Integrity
An unquestionable truth about the human being is that the integrity of our actions is the source of our power, even more so when you are the leader of a work team.
"The influence on a group comes to light when its members observe in the leader congruence between what he says and does, between what he promises and then fulfills" Mario Borghino, in The art of directing.
The archetypal figure of the boss can be defined by any employee: the boss is the boss.
A boss holds the power, the power of hiring and firing, the all-important power of pay, that of assigning or delegating tasks, supervising and evaluating them.
This figure of power tends to be more often than you think, an authority only tolerated for the sake of income and nothing else. In another bad case, it is feared, in a good case, respected and in the best case, admired.
It is easy to see why a boss is tolerated out of obligation but not respected. Because they abuse their authority. But also due to incompetence. They incur in demanding work, call it in time or extent or quality, that they themselves do not know how to do, or would not be willing to do. Many bosses believe that this is why they have staff at their command, so that he does not have to work. This is incongruous. Error. A boss works and a leader more. It is a basic principle that in order to direct, supervise, evaluate and correct if necessary the work of a subordinate, one must know how to do the work in question. And mainly to direct the qualities of a leader should not be limited to the "expertise" or the "know how" of their specialty.
What are these qualities? What is it that makes a boss respect and admire him? That he is not only a boss, but that he is a leader and an integral leader? The commitment to the ideals it preaches and the effort to achieve the goals it proposes. He not only speaks, but acts accordingly. That is consistency and integrity. It is a familiar phrase, "Such is a person of integrity."
"The integrity of man is telling the truth to himself when keeping promises and honesty is telling the truth to others." John spencer
Integrity in the sense of a whole that is complete, without missing any of its parts and in the sense of honesty. An integral leader is honest in all areas and aspects of his life, there is congruence between them and, of course, in his speech and work action.
Congruence between the values of personal life and professional life
Why is it important for a leader to be successful on a personal level? What is the relevance of this in your work? Because there is no other way for any business to run more successfully than by using the humanistic approach. A leader (and every worker) is first an individual, that the virtues and personal qualities that he possesses will be the same that he uses in his managerial work. Unfortunately, he also transfers his personal defects to the workplace.
A very simple example: punctuality. One person makes an appointment with another at a certain time. One of these people arrives at the agreed time but has to wait because the other is late.
Delving into the case of the person who was late. Was it because of a genuine mishap beyond your control that was beyond your ability to fix it? Was it simple negligence? Did you call to report you were late? Did you offer any compensation or reschedule the appointment if necessary? Is it a habitual behavior in this person? If this unpunctual person holds herself in a position of power (which of course implies the right proportion of responsibility), would her attitude be corrected or aggravated?
An unpunctual person is often disorganized and fickle, and worst of all, they are often unconscious. His lateness is not calculated, but the product of his unconsciousness. You could have organized your pre-appointment activities, estimated the time needed to arrive at the agreed time, and took the proper precautions. But he could not think. He left everything to chance because he was not aware of the importance of respecting the other person's time, the commitment made and the word given.
Does anyone reading this think this is an exaggeration? Unfortunate start to your leader training! Little things matter, a lot. This late person would most likely follow the same pattern of conduct at work; And to occupy another recognized adage, time is money! Time is money and it is wasted just as an investor, customer, supplier or distributor's time is wasted when they are kept waiting because they are not on time for an appointment. Contracts are lost and trust is lost. Why now expect to be on time with the delivery of the product or service you provide?
Fulfilling the responsibility of a position of power requires strict discipline and consistent mindful thinking.
Congruence between discourse and praxis
And returning to the issue of congruence, and doubly, a boss who to continue using the same case, demands punctuality from his subordinates but is not punctual himself, will never earn respect. A third adage: you lead by example.
What's more, the leader doesn't just lead by example; a leader IS the example and motivation to work.
A boss, a leader must be the example of the qualities expected and demanded of his subordinates. Responsibility, availability, decision-making power, assertiveness, creativity, learning capacity, quick response times, efficiency, commitment, honesty, whatever is the requirement that a boss expects his employees to fulfill, he must fulfill it first.
