Running head: POLICY PAPER LEADERSHIP INTEGRITY

Policy Paper Leadership Integrity

Heather Casey
Penn State University
Foundations of Leadership
PSY532
Jennifer Clark
May 2, 2016

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Abstract
From politics to front-page news of organizational scandals, the ethics and integrity of leaders is
front and center of our culture. We have the innate desire to follow leaders with
integrity; someone that can be trusted. When followers trust their leader, they put forth their best
effort. Conversely, when followers do not trust our leaders, they revert to self-preservation,
which will never result in the strongest performance towards achieving team and organizational
goals.
Leadership integrity is the foundation of a strong organization. It is essential for trust between a
leader and follower to exist. Trust between a leader and follower, as well as a team, must exist in
order for the organization to achieve maximized results. It is imperative that organizations and
leaders understand the importance and impact of leadership integrity and its relationship to
organizational outcomes. However, for an organization to ensure their leaders are trustworthy, it
is equally important that organizations hold leadership accountable for consistently
demonstrating actions that promote the building and maintaining of a culture of integrity and
trust. The leadership theories of transformational and servant leadership both have empirical
evidence that show integrity as a key component to effective leadership.
In addition to laying the factual foundation of why leadership integrity is important, an
organizational policy for leadership integrity will be introduced. This policy will communicate
to leaders the importance of integrity, the expectations of leaders as it relates to integrity,
required education, how the organization will evaluate leader integrity, or lack thereof, and the
consequences if a leader breaches the integrity policy.
Keywords: ethics, integrity, trust, leadership, servant, transformational

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Policy Paper Leadership Integrity

Introduction and Thesis
From politics to front-page news of organizational scandals, the integrity of our leaders is
front and center. Each of us has the innate desire to follow leaders with strong
integrity; someone we can trust. When we trust our leaders, we put forth our best effort.
Conversely, when we do not trust our leaders, we revert to self-preservation, which will never
result in our best effort towards achieving team and organizational goals.
Leadership integrity is the foundation of a strong organization. It is
critical that organizations and individuals in leadership positions understand the impact of
leader integrity to organizational outcomes. The importance of integrity in leaders can be
analyzed through two existing leadership theories: servant leadership and transformation
leadership. However, for an organization to ensure leaders are trustworthy, it is imperative that
organizations hold leaders accountable for consistently demonstrating actions that promote the
building and maintaining of a culture of integrity and trust.
A policy for leadership integrity for an organization will be introduced which will
communicate the importance of integrity to the overall success of an organization, the
expectations of leaders as it relates to integrity, required education, how the organization will
evaluate leader ntegrity, or lack thereof, and the consequences if a leader breaches the integrity
policy.
Ethics and Integrity Defined
Ethics is defined by Dictionary.com ("Ethics," 2016, noun 4) as the "branch of
philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and
wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such

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actions. Therefore, leadership ethics are the values held by a leader as it relates to their conduct
and behavior.
Integrity is defined as "adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral
character; honesty" ("Integrity," 2016, noun 1). Based on this definition, leadership integrity is
the demonstration of ethical conduct and honesty in leaders' interaction and behavior with
others.
Leadership integrity can be described through behavior in many ways. Integrity is saying
what you do and doing what you say. When followers bring you an issue, you respond to it and
follow up quickly, which is one of the easiest ways for a leader to demonstrate care and concern
for the follower. Integrity in leadership is taking responsibility for wrongdoing at the time of the
action, not just when it is in question. Leadership integrity is speaking truth, whether good or
bad. It is when words and actions are consistent with each other, which is also consistent
with the leaders' intentions and values. Integrity in leadership is about being honest even when
there is disagreement or a mistake is made. Integrity is choosing not to cut corners to sacrifice
the quality of products, even if it means we may lose a monetary bonus. Leadership integrity is
not having any selfish motivation driving leaders' actions (Sinek, 2013).
Ethics are moral values as it relates to how we treat others and behave on a daily basis.
Integrity is a subset of ethics, and can be described as living out ethical values through character
and honesty. Leadership integrity is living out ethical values of strong character and honesty
through the leader-follower relationship, as well as through the behavior towards others that may
affect the followers view of the leader. Next, let us evaluate how integrity plays out as a key
concept in leadership theories.
The Role of Integrity in Ethical, Servant, and Transformational Leadership

