As the party leaders in the UK election campaign make their last-ditch bid for the votes of the British people, the key question on most voter’s minds is who among the many leaders can be trusted. It would seem to me as an observer, listening to how the leaders dodge every question that warrants a straightforward answer that politicians have mastered obfuscation to an art form. But they are not the only ones. Scandals in high office in industry, the city, government, civil society and even the church make headlines far too often, which indicates that obfuscation of who we truly are is not the preserve of politicians alone.

In my last blog I introduced the concept of True North Leadership. I started my article with this quote:

“The greatest want of the world is the want of men and women who will not be bought or sold; men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men and women who can tell the truth and look the world right in the eye; men and women whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men and women who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”

There are five qualities of True North Leadership identified in this quote:

INTEGRITY – Men and women who will not be bought or sold
HONESTY – Men and women who in their inmost souls are true and honest
COURAGE – Men and women who can tell the truth and look the world right in the eye
CONSISTENCY – Men and women whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole
CHARACTER/MORAL – Men and women who will stand for the right though the heavens fall

Now let me address each of these and explore why these qualities are prerequisites of True North Leadership.

INTEGRITY: Will not be bought or sold
The definition I like most about integrity is ‘the state of being whole and undivided’. The two synonyms that closely express this leadership quality for me are cohesion and solidity. A leader with integrity is undivided and solid when it comes to upholding this value. The concept of integrity is as old as the human race. In the Bible Job is presented as a good and prosperous family man who is beset with horrendous disasters that take away all that he holds dear, including his children, his health, and his property. In the story he has friends who question his integrity. They are puzzled why he still holds onto his integrity after being beset by such tragedy and misfortune. The worst of it all was by his wife who said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” His response was “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” Though his trying time, Job held onto his integrity.

In the 2014 global survey on reputational risk by Deloitte, found that ethics/integrity was ranked the highest today and in the future of the three reputational risk drivers, the other two being security and product/service. It would seem to me that that judging someone’s integrity is far more important than evaluating their experience and skills. However the practice in many organizations is that employees are hired to fill a particular skill need with little regard to issues of integrity. You can train for skill, but character is what you get. Integrity is not born in a moment; but requires day-by-day conscious decision to maintain cohesion and solidly holding to this value despite of the pressure to cast it aside.

HONESTY: In their inmost souls are true and honest

Honesty is the best policy, so the proverb goes – what, in the middle of an election? Who elects an honest leader? The original sense for this True North leadership quality was ‘honour, respectability’. This is a quality that has the concept of translucency symbolizing lack of deceit. It’s therefore not surprising why integrity and honesty are often interchanged. An honest leader is solid, undivided and therefore transparent. You can predict, given any situation that they will be honest in their dealings with the issues at hand.

COURAGE: Can tell the truth and look the world right in the eye

I believe that most people in the workplace ascribe to honesty and integrity. However they lack the courage of their convictions when put under pressure by those who lack these qualities or give little attention to them in the organisation. They care little about how the job is done as long as the end objectives are archived. Self-serving interests often motivate these individuals. You need to be a man of courage to hold to your own values. This may cost you a job with that organisation, but your reputation should mean more to you than compliance to dishonourable values. There are many organisations that value people of character Your current employer is not the only option where you can practice your trade with integrity and honesty. Besides these individuals are often so unscrupulous in getting you to do their dirty work but when the chips are down it’s your head on the block and not theirs.

CONSISTENCY: – Conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole

The premise of behavioural based interviewing is that past behaviour is a good indicator of future behaviour. True North Leaders are consistent – whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole. Consistency builds trust. In a recent interview Jack Welch said that ‘Leadership today is all about two words: It’s all about truth and trust’. He continues ‘If a neon light was flashing at that room, “Truth only! Truth only!” think how much faster you’d be. You wouldn’t have to go through the, “What do they really mean? What?” But that only comes from trust’.

CHARACTER / MORAL: – Will stand for the right though the heavens fall

Character is formed by the way individuals meet the common events of every-day life; but it is tested by the way they meet the crises of life (E. G. White). True North Leaders consistently hold and manifest high principles for proper conduct. In a crisis decisions are made quickly. Many fail at such times, because they do not have independent characters or the courage to stand by their convictions. They are in the habit of following the leadings of those in whom they have confidence, and they have no strength in themselves. If you want to consistently stand for principle in the crises of life and the workplace, you must have your values clear, and must be prepared to stand by those principles in a crisis. To build this moral muscle, organisations should regularly present real-life scenarios as part of on-going training and leadership development to employees. Computer based training once a year are not adequate.

About the Author

Mfakazi Ndebele is a Leadership Coach and Speaker at Thinkit Coaching & Consulting Ltd. He also delivers Leadership Master Classes on topical leadership topics including Ethical Leadership. For more information contact us at:

mfakazi@thinkitcoaching.com www.thinkitcoaching.com LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/thinkit