And vice versa. Explaining: congruence must also exist at the opposite extreme. To successfully eradicate defects or counterproductive attitudes in the work of employees, the leader must have eradicated them already in himself, or better, never have suffered. To avoid indulgence. In the case of bad attitudes, it is the only one in which intolerance is recommended. Total intolerance, you have to be severe. Let's quote Sun Tzu in the art of war:
"Authority is a matter of intelligence, honesty, humanity, courage and severity"
A leader gets the behavior he tolerates.
Using another example, one of the most damaging: theft. It can be called in many euphemistic ways, diversion of funds, for example. But in the end it is a plain robbery. And just as there are many ways to call it, there are as many to commit it. A CEO would not need to steal (strictly speaking no one, unless he lives in very poor conditions, does) when his salary compared to that of a common employee is 343 times higher. We are talking about the big world companies, of course, but in a median it is usually 40 times higher, and so on until a very small one, the minimum is that they earn triple. Wow, the administration and direction are well paid. So, the appearance of dishonesty in the form of theft should not be as frequent as it is. Because, no wonder, when a leader incurs dishonesty,it spreads through all levels of the company like a virus. A CEO decides to make false tax returns to avoid paying taxes, and keep that money. For such a trick, it logically requires the complicity and help of its administrators and accountants. They see the opportunity to take some of the loot saved from the tax requisition, and they devise other tricks within the greater trick. And so on a downward spiral up the power ladder, until you reach the lowest-paid employee who steals office supplies, call it printing sheets, or a simple stapler, or the secretary who takes home the coffee bags from the office. coffee pot and pretend they're over. Clear,Any of these employees of greater or lesser rank who is discovered in the crime will be fired and stigmatized as a thief. What incongruity. It is not that stapler or coffee theft is defended, but there is no moral authority to punish it if as a manager one is also stealing. But so-called "white collar" crimes are considered common practice in the business world and even considered elegant! Nothing more risky. In the words of Ricardo Zisis, Director of the Harvard Business Review Latin America magazine, «Nothing more risky. In the words of Ricardo Zisis, Director of the Harvard Business Review Latin America magazine, «Nothing more risky. In the words of Ricardo Zisis, Director of the Harvard Business Review Latin America magazine, «the more rich and complex a productive network has, the more likely someone or something will hit it. Dishonesty in management is self-hitting. Inconsistency is another way to deal a serious blow.
The inconsistent boss: backless appearance
The human being acts according to his conditioning. Being inconsistent or incongruous with what we proclaim and what we actually do is cheating, self-sabotage. We end up convincing ourselves that ideals are unattainable, impossible, and we settle for achieving less, just enough to cover appearances. But the gap between said and done grows more and more until it becomes unbridgeable and we are losing the trust and respect of our followers. Any resemblance to mud leaders that political marketing produces is no coincidence. Ask the disappointed voters. Do you know the case of the president of the United States Warren Harding?
Warren Harding was a very tall, well-built, well-proportioned man with an "august" appearance, a very handsome, manly face, a deep voice, a friendly and cordial character. "He gives the appearance of a leader," thought the political opportunists, "he can become president." He was convinced to run as a candidate in 1920. His campaign was extremely successful. Won. Two years later he died of a heart attack and everyone in the country gave thanks to heaven. He went down in history as one of the worst presidents the country had ever had. He was not a very intelligent man, he liked to play golf for long periods instead of going to his office, drinking, he was a well-known womanizer, and totally incompetent in public administration. This is an excellent and sad example of incongruity. Between personal and professional life, between discourse and praxis,mere backless appearance.
But going back to business, the worst thing is that with a boss "underachiever" the team begins to pretend that it respects him (when they no longer do, he is no longer a leader) when in reality they just tolerate it. And the same team is infected by the philosophy of least effort, they also become "underachievers."
Imagine, going back to politics, how catastrophic it is for a country to have a bad president. And consequently, bad secretaries, bad, governors, bad senators, bad deputies, etc. etc. Although there are good individuals who work with perseverance and honesty, the majority are the ones who define the national situation.
Transpolate this back to the hierarchical structure of a company. What a mess, right?
There can be a team without a leader but no leader without a team
There are bosses who do not understand that they are not soloists, they believe they are star individuals who have achieved success and who must stay in it by trampling on their subordinates. This is incompatible with the vision of a true leader, who encourages the growth of all for the general good.
