Integrity in Management

Integrity in Management
By Arthur Cooper
(c) Copyright 2003

If you want to motivate your team you must demonstrate integrity.

There is no alternative.

You may be able to get by without it for a while. You may be able to get temporary results from your team by threats or rewards alone, or by playing off one member against another, or by shifting blame onto others, but it won’t last.

Sooner or later you will reap what you sow and you will get what is coming. And what is coming in this case is poor work output from a despondent and demotivated staff, a high stress level for you as you fight against the odds, and an increasing number of complaints from your own superiors at the declining performance.

Why make your life difficult? Why do it the hard way when there is an easier way?

Act with integrity towards your team and your life will be easier. Why? Because it is human nature to react towards someone according to how they act toward you. If you treat someone in a decent and sympathetic way they will be more inclined to treat you that way too. If you treat them badly they will treat you badly.

If you show yourself to be indifferent to your team’s wellbeing they are not likely to care much for what you feel. If you show yourself to be dishonest in your dealings with them they will not be inclined to be honest with you. If you prove to be unreliable and untrustworthy they will very probably become unreliable too.

You want to get work from your team, and for this they need to be motivated. They must want to produce the results for you. They have to believe what you tell them. They have to know that you will be on their side when difficulties arise. They have to believe in you from a business point of view, and even if they do not necessarily like you on a personal level they must respect your integrity.

So be honest with your team at all times. Tell them what is required and make sure it is within their capabilities. Show them an example by your own efforts. If you promise rewards, make sure that they are delivered (and conversely, if you make a threat make sure that it is carried out if need be).

Speak up for your team to other management and in public. Defend them at all times against attack. Take the responsibility for their collective performance. Be prepared to defend one of your team who is under attack from elsewhere in the company. Keep your word at all times. Keep diciplinary matters private and confined to those directly concerned.

Straightforward honest dealings with your team will be appreciated, you can be sure of it. They will want to give you something in return. You cannot fail to get more from your team if you treat them properly. It is the way the world works.