Integrity-based Leadership: The Root of Responsible Influence
- Mar 6
- 3 min read
By Erin Harrigan
Founder and Head Coach, Erin Harrigan LLC
Each year, when I revisit my core values, integrity remains on the list. This isn’t surprising, since the congruence of words and actions is critical to leadership and organizational success. I have built a life and business reputation for follow-through and delivering on what I commit to do, which has instilled trust in those who do business with me and with whom I share my life. They know they can count on me, and they don't have to question if I'm true to my word.
Look around at the best leaders you know or have worked with, and you’ll likely find this common thread: they operate with integrity. Integrity is the foundation of leadership. People want to follow those they know have their best interests in
mind, who will be unwavering in their follow-through, and who make decisions based not only on what's possible but what’s achievable. Integrity has far-reaching benefits that span from today’s results to organizational legacy.
Present Benefits
The real-time benefits for organizations that are led with integrity include:
Empowered team members who use their unique gifts and talents to contribute to the greater good—for the organization and those they serve.
Teams that focus on the mission, take collective action to make progress together, and deliver on their promises to clients without concern over whom they can truly trust.
Legacy Building
Organizations that are led with integrity build loyal and trusting employee and customer bases, which bring long-term benefits, such as:
Higher employee satisfaction and retention can build bench strength and raise future leaders for ongoing organizational growth.
Higher customer satisfaction and retention can build referral patterns and deepen the business pipeline.
Stronger reputation of excellence and quality that can bolster the brand for years to come.
Responsible Influence
While integrity is the root of influence, we must wield it responsibly. As women, I trust we’ve all worked with or for leaders who lacked integrity. Dare I say, those without it aren't truly leaders at all, as they're often focused on shortcuts, winning at any cost, and compromising others to do so. This approach doesn't serve anyone in business. So how do we ensure we steward our influence both wisely and for the greatest good?
First, understand and consistently revisit the why behind your leadership with these questions:
Why did you start?
Why do you continue?
How has your influence impacted the organization, the team, and those you serve?
Second, engage an objective perspective of your blind spots to identify areas of growth (I’m not talking about social media vanity metrics here). Ask a mentor, peer, or even your team or clients for feedback, such as:
What could I do better or differently?
Where did I miss the mark with my leadership or influence?
Third, I highly recommend revisiting your core values annually to ensure you’re working and leading with them.
Throughout seasons of life—career change, maturity, roles, etc.—values can shift. When I gave my life to Christ at age 46, “faith” became my top value, and it has remained there, 12 years later. As a result of that decision, “achievement”was replaced with commitment. Not because I wasn’t committed before, but because I no longer defined my worth and my leadership by what I could achieve.
When we keep integrity at the root of our influence, we’re at our best, and we wield our influence responsibly for the good of all involved. I trust you’ll agree that we could use better examples of integrity-filled leadership in today’s world, and I invite you to join me in being that example for today, and the legacies we’re creating.
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