Competing with your team or limiting them is the biggest incongruity with the concept of leader.
But as absurd as it may be, the case is usually presented, there are bosses who compete against their team and therefore tolerate “underachievers”; for insecurity. This way, no one can stand out enough to compete for their position or prove their incompetence. He prefers to retain his appearance of success and power. However, this incongruity will lead to failure.
The leader must understand that his success depends on the group of people he leads. Alone, no one is a leader, despite all the intelligence that may be possessed.
If the solidarity of the work team is lost, a boss will not be able to do everyone's work alone; That is how essential it is to know how to work together to reach common goals. To recognize that without a group you are not the boss of anyone, you need the virtue of humility.
The virtues of an excellent businessman, according to Carlos Llano, are: Friendship, Mission, Delegation, Education, Demanding, Freedom, Patience, Trust, Magnanimity, Temperance, Sympathy and Humility.
Most people disdain humility, believe that the humble are losers when it is the opposite. Humility is the most important ingredient in leadership. The superiority complex is nothing more than the projection of insecurity and inferiority. The leader who is willing to work closely with his team knows him better and can make better decisions, make better diagnoses, and build confidence in his mandate.
Congruence with the business philosophy
The leader obtains loyalty and respect with consistency. You must not only be able to give inspirational speeches but be an inspiration yourself with your actions. Represent the business philosophy with your person. If a company includes in its philosophy, for example, personal treatment with the client, to make them feel comfortable and gain their trust in the service or product offered, and the boss refuses to personally interact with that client if the case is presented to him, and delegates the work to a subordinate, is not acting in accordance with the philosophy. Others will follow suit, soon to be just broken promises that the customer will resent and risk losing.
It is the mission of the leader to form a work team convinced of the philosophy of the company and therefore willing to apply it in their work.
This leads to mentioning another aspect in which the boss, as the person responsible for hiring, must show consistency. He must instruct the human resources department in how to evaluate applicants so that they are those that the company needs, in the professional aspect and in the human aspect.
Choose employees who have a profile compatible with the company's code of ethics, apart from their professional capacity, since you are hiring an individual; the leader skillfully does a psychological analysis of human behavior, known as behaviorism. You know how to discern who will be a good member of the team.
Hiring employees who already have the qualities pertaining to the business philosophy in advance is preferable and beneficial, although these values can also be formed, taking care in motivation; These personal profiles together will result in a good work team, compatible, empathetic and supportive, willing to bond with each other, and with the business philosophy. If they identify with it, they will endeavor to represent it, offer it in their work.
A homogenized group as far as possible because each individual is different, and it is sought that they have qualities in common that are convenient for the company, but not that they are exactly the same, only that they can complement each other to work as a team; diversity is productive, a very creative synergistic tension is created; It will be the ability of the leader, to keep different individuals united with each other by conviction, by communing with the ideals of the company and loyalty to him, his vision and the mission that he proposes.
A clear vision of business goals fosters organizational learning, initiative, creativity, innovation, decision-making capacity and leader collaboration, by successfully communicating the vision of these goals, it gives confidence to its collaborators, they believe in company and in each other; loyalty to the team, the leader and the company is generated; They strive to generate positive results and customers perceive it. Trust is contagious. Customers also become loyal. Being consistent with the business philosophy is a great deal, literally. It is a self-feeding circle.
Conclusions
- Personal integrity allows us to be consistent; This builds the group members' self-confidence and their credibility with them. The incongruity between what we say we want and what we do contributes to diminishing confidence in our abilities. We educate our minds to produce partial results. A boss with an attitude of superiority and competitiveness before his subordinates is the antithesis of leadership. There is no greater incongruity than a "leader" who does not know how to work in a team. The key is working together and not just one, even if it is the boss's. A leader represents the business philosophy, he must act congruently with it to inspire the work team to follow her.
Self appraisal
- What to ask yourself to know yourself as a leader and improve? What personal behaviors have you "dragged" into the workplace that are limiting your leadership? Act with integrity between what you say and what you do? Where has it been incongruous with your team and you must change to win Your confidence What competitive behaviors are affecting the outcome of teamwork Is a leader an example of the behaviors you demand of your team?
