INTEGRITY LEADERSHIP
The
supreme quality for a leader is
unquestionably
integrity-Dwight D. Elsenhower
The purpose of
this journal is to understand the meaning of integrity leadership and the impact
that perceptions of integrity have on perceptions of leadership effectiveness
in the context of leadership behaviors. Integrity
has many importance that of leadership behaviors on perceived effectiveness for
leaders and their followers. There is a significant relationship between being
flexible and perceived effectiveness. Goal orientation is the leadership role
that bosses most strongly associate with perceived effectiveness.
This journal
articulates the perception of integrity in an organization, tests the axiom
that integrity is an essential component of effective leadership, and provides
empirical evidence on the role that perceptions of integrity has on the
perceptions of leader effectiveness. Integrity will be as strong as has been
suggested.
Integrity
is the existence in the quality of individual or organization. The quality of
individual is the words same with the personalities. The action is suitable
with the principal of morals, ethical and laws for a particular purpose or
generally. When an individual do the job quickly and consist in the good
behaviors will call the individual integrity. The quality of organization is summarized
and required by ethical code, customer rules, system and work process and
obedient to the good action. The ethical
code in organization normally repeated in organization.
Thomas M.
Cunningham gave his opinion about the consist of integrity includes self-respect, loyalty to the department’s vision and
mission
and honesty to yourself and
others . Siti Ibrahim said that the integrity
is one of the positive traits for an effective and good leader. Personal
integrity represents an honest, reliable and trustworthy person. If you are a
leader; then you will bring along that good trait into your leadership style. It
is a blessing for an organization to have such a leader in their organization.
Having many integrity leaders will indirectly shape up the organization to be
an integrity organization, be respected by employees and public.
According to the president of Merriam-Webster, “Integrity is one of the
top ten words most looked up on the company`s online dictionary. I am not
altogether surprised by this news. Integrity is what I like to call a ‘big
concept’ word. It is thrown around a lot, especially in business. But, many
people are not quite sure what it really means.”
Integrity involves
the three R’s, those are respect for self, respect for others, and
responsibility for all our actions. A leader is the role model by which
the group that they command is most influenced. Eventually this will lead to a
molding or modeling of the group’s behavior. This is why a leader (fire
officer), must have and maintain the highest standard of character and
integrity whether on or off duty. So, the others will respect the leader
without doubting and believe him or her. At last, we can see the leader is very
responsible for self and others after the existence of integrity features.
"No
one can be happy who has been thrust outside the pale of truth. And there are
two ways that one can be removed from this realm: by lying, or by being lied
to."
As an example, the administration Malaysia established national integrity
system which seeks to implement a system of governance that create confidence
among the people. One
of the pillars of national integrity is closely linked to the corporate
executive leadership.
The
term leadership is a word taken from the common vocabulary and incorporated
into the technical vocabulary of a scientific discipline without being
precisely redefined. For me, leadership is the one of skills that is needed by
a leader to lead the followers and influence them to attain the wonderful
goals.
Leadership is the
process of directing the behavior of others toward the accomplishment of some
common objectives. It is influencing people to get things done to a standard
and quality above their norm to achieve a shared stretch goal. As an element in
social interaction, leadership is a complex activity involving a process of
influence, actors who are both leaders and followers and a range of possible
outcomes such as the achievement of goals, but also the commitment of
individuals to such goals, the enhancement of group cohesion and the
reinforcement of change of organizational culture. Dwight D. Eisenhower sai,
"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you
want done because he wants to do it".
According to
Howell and Costley(2001), “Leadership is a process used by an individual to
influence group members toward the achievement of group goals”.
While,
according to Yukl (2002), “Leadership is the process of influencing others to
understand and agree about what needs to be done and how it can be done
effectively and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts
to accomplish the shared objective”.
The
words from William A. Cohen, “Leadership is the art of influencing others to
their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective or project.” (Cohen, 1990, 3).
Integrity
and leadership are closely linked. Without integrity, leadership theories are
just those theories. So, we cannot make it practically. Leadership is the base
of the organization that binds the integrity as moral value together. Leadership
is motivating people to perform the good job and achieve the mission. A good leader
fosters the quality of trust and a sense of self-esteem. But a failure of
integrity poisons the outfit, destroys the trust between people and the
self-esteem moves down.
There
is a connection between trust and integrity, but trust is a broader concept.