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Ethical leadership theories provide leaders a set of guidelines for what is considered good
conduct and strong character. Leaders have an ethical responsibility to ensure they affect others,
primarily their followers, in a positive way. This includes understanding each followers' needs,
taking care of them, and developing and maintaining a positive relationship with them. Theories
suggest that key components of ethical leadership include honesty and integrity. In order to
develop and maintain positive relationships with followers, a leader must possess this element of
ethical leadership - integrity (Northouse, 2016).
Transformational leadership has empirical evidence supporting its effectiveness as a
leadership theory. This theory focuses on the behaviors that leaders must demonstrate in order to
influence and inspire followers to achieve considerable accomplishments. Transformational
leaders are strong role models and "act in ways that make others want to trust them" (Northouse,
2016, p. 190). Since this is the first time we see the word "trust", let us review the definition.
Trust is defined as "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing;
confidence" ("Trust," 2016, noun 1). If we correlate the definition of trust with one of the
essential behaviors of transformational leadership, then it can be re-stated that transformational
leaders must act with integrity because followers are relying on it. The concept of integrity is
key to the transformational leadership approach as it depends highly on the followers looking up
to the leader for vision, inspiration, and direction (Northouse, 2016). A leader is simply
incapable of inspiring followers to action if they do not inspire trust, which is rooted in the
integrity of the leader. Therefore, if leader integrity is critical to trust between a leader and
follower, then where leader integrity does not exist, neither does a transformational leader who
inspires followers to achieve considerable accomplishments.

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Ethics, integrity, and trust are also critical elements to the effectiveness of a leader as
defined by the servant leadership theory. Servant leadership is based upon the leader
intentionally putting the followers' needs before that of their own with focus on the development
of the follower, as well as building long-term healthy relationships with followers (Northouse,
2016). Effective servant leadership includes mutual respect and trust between the follower and
leader. Leader integrity, as we have discovered, is essential for trust to exist in this dyadic
relationship. In the Model of Ethical Leadership as it relates to servant leaders, a core leader
behavior is "behaving ethically" (Northouse, 2016, p. 232). Servant leaders are described as
open, honest, and fair; they do not compromise their morals, beliefs and values for their own
success, thus making leadership integrity an essential component to effective servant
leadership (Northouse, 2016).
Trust and Integrity Revisited
Before proceeding to the concept of how leadership integrity can influence organizational
outcomes, let us revisit the definitions of integrity and trust. It is important to distinguish the
differences between the two as they can and will be used somewhat interchangeably. Integrity is
defined as "adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty"
("Integrity," 2016, noun 1). Trust is defined as "reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety,
etc., of a person or thing; confidence" ("Trust," 2016, noun 1). When viewing these definitions
side by side, we begin to see just how closely ethics, integrity, and trust are inter-twined.
In the leader-follower relationship, integrity is evident through a set of behaviors by the
leader, which demonstrates honesty and sound moral character. These behaviors build trust in
the leader-follower relationship. Trust is a feeling, rather than a behavior, that a follower either
does or does not have for their leader. When a leader demonstrates integrity, the trust that the

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follower has for the leader will increase. In contrast, when a leader behaves with a lack of
integrity, the trust the follower has for the leader will decrease (Bachmann & Zaheer, 2006).
Leader Integrity, Trust, and Organizational Outcomes
Patrick Lencioni (2005, p. 13) states very clearly and concisely, "No quality or
characteristic is more important than trust". He uses this concept to describe the building blocks
to developing a team that produces results. His pyramid starts with trust as the foundation, and
results as the pinnacle; summarizing that results cannot be attained unless trust is the foundation
of the team (Lencioni, 2002). Is that not why organizations exist - to create results? Results,
whether defined as increase sales, develop new products, or complete a simple project that
contributes to the overall goals of the organization, is the reason why teams within organizations
exist.
Where teams exist, leaders exist. However, the effectiveness of the leader and the
success of the team have a direct correlation with the amount of trust that exists between the
leader and the followers, as well as the trust amongst the team itself. In order to develop trust
within a team, a leader must demonstrate how they build and maintain trust through the
relationship with followers. Servant leadership suggests that one of the goals for a servant leader
is to create servant leaders from followers (Northouse, 2016). This concept is easily
demonstrated with integrity and trust. As followers see how the leader builds and maintains trust
through their actions founded on integrity, they too will learn how to interact with others in a
trustworthy manner. Sinek (2013) provides many real-life examples of the reason why teams
pull together to produce results; and the reason, he suggests, is a trustworthy leader.
If integrity of the leader must be present in order for trust between the leader and
follower to exist, then one might argue that trust is not the foundation as Lencioni (2005)

