In most of the successful businesses, adherence to integrity is vital. Integrity has helped businesses to grow and thrive.
Successful business leaders align their personal values to earn trust from others. Honesty and credibility are required to earn trust from the teams and businesses we lead as well as clients and customers we serve.
In accordance with the above, the limelight is thrown onto the definition of a leader. Leadership is not about the accomplished goals one has made but how those goals were attained which is determined by integrity. In other words, leadership is not about the titles but the actions one takes on their journey and this is aligned to the moral and ethical values that one has.
Any leader should harbour authenticity, which is a seed of transparency. This is fundamentally the ability of being yourself and being self aware.
Self-awareness gives the led some knowledge on the leader which bears trust and loyalty. Therefore transparency in decision making, feedback and improvement lead to a more productive and positive environment hence societal development and overall success of the business that one leads.
Successful leaders should carry the culture of honesty. This culture bears trust thereby promoting unity and collaboration.
Strong positive relationships are also developed leading to strong networks and teamwork. Thus promoting team engagement where everyone participate equally starts with a leader being honest and promoting collaboration.
A strong leader also has the ability to bounce back and push forward if he/she failed. No leader without resilience can succeed.
Successful leaders see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow personally and professionally. Resilience is thus a trait that needs to be nurtured by all young leaders in any sector they are in.
In conclusion, it takes a life commitment to create a life of leading with integrity. However, it is the sole role of the rising youth of this generation to be superb leaders with integrity.
The leader has to take responsibility of his /her actions and decisions at every stage of the way. Failure to be consistent with the agreed promise means a failing in leadership.
Let us be the change that we want to see in the world. For success to come integrity is vital and it is the greatest legacy we can create as youth for the future generation.
- Virgilance Mupandasekwa has been published with support from the #SIYA activity. #SIYA is a partnership between Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), Southern African Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST) and Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ). To share your feedback on the article or your thoughts on youth and integrity you can send an email to youthintegrity@yetzw.net or WhatsApp to 078467988.