Leadership and Integrity
November 5, 2005 by admin
Integrity is a critical aspect of leadership. When integrity goes, perception of one as an effective leader sinks quickly. Thus, it’s especially bad news for the Bush administration that the Libby indictment has diminished the trust of the American people in Bush’s integrity. Leaders not only need to be behave with integrity; they need to be seen as putting their faith in others who are also people of integrity.
Bush accepted Libby’s resignation without a word saying that, if the charges were true, they were an abuse of trust and an abuse of the office Libby held. By not denouncing the actions alleged in the indictment — even if he still maintained the possibility that Libby was innocent of the charges — Bush put his own image on the line. This was certainly a mistake in general for any leader — but for a leader who was elected on a platform of restoring trust and integrity to the Presidency, it was even more serious.
Lesson for leaders: Integrity still matters, deeply, and it’s not only your own, but the integrity of those around you in whom you put your faith and trust.
“A week after vice presidential aide Lewis Libby resigned and was indicted on charges related to the leaking of a CIA operative’s identity, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that fewer than half of Americans viewed Bush as trustworthy and honest.”