I approach integrity with a different attitude than I do all the other characteristics of leadership because it is what defines us as people. It really is, as they say, the most important thing we do in our lives.  At Whirlpool we were taught this maxim, “There is no right way to do a wrong thing.”  And for all the years I worked at Whirlpool the employees and the leadership lived these words.

Think about it this way, there are two parts to all of us, what we want to be and who we want to be. The what we want to be is defined by a title we have, like mother, father, doctor or engineer and while these titles are important to us, nobody else cares.  People care about who you are, how you treat them, how inspire and motivate them and how you make them want to be better people. When you get home at night you can’t pull out the “I am a CEO” card, your wife doesn’t care about it and your kids don’t either, they only care about how you treat them. For leaders the same principle applies, this is what defines integrity, it is about your honesty and your empathy and your decency as a human being.  Leaders can never stand silent if the face of corruption or dishonesty, they must remain absolute in times of crisis.

This podcast will help you define your character over the long term, gives you ways to become a person with known values and help you inspire and motivate your teams to high levels of performance.