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illustrates, but rather leader integrity. Leader integrity enhances follower trust. For instance,
when a leader tells their followers that their professional development is important to them, has
individual professional development plans for each follower, discusses their development on a
frequent basis, and finally follows it up with sending them to a class to enhance their skills, the
leader is showing integrity; their actions are consistent with their words. The follower hears
what the leader says and may possibly believe them, depending on the existing relationship with
each other. With each subsequent action, the leader demonstrates to the follower that
professional development really is important. Finally, the leader shows the follower how
important it is to them by investing organizational time and money towards their professional
development. Most likely, the next topic that the leader says is important to them, the follower
will trust what the leader says and feel confident that the leader has the followers best interest in
mind.
Clearly and simply illustrated in Figure 1, when leader integrity is present, follower
trust is built and enhanced. When trust is present, results and outcomes can be maximized.

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Figure 1. Leader integrity is the foundation to follower trust, which yields results.
Trust in a leader is directly related to a followers' increased job performance,
organizational citizenship behavior, organizational commitment, commitment to leaders
decisions, and decreased turnover intentions (Bachmann & Zaheer, 2006). Studies also show
evidence that when servant leadership is present, followers tend to go above and beyond their job
responsibilities and in turn, "help the overall functioning of the organization" (Northouse, 2016,
p. XXX). In contrast, evidence shows those followers who do not trust their leader will spend
time and energy self-preserving or ensuring they do not make mistakes. If a follower is doing
this, then the organization does not get their best effort (Sinek, 2013).
If the integrity of a leader enhances trust between leader and follower, which improves
organizational outcomes, then leadership integrity is essential for organizations to deem
important. Organizations that have a focus on encouraging and developing a strong culture of
leadership integrity should see increased employee engagement and enhanced performance
results.
Negative Outcomes and Example
Sinek (2013, p. 15) references the Deloitte Shift Index and states findings of "80 percent
of people are dissatisfied with their jobs". When people are unhappy at work, organizations may
be impacted by many results, which include, but are not limited to: a) employee health related
issues; b) increased organizational costs; and c) decreased employee performance. One of the
primary reasons people are unhappy with their jobs is their leader, as well as the work
environment that has been created through the leader. (need a good example here of why)
Now let us discuss the outcomes of a negative work environment in more detail.

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When a follower is unhappy with the work environment or leader, their stress is
increased. Stress, when not dealt with, can wreak havoc on our bodies, and cause lasting
physical and emotional damage. There is biological evidence of the physical impacts of stress.
Emotional or mental health issues, dramatic loss or gain of weight, and increased chance of heart
problems are only a few of the medical issues resulting from stress.
There are chemical reactions occurring in our bodies that also helps explain the physical
issues we see when followers work in a negative environment where trust is lacking. Cortisol is
a chemical that is released into our bodies when we sense danger. It is there provide us with a
sense of fear so that we react appropriately in order to save ourselves. However, when we stay at
a constant level of anxiety or fear, cortisol is continuously released into our bodies. It is
important to understand that cortisol is a good chemical when used infrequently because fear, in
order to keep us out of dangerous situations, is essential to keep us alive; it is not a good
chemical when released in frequent doses.
Think of that co-worker, friend, or relative that you know that lives in a constant state of
worry or fear. It does not seem like a healthy state of mind to live in all of the time, and through
the study of cortisol, we can understand a little more about the science of why.
Not only does cortisol create selfish followers and team members, it also "increases blood
pressure and inflammatory responses and impairs cognitive ability...increases aggression,
suppresses our sex drive and generally leaves us feeling stressed out" (Sinek, 2013, p. 57). Sinek
(2013) also educates us about the necessary functions of our body that protect us from sickness
are actually turned off due to the energy that cortisol drains from us, which in turn, makes us
more likely to become ill as it begins to tamper with our immune system.