People need to be competent to earn our trust, not just honest. To be a credible
candidate for any job, a person needs the skills and personal qualities to be
effective in the role. Integrity is also broader than honesty. In addition to
being honest, leaders with integrity must behave ethically. A criminal could be
honest while breaking the law. Leaders with integrity must have an unwavering
commitment to culturally accepted values and be willing to defend them. This
requires them to do the right thing even if it is not in their personal
interest. Leaders with integrity are responsible and consistent.
The
views of Gen Ronald R. Fogleman, integrity has own characteristics likes sincerity,
substance, consistency and being a good finisher. Let me explain one by one from
the top to the bottom. Sincerity is the one of characteristics of integrity
that is unfeigned and presents no false appearance. For examples, a leader is
sincere to spend their time during family together by doing the job overtime. Then,
the leaders must have the strength to make the internal integrity through the
tough times by showing their appearance of substance. Besides that, the leaders
must also be consistent in their enforcement of disciplinary standards. As an
example, he or she always arrive at the workplace on time or early than that.
Finally, a leader must finish and perform the task to the maximum extent of
their ability that is given by manager or cooperated with any organization.
According
to Proffesor Dr. Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud(2009), “Leadership with integrity in
an organization assumes an administration that is wise and brave, firm and moderate,
organized principled by truth.”
In
Islam, integrity and the responsibility of leadership, administration and
governance should be guided by values that come from religious outlook, obeying
ethical foundations and the scope of Islamic laws. At the same time, they
should incorporate all the collected wisdom from various sources then and now.
Ibnu
Ishaq said in Sirat Rasul Allah, “I have been appointed as a leader amongst
you. If I carry out my tasks well, help me and if I do the opposite, correct
me. Loyalty is because of believe and betrayal is because of falsehood. Those
who are weak amongst you are strong alongside me because I give them
rights…Evil will not spread amongst man unless Allah sends great misfortune to
all. Obey me for as long as I obey Allah and the Prophet, and if I disobey
them, there is no more obedience to me…”
I
think the foundation of higher integrity and good leadership cannot be
practiced effectively if they are separated from religion. I strongly reject
the stand of some quarters who claim that the development of Islam in integrity
leadership came from political consideration and historical development, even
though many verses from the al-Quran and Prophet Muhammad `s Hadith referred to
actual events in history.
Most
western secular governments and their public administrations have shown a fine
example to their citizens in matters of integrity and responsibility. They have
implemented firm measures to enhance responsibility through the government
machinery in their civil societies. Through rational political practices and
the continuous support from their citizens, a good environment for western
socio-political societies in the modern world was created.
The
words from Paul H. Douglas, “More important than efforts I have suggested to
return to a situation that is true and appropriate, is the need for us to have
a deep set of morals (at the individual level), that is encapsulated by words
like honesty, truth, monitoring and empathy … (Because) the nation is a group
of individuals, who till recently, went through years of negative exposure, has
made us realize of the failure of individuals to live at a level that we can be
proud of. The failure that we experience in government is a follow-up from our
(individual) moral breakdown”. (Douglas, 1952, 102-103).
But,
integrity and the responsibility of leadership cannot be denied that western
history and civilization have given birth to many prominent figures who have
contributed positively to material goodness and the thinking of the world
community. Exactly, the results of some thoughts and western cultures have
contributed to the decline of religion, morality and integrity of the world
community.
Nowadays,
the world has been become for development. This universe is fractured in a way
that has not really existed before. The views from Sandra Waddock about that, “Fostering
leadership integrity in the fractured knowledge economy that actually exits
requires a significant shift o mind and a recognition of the links between the
apparent plenty available to those in the knowledge economy and the destitution
of much of the rest of the world, along with the ecological havoc that
industrialization has wrought on the natural world. Integrity in this world
means individual integrity, of course, with its ethical and values-laden basis,
but it also means understanding the world as an integrated system ecologically,
socially, and from a business ecosystem perspective.”(Waddock, 2007, 543).
The impact that
perceptions of integrity have on perceptions of leadership effectiveness can
seen in becoming a successful leader. Qualities
of leadership include humor, perspective, and flexibility as a number one. Secondly,
focus on the achievement of goals that produce results. Thirdly, comprehension
of what power and authority are. The leaders should communicate, listen and
persuade. After that, they must know when to take risk. If the leader is a slow
down person and always give up cannot be the strong stamina person, full energy,
tenacity, courage and enthusiasm. The leader must build morale and can
motivate. Besides that, they can form or build a coalition. Knowing the issues
and be worldly. As a human, not all the knowledge that we obtain, so we always
want to know and will to learn. Possesses intelligence, wisdom, judgment and possesses
their own vision are the one of quality that is important to achieve
successfully. Please be self-knowledge and confidence. The last but not least is having the good
character, honesty and integrity.Of all the qualities a leader must possess, integrity may be the
most important one of them all.
