Integrity Matters

What does integrity mean? My latest Leadership Magazine piece focuses on it:

What exactly does it mean to be ethical; and how does it impact your reputation? It’s all about doing the right thing, right? All and sundry claim to have integrity and say how important it is to them. Taking a look at recent social media debacles, the most recent being that of Ntokozo Qwabe and Judge Mabel Jansen; it is quite clear that ’integrity’ and ’reputation’ are very often just paid lip service and sadly losing their zeal to overuse.

Everyone knows and says that these things are important to them and it sounds great to use them in conversation. However, if you have to tell someone that you have integrity, are trustworthy and are ethical, then there’s a strong chance that you are not. For example, what images are conjured up when you hear someone say, “Trust me…”.  Why would you have to tell someone that you are ethical and trustworthy? Surely they should experience this through your behaviour and the interactions they have with you and your business.

It’s all about leading by example; this may seem fairly obvious; unfortunately there are still too many examples of companies and individuals getting it wrong. What and how you or your employees engage and conduct yourselves will ultimately impact the business’ reputation, regardless of whether you are posting something on Facebook or Twitter in your personal capacity or as the Managing Director of your company. The public generally and even those closely associated to the company, don’t differentiate between the company and the individual.

Businesses and reputations grow by association; like-minded people and companies attract like-minded individuals and other companies to do business with. There is thus an integral connection between the organisation’s brand and reputation and your own; the two can’t be separated.

Someone once explained moral fibre to me as the way you act when no one else is around. People who are on the same ethical page have a built-in radar for what is right and what is wrong, and use that to make sensible daily business decisions. This then contributes to a strong reputational foundation. Having a solid, moral building block in place, allows you to then focus on other areas of the business.

Who determines the moral compass? There are no hard and fast rules, it is about how you conduct yourself in terms of what is right and wrong, what is decent, what is good, what is honest and what is honourable. Rotary’s four way test ethos is a good measure that can be used as a guiding principle across the board; everything that Rotarians say, do and think relates to these four questions: Is it the truth? It is fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

What I like about it, is that it is four relatively easy questions that you can ask yourself when you are faced with a problem; and it is not linked to a specific religion, culture or creed. These principles have been developed over the years to provide Rotarians across the world with a strong common purpose and direction. They serve as a foundation for our relationships with each other and the actions we take in the world.

It is said that organisations with an ethical decision-maker are more effective and more productive. The leader of the business needs to lead by example. How can the leader be taken seriously or respected if their moral fibre is questionable? As much as we look after and foster the reputation of our clients, we have to be merciless when it comes to protecting our own. If we associate ourselves with people and companies with questionable values, our own values will be brought into disrepute, damaging our reputation. As Warren Buffet famously said, "We can afford to lose money — even a lot of money. But we can't afford to lose reputation — even a shred of reputation.”

Ethical behaviour needs to be ingrained at a strategy level and in all the dealings and interactions of the business, it shouldn’t be just something that sounds good in a public relations and marketing exercise.

In Alice Schroeder’s, The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life, reference is made to Peter Kiewit who said, “A reputation is like fine china, expensive to acquire and easily broken.” In making ethical decisions, therefore, “If you’re not sure if something is right or wrong, consider whether you’d want it reported in the morning paper.”

In the Corporate Reputation Review[1] it says that throughout the world, the media keep a wary eye on corporate behaviour and zoom in sharply on suspected organisational misdeeds. The television news’ guillotine and the Internet are ever ready to defame organisational leaders who are accused of unethical behaviour. Don’t we know it! The media will sniff out any and all corporate misdemeanours; after all, scandal and drama are what sells. 

Also, through the media customers are provided with information that enables them to make purchasing choices based not only on traditional parameters, such as price and functionality, but also on matters such as how and where products and services are produced and the reputation of the producer. People want to do business with businesses that are socially and ethically responsible as well as environmentally conscious. This is a clear message that comes out very strongly from all the reputation research projects that we have conducted to date.

Being unethical is business suicide and a death knell for your reputation. Your business may no longer be around, but your name will still be associated with unethical practices so it will be very difficult to get others to affiliate with you in the future.

Things to remember

·         If you have to tell people that you are ethical and have integrity, are you really?

·         Moral fibre is how you act when no one else is around;

·         If you’re not sure whether something is right or wrong, consider whether you’d want it reported in the morning paper;

·         If in doubt, use Rotary’s four way test to help you make a decision;

·         Having a solid, moral building block in place, allows you to then focus on other areas of the business;

·         It is important that your personal and business values be aligned and reflected in all areas of your life;

·         Reputation and integrity are more than just buzzwords to be used in PR and marketing campaigns.

To continue the reputation management conversation, join Regine on Twitter @ReputationIsKey or Facebook www.facebook.com/yourreputationmatters.

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[1] Pruzan, P. 2001. Corporate reputation: Image and identity. Corporate Reputation Review, 4(1):50-64.