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In addition to employee health, unhappy followers cost the organization more money.
They are absent more, many times due to the medical issues encountered from stress. That is if
they chose to stay with the organization; if they do not, then turnover is increased. There is
empirical evidence supporting the high cost of turnover.
There is also evidence that followers' cognitive ability is hindered by the release of
cortisol, thus decreasing follower productivity (Sinek, 2013). When cognitive ability is
impaired, the best products will not be developed, additional time will not be contributed to meet
the approaching deadline, and time is spent fighting off danger in self-preservation mode rather
than working towards organizational goals. One thing we know through years of hard lessons
learned, loss of productivity and time equates to lost organizational dollars.
Finally, unhappy followers do not yield the best results possible for the organization.
Maxwell (2011, p. 59) states, "It is impossible to be successful with people who give the least".
High and frequent doses of cortisol inhibits the release of oxytocin, which is the chemical
necessary for us to have feelings of empathy. The continuous cortisol release is what triggers the
human mind into self-preservation. Sinek (2013, p. 56) states that, in reference to high doses of
cortisol, "it actually makes us even more selfish and less concerned about one another or the
organization".
The side effects of continuous cortisol release also impacts our life outside of work. One
example is potential marriage issues that could arise due to the additional stress on our bodies,
decreased sex drive, altered mental state, and the ability to react positively to conflict. When
a follower is distracted with issues at home, the organization does not get their best effort.
Notice the cycle that is occurring in the unhappy follower - the cortisol release from work
creates negative impact at home, which creates additional negative impact at work! Due to the

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cognitive impairment from cortisol, followers are not capable of reaching their full creative
potential in problem solving or identifying new solutions to enhance the organization. Our
selfish behavior will affect our relationships at work and contribute to the breakdown of team
communication and accomplishments. It could potentially affect our friendliness to external
customers, which could in turn affect customer satisfaction and impact the organizations
reputation and sales (Sinek, 2013).
An unsafe environment, created through the lack of integrity by the leader, produces
negative outcomes for everyone involved. Employee health is at risk, costs to the organization
are increased, and performance for the individual, team, and organization is compromised.
Aesop quoted by Sinek (2013, p.20), provides us with an excellent example of what can happen
to a team or organization when danger is present:
A lion used to prowl about a field in which Four Oxen used to dwell. Many a time he
tried to attack them; but whenever he came near they turned their tails to one another, so
that whichever way he approached them he was met by the horns of one of them. At last,
however they fell a-quarrelling among themselves, and each went off to pasture alone in a
separate corner of the field. Then the Lion attacked them one by one and soon made an
end of all four.
It is the responsibility of leaders to protect their followers, not increase their susceptibility
to danger. When leaders act with integrity and create a safe environment for followers, they
thrive. However, when safety and protection from the leader is absent, destruction to followers,
teams, and organizations will occur. Sinek (2013, p14) summarizes it well when he states,
"When the people have to manage dangers from inside the organization, the organization itself
becomes less able to face the dangers from the outside".

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Positive Outcomes and Example

Now that we have looked at the negative outcomes associated with unhappy followers
based on an unsafe environment created by their leaders, let us now review the opposite; the
positive outcomes associated with followers who feel safe in their work environment, inspired by
trustworthy leaders.
Sinek (2013) references the "Circle of Safety" throughout his book. The Circle of Safety
is a work environment created by the leader that inspires a mutual trust between the leader and
followers, as well as the followers to each other. The leader acts with integrity, along with other
actions that inspire trust. The followers see the example of the leader and demonstrate the same
behaviors. When conflict arises, the leader addresses it in a constructive way so that the circle
remains safe. In the Circle of Safety, followers have confidence, a sense of belonging, and are
led by clearly defined values. When a Circle of Safety exists, the team and organization will be
able to realize the full benefits of a positive work environment (Sinek, 2013).
When followers feel safe at work, stress is decreased which results in improved employee
health, employee engagement is improved and a decrease in turnover is present, the willingness
to serve others and the organization exists, and employee performance is increased. It is a safe
assumption to state that in a positive work environment both employees and organizations will
reap the rewards of the direct opposite consequences of a negative environment.
Just as cortisol can create negative physical affects, when the cortisol release within our
body is balanced with the right amount of the "self-less" chemicals called oxytocin and
serotonin, it results in healthier employees. This balance can be found in a safe work
environment where trust exists. When this balance exists, the health problems induced by stress
and high levels of cortisol are reduced significantly. Serotonin increases our confidence and

