s values too. But either because I’m too polite to take a cheap shot or an optimist at heart, I take a deep breath and say: “Okay. If integrity is one of your values, let’s define it in a way that is meaningful to your organization.” And let the fun begin.
I always find it difficult to mediate the ensuing debate. What is integrity? What does it mean for this organization? How do we define it in concrete terms to understand it better? Other values, equally over-represented on corporate mission statements, do not create the same trouble. For example, senior leaders also love the words teamwork, respect and stewardship. No problem. What kind of teamwork? Teamwork between front line staff and management to provide great customer service. What kind of respect? To one organization it means respect for the traditions of the brand, to another respect for the environment. How about stewardship? Sometimes it means financial oversight or prudent investment, other times it means stewardship over the community’s resources. Defining those values in specific contexts gives them power.
But when you get to integrity, it is much harder to come to common agreement. Are we talking about commitment to quality? Honesty in dealings? Trust between employees? It’s as though there are too many synonyms and analogous situations available to sift through for us to pinpoint an exact meaning. I am reminded, each time, of what a teacher told me many years ago in rabbinical school: no institution has integrity, only people do. It’s more personal than other values.
But a theological argument is not completely satisfying in explaining our difficulties. So I’ve spent a few years contemplating the issue. Here’s a list of possible answers. Is the problem with integrity that:
A) Corporations, by definition, don’t have any?
B) I can’t recognize integrity because there’s something wrong with me?
C) Integrity is not what we think it is?
D) All of the above?
If you answered A, you’re more cynical than I am or I need to tone down my sarcasm; B and I’m worried about my reputation; D and you take too many multiple choice tests. The correct answer, at least by elimination, is C. I only realized that recently, however, when grappling with a serious values issue with a major client.
The organization, an insurance provider, was going through its values exercise. At the same time, in a seemingly unrelated event, it was being sued by a family for coverage that hadn’t been provided after an accident because of an issue with a premium. We went through our values work as the newspapers blared headlines about the progress of the court case. Perhaps because of that contentious atmosphere, our debate was particularly rigorous and thoughtful. When we finally came to agreement, everyone in the room was happy. Then one executive threw cold water in our faces: “If all of these values are really true, and I think they are, then we’re doing the wrong thing fighting this family in court.” It was a sobering thought, but one that galvanized a powerful reaction. Immediately, it was decided that the company would reverse its stand and pay up. The lawyers couldn’t believe it. But the executive team had a good night’s sleep, comforted by the certainty that they had done right by the family and the organization.
The reaction to this switch was overwhelmingly positive outside the company. It was in fact an event which had the makings of a genuine corporate legend – one of those stories which demonstrates what an organization stands for better than any list of values. The press loved the decision. Politicians applauded it. The community genuinely appreciated it as a refreshing gesture. Other companies, at a conference that took place soon afterward, admired it. They understood that it takes a lot of courage to do the right thing when that costs money. More importantly, the people within the organization felt good about the decision. The employees held their heads a little higher and could explain it within the rationale of the values. The executives, as we mentioned, slept better at night. As one declared: “We acted with integrity.”
Stop the presses… Integrity was not one of their values. I wondered, should we A) rewrite the values to include integrity, or B) think about what acting with integrity really means?
The correct answer, of course, is B. This realization was a major “aha” for me. Integrity is not a value, I realized. Instead, it’s the act of living your values. To violate a value is to diminish your integrity. Think about the powerful emotions aroused when a company gets caught in a hypocritical stance. For example, when a senior team turns out to be crooked, or a finance firm permits harassment of women to take place systematically, or a manufacturer pollutes the environment, the public (and internal) reactions can be severe. But the reactions will be much more severe if that company espouses financial stewardship, teamwork or respect for the environment as differentiating values.
To include integrity in a list of values is a redundancy. Integrity is not a value unto itself but a summing up of the other values together. Organizations act with integrity when they live up to their values. Doing so can be difficult when it costs money, competitive position or strategy. But even though the benefits of acting with integrity may not always be as clear as with the insurance company I described, the reinforcement of integrity, internally and externally has its own well-deserved rewards.
David Cohen is president of Strategic Action Group and the author of Inside the Box: Leading with Corporate Values to Drive Sustained Business Success and The Talent Edge: A Behavioral Approach to Hiring, Developing, and Keeping Top Performers.
[1] “Make Your Values Mean Something” by Patrick M. Lendoni, Harvard Business Review, July 2002, pp. 113-117
