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Integrity Pays Off
Published:12/31/2008 Business
Integrity Pays Off It seems like common sense that the integrity of leaders is key to their success and the financial success of their companies. But no one has ever proved that this is true. In his new book, The Integrity Dividend (Jossey-Bass, October 2008), Tony Simons, reveals the results of an in-depth study he did with thousands of employees at a U. S. hotel chain. Yet, keeping one's word and practicing one's stated values on a daily basis is extremely difficult to do. For most managers, real life interferes and managers unwittingly undermine their own credibility. In the book, Simons explains the factors that drive and impede integrity, including mission statements (as often a minus as a plus), company cultures, leadership hierarchies, communication habits, and personal discipline. "Preserving credibility and maintaining people's sense that you live by your word means avoiding casual overpromises and respecting the weight of your words. It means openly acknowledging your uncertainty, the limits to your ability, and other awkward truths . . . Communicating this way is not automatic for most people. It has to be learned and practiced," writes Simons. Some people say that talk is cheap. But when it comes to leadership, talk can be very expensive. When leaders or managers speak and then do not "walk their talk," it costs them credibility. And credibility makes or breaks companies.
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