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inspires us to serve others; it provides us with the feelings of loyalty and pride. Oxytocin is a
chemical that is released in situations of deep love and trust. According to Sinek (2013, pp. 6061), "it relieves stress...boosts our immune systems, lowers blood pressure, increases our libido
and actually lessens our cravings and addictions".
When we create safe work environments through our leadership, turnover
decreases, which saves the organization money. Leaders are not filling vacant positions and
retraining new employees. They are focused on improving team results, which also will affect
the bottom line of an organization. One example provided by Sinek (2013) refers to an
organization that implemented a lifelong employment policy. The organization committed to all
employees, as long as integrity is not jeopardized, they are guaranteed a job - for life! Think of
the decrease in fear of employees who no longer worry about the loss of their job. The employer
found that employees were turning down jobs with higher pay for the opportunity to work for a
company that their job was guaranteed. The organization showed the employees loyalty and they
received it in return. The Circle of Safety was increased, and because it was at the organizational
level, the impact was significant - the turnover rate for this organization fell to less than one
percent.
Finally, the most important benefit to the overall organization is improved performance
by the follower when trust exists in a safe environment. In a Circle of Safety, followers have
"this feeling of belonging, of shared values and a deep sense of empathy, it dramatically
enhances trust, cooperation, and problem solving" (Sinek, 2013, p. 20). Followers who trust
their leaders in a deep sense are committed to the leaders' goals and those of the organization.
They go beyond their job responsibilities, rather than watch the clock.

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When followers are in an environment of deep trust, oxytocin is present. When oxytocin
is present, cognitive skills are improved. This enables followers to be better problem solvers and
inspires them to work together. How do leaders provide a healthy dose
of oxytocin to followers? By using skills and techniques of servant leadership: showing acts of
service, sacrifice, and selflessness. There is evidence that by demonstrating these servant
behaviors, it reduces the chances of a corporate environment from ever becoming toxic and selfdestructive to begin with (Sinek, 2013).
When our chemicals are in balance, and not being controlled by cortisol, we "gain almost
supernatural ability. Courage, inspiration, foresight, creativity and empathy, to name a few.
When those things all come to bear, the results and the feelings that go with them are simply
remarkable" (Sinek, 2013, p. 71). Why would a leader or an organization want anything less?
One extraordinary example of a group of leaders that have created a Circle of Safety is
with the United States Marine Corp. In the Marines, you do not get to a leadership position by
doing your job well and desiring to be a leader; it is also dependent on your character. When a
Marine is in a war zone, being able to trust the person leading you is truly a matter of life and
death. Sinek (2013) shares a story of a Marine leader who had to deal with an officer in a
training integrity issue. When asked what the issue was, he shared that it was due to a marine
falling asleep on watch. The officer went on to state that the problem was not that the officer
trainee fell asleep, it was that he didn't take responsibility for it when asked and went on to lie
about it until he was shown a video that proved he had done so. Sinek went on to explain that if
this future officer "were put in charge of a platoon of Marines and those Marines could not
completely trust that the information their officer was giving them was the truth....Marines might
hesitate, question the officer's decisions, or fail to pull together as a team" (Sinek, 2013, p. 149).

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In the Marines, that lack of trust in the leader and the consequences associated with it could
result in the loss of lives. (What about a positive example???_
There are many positive outcomes awaiting the organization who chooses to develop a
culture focused on integrity and trust. Through servant leadership principles, if the leader
demonstrates integrity, the team will follow suit, thus creating a strong Circle of Safety. When
the Circle of Safety exists, you have stronger, healthier teams who are committed to the
organization and its values. They do anything for each other and their performance soars, thus
improving the overall organization.
Integrity Matters, But Now What?
We see evidence that leadership integrity influences the trust a follower has in a leader.
The trust impacts follower performance and organizational results, but organizations must do
more than just talk about the importance of integrity in their leaders. An organization should
take four important steps in order to create an environment where leader integrity is valued:
1) the executives of the organization must determine and communicate that leadership integrity is
a core value; 2) leaders within the organization must clearly understand expectations and what it
means to be a leader with integrity; 3) the organization must determine how to evaluate and
measure leader integrity; and 4) leaders must be held accountable for any actions that jeopardize
their integrity (Gould, 2013).
Each of us can determine that we have strong integrity as a core leadership value, but an
organization will only fully benefit from this if the entire culture understands the importance of
leadership integrity. Therefore, top executives within the organization must determine that this is
a core value. Once determined, they must set the stage through not only talking about the value,

