management

For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It’s not “integrity,” it’s “always do the right thing.” It’s not “innovation,” it’s “look at the problem from a different angle.” Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea . . . we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.

Integrity is assuredly not an easy thing to define because it is so individual at its core, yet it is perhaps the single most essential quality needed by a leader. Integrity is about the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that go into how we make decisions, how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives, who we are in the workplace and at home.