Below is an excerpt from Stephen Joel Trachtenberg’s letter
published in Letters from Leaders:
Personal Advice for Tomorrow’s Leaders from the World’s Most Influential People. Trachtenberg’s words eloquently address the importance
of integrity in business and the role of leadership.
I offer these thoughts as a parting gift along with my congratulations and best wishes to my graduating students. Exploring the theory and practice of successful leadership with you has been truly a privilege and a pleasure.
Business needs expansive leaders. But business also needs leaders who appear trustworthy because they are trustworthy—leaders who will keep their promises to their employees, stockholders, and customers. To put it simply—and as optimistically as I can—I would say that business needs leaders for whom integrity is built in or second nature. If you will, Integrity is not a product or the result of a course on the way to earning an MBA. It is not a veneer or public stance. To the contrary, it should be bred in the bone and be as important in one’s life as one’s public life; always on and functions, 24/7.
Leaders with such a deep-seated sense of integrity would, I
believe, profoundly and rather quickly help restore a great deal of the
public’s confidence in American business.
Good leaders would also choose to work with others who have the same
sense of integrity or, failing such perfect recruits, do everything they can to
instill the same belief in the irrevocable importance of integrity.
This last point is important. Part of leadership is the
ability to teach formally and by
example. Are there such young people
available today? Are they on the
campuses of America’s colleges and universities? And are they thinking of careers in business
and especially hoping for positions of leadership? Yes to all questions. Are there enough of them? I don’t know the answer to that. I think it has to be part of any university’s
mission to look at the character of its students and to encourage them to do
the right thing. In other words, to
increase the number of young men and women for whom integrity is the norm.
This is no easy job, but neither is teaching quantum physics
or neurosurgery, both of which we do extremely well. The questions “leaders” have raised are
difficult—and of course that is why they have raised them. But if difficulty were an insurmountable obstacle,
there would be no universities—and few if any men and women of any age would be
willing to take on the burdens of leadership, no matter how great the
rewards. But leading a life of integrity
and honesty is not an obstacle but an outlook.
And I am, finally, optimistic enough to believe that many young people
share that outlook and that many more, seeing their success, will emulate
them. Integrity, I would tell them, does
pay.
Stephen Joel
Trachtenberg
President Emeritus and Professor of Public Service,
The George Washington University
President Emeritus and Professor of Public Service,
The George Washington University
Letters from Leaders highlights excerpts from Letters from Leaders: Personal Advice for Tomorrow’s Leaders from the World’s Most Influential People, compiled by Henry O. Dormann, who says of leaders: “Some leave money, others leave inspiration. Many leave both. But all are anxious for young people to learn from their successes and even their failures.”
Published through LinkedIn 6/1/16
Integrity in business and in life is one of the most important and honorable of characteristics, yet one that is rarely mentioned. Perhaps that is because we are disillusioned by the actions of our leaders and in the prominent people in whose downfall is lambasted by the media on a daily basis. Once fallen politicians and our favorite movie and rock stars break our trust, it becomes more and more difficult to believe in a leader who is genuine.
ReplyDeleteTrachtenberg aptly states the importance of leaders with integrity as example-setters to the young people who will become the business leaders of tomorrow. Integrity by example is the best way to present oneself in business and in our personal lives.
For integrity to find its way back into business I believe it must start with becoming a value in our households and society again. Integrity must come before things such as money, fame, and self-promotion. We can look at our Presidential election to see that we are not there yet...
ReplyDeleteYes, integrity and trust are the epitome of any institution, let alone a global organization. Without it, these firms and companies would struggle and eventually fail. As society has progressed, integrity and trustworthiness has continued to increase in the public eye; therefore, leaders have become more trustworthy, but perhaps not by choice- but rather the need to satisfy the public’s incessant probing. With the growing amount of technology and restrictions throughout our culture, it has become almost inconceivable to forge integrity and trust. People are placed on spotlights with so much exposed to the outside world. I believe the younger generation will continue this progression, whether voluntary or not.
ReplyDelete(391-16SP08) AS stated above, Integrity will always be a character that will follow a leader around. This particular characteristic will not only help you build relations with other cultures but it will lead you to doing business ethically. Even if you can't communicate via mandarin or Hindi, your character can always shine and do the talking for you. That is why I believe this class is important, it teaches you how to work with others based on personality, characteristics, culture and tradition. Thank you all!
ReplyDeleteIntegrity is an essential core value in business. For the most part, it's universal in it's adoption on a global basis. However, it's also frequently overlooked. At my company, our executive leadership team created a "Winning with Integrity" training module to help ensure that our sales executives avoid short-cuts or other violations of our Code of Conduct. This came on the heels of an entire account team who inappropriately used competitive intelligence to win a large deal. The team then attempted to collude and hide the evidence against them. Obviously, this led to terminations of all of the employees who participated. I believe that if the employees would have admitted to using competitive intelligence inappropriately, they would have been reprimanded but not terminated. The fact that they colluded and destroyed evidence was their ultimate undoing. A good lesson in business ethics.
ReplyDeleteThe optimism of the letter on integrity, was greeted with much delight and celebration in a world that often seems to reward business leaders simply by profits and bottom lines. It is honorable for the author to have reflected, and given such a poignant outlook on the role of integrity, and how we can all change the world of business and life by operating with integrity. I agree that it is the role of today's academic institutions to encourage students to value and incorporate integrity. However, it seems that this is something that needs to reinforced at home and from the time we are children. It would seem that encouraging integrity as early as pre-k would serve the business world better and the larger society. So, how do we get here when it seems that so many of our business practices, institutions, and organizations have been built on exploitation of people, natural resources, and or the environment. WE have put PROFITS before integrity for a long time. The film "The Corporation" examines this, and indicates that even the entire premise of the formation of the corporation was devised to exploit and empower a chosen few; and now corporations have more power than even and money and greed have consumed our rationale regard for integrity yet alone humanity.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I thank the professor for sharing this information with us. I believe that we have all been challenged to speak our truth, and to be honest about how global leader's can really impact the world. It is my hope that I can re-examine my own integrity. Grow from my past, and failures; and begin anew...knowing that integrity is one of my personal and professional core ethos. Prayerfully, the opportunities will come my way...for being a champion of diversity in thought, experiences, and how that correlates with our personal interaction and interpersonal business skills.
I like how they described integrity as the bone that keeps everything working. The foundation for integrity has to be there before you can improve any other skills. Your word carries a lot of weight and you should follow it closely. As leaders, this needs to be shown across the board to any employees you interact with on a a daily basis. Ethics and Integrity play intricate roles in developing a great leader.
ReplyDelete