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but also setting the example. Integrity is not integrity unless you do what you say you are going
to do.
Next, executive leaders must determine an effective method of communicating to all
other leaders within the organization that integrity is a core value, and educate leaders on clear
expectations. Organizational scandals that include integrity issues and poor decisions happen at
every level of the organization, not just at the top. While it is important that followers trust the
organization and executive leadership, their everyday work environment is created by those they
directly report to, who also must demonstrate integrity. New leaders, or those that do not have as
much leadership acumen, fill many of these positions. It is not universally understood that
leading with integrity is critical to being an effective leader. Leaders are not always able to infer
that the small white lie to appease someone in the moment leads to much bigger, destructive
issues that can wreak havoc on a team, and ultimately an organization. It is imperative that
leaders are trained on what leading with integrity means and why it is important to their success
and the success of the organization.
Once leaders understand that integrity is important and why, an organization must
determine a way to consistently and frequently evaluate effectiveness of leaders as it relates to
trust and integrity. It is critical that this is a consistent evaluation process in which all leaders are
measured the same. The entire concept will crumble if a leader sees other leaders demonstrating
a lack of integrity and not held to consistent evaluation. It is also important that the method of
evaluation involve the leaders' boss, peers, and followers. It can be extremely difficult for an
organization to see the issues that may exist in the leader-follower relationship unless you have
feedback from multiple sources and perspectives. Each of us should look at ourselves, as well as
the leaders around us, and ask if we would want to go to battle with the person beside us. Then

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the organization must ask, "How strong is our company if the answer is no"(Sinek, 2013, p.
154)? One recommended evaluation process is to send 360-degree anonymous surveys on a
frequent basis, in which followers and peers of the leader are asked questions related to the trust
they have in the leader.
Finally, leaders must be held accountable for their actions. Issues may be discovered
through observation, direct feedback, or results from surveys. When a leader detects potential
issues with trust and integrity, they must be dealt with swiftly, aggressively, and consistently.
Leaders must be trained to identify potential issues within their leadership staff, as they will not
always be apparent. The organization, as well as leaders of other leaders, must be looking for
overall character issues, patterns within feedback from others, as well as survey responses, and
be able to identify behaviors that exist when lack of trust is present within the
work environment. They must also be adequately trained on how to address these issues once
identified.
Leadership Integrity Policy Summary
Based on the importance of leadership integrity outlined above, an organizational
leadership integrity policy is attached in Appendix A. This policy will cover the following key
points:
Communicate that the organization has identified leadership integrity as an essential element and
core value. The policy will define leadership integrity and outline why it is important to the
organization.
Set expectations of leaders including examples of acceptable and unacceptable behavior as it
relates to integrity.

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Establish requirements in leadership training which will include the following courses: Leading
with Integrity: Defined, Creating an Environment of Trust, as well as Identifying and Addressing
Integrity Issues.
Define evaluation and measurement methods that will include monthly leader rounding and
yearly 360-degree surveys.
Properly research and address the problem if a leader does not demonstrate integrity.

Conclusion
In a survey by Opinion Research Corporation, Maxwell (2011, p. 47) summarizes that the
top two most important characteristics of a leader, according to followers, are leading by
example, and strong ethics. Simply wanting to be a leader with integrity and talking about
integrity is only the start. Leaders must talk integrity and walk integrity, always - not just
sometimes, in order to be effective.
Through many examples, it has been illustrated how leadership integrity, trust, and
organizational outcomes are interrelated. The integrity of organizations is under attack and it is
imperative that leaders understand the importance and impact of leadership ethics and integrity
to organizational outcomes. However, for an organization to ensure their leaders are trustworthy,
they must hold leadership accountable for consistently demonstrating actions that promote the
building and maintaining of a culture of integrity and trust. A policy for leadership integrity for
an organization has been outlined and attached which communicates the importance of integrity
to the organization, the expectations of leaders as it relates to integrity, required education, how
the organization will measure integrity, or lack thereof, and the consequences if a leader breaches
the integrity policy.

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Sinek (2013, p. cover) starts his book with a quote that summarizes the thoughts from a
follower about a leader that they trust, a leader we should all strive to be, and a leader we should
try to create of others as a result of our leadership:
Leaders are the ones who run headfirst into the unknown. They rush toward the danger.
They put their own interests aside to protect us or to pull us into the future. Leaders would
sooner sacrifice what is theirs to save what is ours and they would never sacrifice what is ours to
save what is theirs. This is what it means to be a leader. It means they choose to go into danger,
headfirst toward the unknown. And when we feel sure they will keep us safe, we will march
behind them and work tirelessly to see their visions come to life and proudly call ourselves their
followers.

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