Day 38 – Q 1.The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Do you agree? Substantiate your views.
1. The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Do you agree? Substantiate your views.
नेतृत्व के लिए सर्वोच्च गुण निर्विवाद सत्यनिष्ठा है। क्या आप सहमत हैं? अपने विचारों की पुष्टि करें।
Introduction:
The above quote of Dwight Eisenhower hold true as integrity is one of the top attributes of a great leader. It is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations and outcomes. It connotes a deep commitment to do the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the circumstances.
Body
- Leadership is a key coordination process that enables people to work together as a high-performing team to obtain the intended results. Integrity is a core ingredient of job performance in any area of competence, according to science. Leadership is no exception.
- Choosing the right, regardless of the consequence, is the hallmark of integrity. People who live with integrity are incorruptible and incapable of breaking the trust of those who have confided in them.
- Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi were exemplary leaders who were famous for their integrity where both in times of crisis stuck to their values with Lincoln sticking to abolition of slavery and Gandhi towards non-violence.
- A leader who has integrity lives his or her values in relationships with coworkers, followers and stakeholders. Honesty and trust are central to integrity. Acting with honor and truthfulness are also basic tenets of a leader with integrity.
- Satyendra Dubey was an Indian Engineering Service (IES) officer who had to pay with his life for exposing the corruption involved in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project. He discovered blatant inconsistencies in the building of National Highway. This integrity towards the cause of corruption free administration by a civil servant immortalised his memory.
- Leaders who demonstrate integrity draw others to them because they are trustworthy and dependable. They are principled and you can count on them to behave in honorable ways even when no one is watching.
- Lal Bahadur Shastri is the best evidence of integrity being supreme quality of leadership. As railway minister, he took responsibility for a railway accident and resigned from his position as minister in Jawaharlal Nehru government.
- Integrity in day to day life by leaders helps in streamlining the work life and making it ethical and transparent.
- For example, if the CEO of a company keeps employees up-to-date on the struggles the business was experiencing with clear and frequent communication at team meetings then the employees also start feeling confident in the turnaround plan they are following as they helped develop it and they trusted their CEO.
- Leaders need to highlight integrity and emphasize it at every turn. Leaders need to model and then actively, visibly, reinforce integrity for everyone in the organization – and this is true for top level leaders and leaders at every level of the organization.
- Leaders can develop and display integrity by being honest and treating people well. Also not exaggerating successes, and being quick to praise others’ contributions helps further in making ethical environment.
Conclusion
Leadership starts it all because it is the leader who sets the tone of building integrity into the culture. Nothing creates cynicism among people faster than a leader who either violates or allows others to violate that trust. When integrity is lacking in leadership, organizations become political and slow-moving. With integrity as the cornerstone, a leader can achieve unimaginable victories thus cementing the supreme importance of Integrity.
