I was interviewing a recent college graduate for an entry-level accounting position. He was expressing his opinion that some people were just natural leaders, that he was one of those, and therefore he was not too interested in doing some of the more routine parts of the position because he wanted to move quickly into management. Later, when describing his values, he commended himself on not being materialistic like so many in the previous generation. Now, I am getting a little older so I can tell you that this event occurred in a time well before we all walked around with small super-computers in our pockets, and he had a small super-computer clipped to his belt.

I do believe that some people are more naturally inclined to be leaders than others. I also believe that the best leaders were and are great followers, regardless of their natural abilities. In my experience, those who want to move quickly into management do not want to lead people, they want to be in positions of decision-making power. Great followers, though, learn how to lead without the power given to them by position.

In this 4^th installment in the series, I want to explore integrity as an important characteristic. Learning and growing in integrity as a follower will build you up to be the type of leader that people will want to follow. Let me walk through three basic tenets of integrity:

Be who you say you are. The young man with the cell phone, when explaining how the previous generation was so materialistic, told me that he drove to the interview in the brand-new car his dad bought him for graduation. So, his dad was materialistic, but somehow, he was not. It apparently had not occurred to him yet that he could have sold the car and given the proceeds to charity. Granted, I am sure he felt a certain familial pressure that would have made that decision difficult, so I don’t want to be too hard on the young man. The point is, though, that people of integrity don’t say they are one thing and then live a life that provides evidence of being something else.

Let your yes be yes, and your no, no. When a request is made of us – and the request is not illegal, unethical, or immoral – I believe we should always lead with ‘yes’. That should at least be our predisposition, “of course, I’ll do that for you.” But we have to say yes with integrity. Too often, I have been guilty of saying yes to a request only to fall short on my delivery. And had I honestly assessed my ability to deliver in the first place, I would have been able to let the requestor know up-front that I was unable to, unless other circumstances changed. So being aware of our limitations of time, talent, or resource, is necessary so we know when to say no.

Be the same person in every circumstance. One definition of integrity is being the same person in private as you are in public. I’ve seen it noted as internal consistency. Being the same person in public regardless of who you are in public with, is also a good standard for this consistency. A consistent follower is a good team member toward every other member of the team. A great follower shows respect for everyone around them whether they are higher, lower, or at the same level in the organization. A great follower finds common ground, expands it, and makes everyone around them better followers. Sounds like the makings of a great leader!