Integrity and The Leadership Trickle Down Law

When it comes to getting business results, it’s all about who has the power and how they use it.

A business can never perform better than its leader. The behavior the leader rewards will increase; the behavior the leader punishes or ignores will decrease. The strengths and weaknesses of the leader literally trickle down to become the strengths and weaknesses of the business.

You can’t blame followers for maximizing their reward outcomes for themselves and their families. Anything else would be self-destructive and irresponsible. The most important factor of leadership success is caring about your followers and supporting them in achieving their goals. Relationships must be win-win, or they won’t last over time. Why would followers stay in a relationship that doesn’t help them meet their needs for themselves and their families? 

An essential ingredient of caring about your followers is demonstrating integrity. Folks aren’t going to follow you for very long if they can’t trust you to do what you say you’re going to do, i.e., your words and your actions don’t match.

If a leader says they care about you and your family but don’t demonstrate integrity, would you follow them?