This item is from Harvard Business Publishing:
"Many important qualities good leaders possess become even more critical during tough times. Especially now, you must demonstrate personal integrity and maintain personal credibility. When faced with unpleasant tasks like downsizing, many leaders lose sight of these and give into the temptation to cut corners.
To combat this, you must tell the truth. Talk to customers, engage employees, find a firm picture of the reality and then share it, even if it is difficult news. In this environment, your entire company could fail if you don't make hard decisions when they're needed.
And, you must be authentic. Across an organization, all leaders must demonstrate rock-solid integrity, honesty, and the ability to confront reality. If you soft-pedal bad news, employees won't trust you, will miss the urgency of the situation, and won't follow you."
In my experience, not too many people wake up each morning thinking, "Today is the day I'm going to cut corners." or "Today, I'm going to do something dishonest." Most leaders do wake up with the best of intentions. But something gets mis-communicated or mis-understood and before anyone is even aware of it, mis-deeds and mis-conduct take root.
As powerful as modeling the way is. It is not enough to simply show people how to behave. Leaders must also demand these characteristics of those are being led.
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