The Value that’s a Close Second to Integrity for Legacy Leaders

Jay Newman, PhD, Founding Partner, Culture By Choice

Integrity is critical for all Legacy Leaders but it’s not the whole story. Being of high integrity is great but followers also want to know that their leaders care. So caring about the wellbeing of people is my very close second to integrity as a required value for all Legacy Leaders. In fact, followers really don’t care how much their leaders know and can do until they know how much their leaders care!

According to the research of Stanford University’s Emma Seppälä, “Being a tough, distant leader often adds stress to your employees, which is proven to harm your employees’ health and increase the likelihood of them quitting. A report from BMC Public Health shows that health care expenditures were 46 percent greater for employees with high levels of stress. Another study shows how occupational stress leads to employee turnover.” “Harvard Business School’s Amy Cuddy explains that leaders who project warmth earn their employees’ trust and as a result are more effective than tough leaders.” Both of these quotes are from an Inc This morning newsletter published on NOV 25, 2014, written by Rebecca Borison.

Caring and consideration of followers is essential for being a successful Legacy Leader. When we see that integrity results in greater trust and also see that caring leads to trust, we are left with a question. How can two seemingly different values both lead to trust building? It appears to be quite a complicated matter but it becomes more clear when we realize that trust is not a one dimensional concept. There is trust that stems from knowing you can count on someone. Then there is trust that comes from a feeling of acceptance and personal connection. There’s also trust that is a product of a confidence in the honesty and integrity of a person. When a leader has all of these qualities, the level of trust reaches an amazing height.

I’ve written about the impact of integrity on Legacy Leadership and this Blog addresses the power of caring in Legacy Leadership. Either one or these can help you be a better leader but both of them together cause an exponential increase in the power of that leadership. This certainly is Legacy Leadership.

You might ask, how do I make sure my leadership style is truly a Legacy Leadership style? I’ve spent the better part of my career focused on this very notion and for the last 10 years I have made serious progress towards understanding how to do it. I am more than willing to share what I’ve learned with as many people as I can. If you’d like to learn more, send me an email at jaynewman@culturebychoice.com and let’s start a conversation. I am always eager to learn more and help wherever I can.