The importance of integrity to leadership is the integrity as a trait that
exists from inner self. As a leader, we only can prove our integrity by the actions
that we took and the decision that we choose. A leadership that built with
integrity normally is part from an integrity organization. We can be confident
that an individual with flawed character will not last long in their
organizations. Without integrity, employees have no faith, no trust and are
always be mistreated. The management can expect a high employee turnover rate
and the people will talk about that affected to the organization which is
becoming down and corrupted. Integrity
also provide a real value of services with honesty and confident. Our
leadership style will adopt the quote that is saying 'Honesty is the best
policy'.
Virtually
no one is completely honest. Who has not, for example, failed to stop at
traffic lights, cheated on exams, padded expenses or exaggerated achievements
to look good in a job interview? Many of us have what we might call
"convenient values." We live up to them only when they do not prevent
us from doing what we want. So, why is anyone dishonest? Reasons are complex,
but they include the feelings of being entitled to something and being able to
get away with it. People in high places feel that their power makes them
untouchable because there is so much more to gain by bending the rules in high
places, the temptation must be enormous. Because high profile leaders are so
driven to stay in power, only the rarest of leaders can put principles.
But, how we react
to integrity lapses? The answer is the people have own feeling, qualities
integrity and characteristics. For example, we are
angry and disappointed to moral failures of
others. Likewise, we also envy people in high places, we are secretly
pleased to see that they are only human after all. Those of us with a guilty
conscience are particularly prone to feeling a mixture of indignation and
delight. Those who show the most anger may subconsciously be trying to rid
themselves of guilt for an indiscretion of their own by dumping on the failed
leader.
Our
reaction is also related to the strength of our expectations. When we expect
little of people, their failures don't surprise or matter much to us. When we
feel hugely let down at the news of a flawed leader, therefore, we should ask
ourselves why we expected so much of this person in the first place. In any
case, our reaction to moral lapses in leaders is without doubt partly
determined by our own attitudes, values and current mental state.
We can improve the integrity in high places through the education
system and by implementing more transparent monitoring processes, but our
culture must also reward it as much as it does the pursuit of selfish
interests. Finally, we need to depend less on leaders to meet so many of our
needs and, because they are only human, expect less of them.
There are four ingredients that make up the
foundation for someone’s integrity. Without these factors joining combining
together either the individuals foundation will be weak, or it will eventually
crumble and disintegrate. The first is receptive ability such as failure as an
leader occurs when one acts as an authoritarian leader. This person dominates
and to a certain extent possesses a certain degree of arrogance that is above
the norm. Secondly, be flexibility that are the type of leaders who carry the
old timers attitude or simply state till the end. Humility is the third one
carry out the title, image, and being the center of attention appeal more to us,
than humility is one quality they do not possess. The last one is compassion.
Thats meaning the leader bring himself or herself to reconcile a difference
with a member of the company or department and will be nice to followers and express compassion
and mercy to the people to whom we provide service.
In
conclusions, leadership is the very important thing in enhancing organization,
community or society and the level integrity of people. The leadership must
have the vision and mission to organize and achieve the commons goal. Moreover,
the leaders have to show their leadership as a role model and do the positive
changes. If the situation becomes worse, integrity will become descending. The
leaders must obey the laws, the procedures and the rules which are determined
in National Integrity Plan. Exactly, all the organizations
should have integrity in their leadership, the correct mindset at a certain
core belief, values and principle. Everyone should develop that mindset
especially those who lead the organization. There is a common theme among experts who
have studied or written about modern leadership. That all leaders must act with
integrity at all times. The first reason for acting with integrity is that
subordinates are constantly observing the lead figure. Lastly,the
leader must employ the authority granted him or her by the organization to
achieve the purposes of the organization, all the while recognizing that the
knowledge needed to exercise this authority resides throughout the organization
and its environment.
I really like the words from
Burke Davis, “Without integrity, leadership cannot flourish and our mission
will suffer.” (Davis, 1988, 245-246).
Seneca, Roman philosopher and writer.
