Vital Integrities

I have worked at 11 different companies over 22 years. Rarely have I decided to leave a company. In fact, I've returned to some companies aagain.

I've always said that when I leave, I'm leaving a job. More specifically, my job — the job I was hired to do and once enjoyed doing — is usually long gone, summarily deleted or drastically modified at some point in the preceding months.

In his book, Vital Integrities, George Brymer says something very similar, yet enticingly different:

People join an organization.
They leave a manager.

When I think back, I have to agree. My jobs don't morph on their own. They're changed from the outside. Invariably, they're changed by my manager.

Brymer's thesis is that candidates focus less on financial rewards and more on "values rewards" when selecting an employer.

Today, people seek out employers whose values are consistent with their own, and look for ways to satisfy their interests and needs by aligning with an organization's mission.
...
For many organizations, the new reality means reassessing their leadership approaches, flattening their hierarchies, and emphasizing their core values. And they must do all these things quickly, before the organization becomes extinct.

He goes on to describe a typical employee who chooses a company that aligns with his personal values. All is well as the employee moves ahead, taking responsibility for his work and earning "just compensation" for his efforts. Then,

as invariably happens, you begin reporting to a different manager. ... Your manager's behavior runs counter to the values that attracted you to the company in the first place. Suddenly, you are out of alignment with your organization.

The organization's values have probably remained unchanged, but your leader's actions cause you to wonder. You question if this is the best place for you, after all. When asked why you are leaving, you say "Because this place has changed." But, in reality, you are leaving your manager.

Looking back, I can agree. Many times, throughout my career so far, the "beginning of the end" occurred when I was transferred to a new manager. There was the manager who decided that I should become a database administrator, the manager who decided that I should become a MacOS programmer, and the manager who believed that, because I have a Masters Degree, I should be perfectly able and willing to write kernel tests in C++ (my degree is in Microbiology). There was the department head who decided that, because he didn't understand what I had been doing for the past year, it must not be very important, and the department head who was so ineffective that I was unable to perform the role I had been hired to perform, as the rest of the managers in the department blocked my every effort.

Then there was the company that handed out a desktop tchotchke to each employee. This was a 3-piece, hinged metal whatzit with the company values etched on the pieces. Unfortunately, the edges were improperly cut and sanded (and, therefore, sharp); the metal was improperly polished and sealed (and therefore covered with blotches and fingerprints). My first thought upon receiving my copy was, "Our values are tarnished" (literally). Not long afterwards, I was amused to read a scathing article about a nearly identical Corporate promotional gizmo.

But you already knew the organization's values — that's why you came to work here. You wanted to contribute to the mission, not read about it on a plaque. Your boss was the one who deviated from the values that attracted you. And that deviation forced you out of alignment.

We create mission statements because we want employees to see our big picture. Question is do we see theirs.

Brymer says that most organizations are slow to recognize the role of values in leadership. Employees, on the other hand, are "searching for leaders with integrity who prove their credibility continually".

In values-based leadership, credibility means consistency between an organization's spoken values and its leaders' actual behavior.

To prove your credibility you must repeatedly exhibit your faithfulness to your organization's values by consistently executing the six Vital Integrities.

Understand these six principles, and lead by habitually demonstrating them in action each day, and your leadership will have far greater impact — all because your can't-miss-it credibility underscores your integrity as a leader.

The six "Vital Integrities" can be summarized as follows:

1. Accept Challenges and Take Risks
2. Master Both Listening and Speaking
3. Live by the Values you Profess
4. Freely Give Away Your Authority
5. Recognize the Best in Others
6. Have a Vision and Convince Others to Share It

One chapter of the book is devoted to each of these principles, with a seventh chapter on applying the six Vital Integrities. There's also the introduction (a compelling chapter in itself) and a seven-page bibliography for those inclined to explore further.

Although Vital Integrities was written for managers, I recommend it for anyone working in today's corporate environment. There's much to learn here and the lessons are good ones.

I judge this type of book by the number of sticky tags I use to mark passages I want to remember and return to. I gave this book 20 tags; if I go back and re-read it, I'll probably add more.

If you are in a leadership position at your company, I urge you to get a copy of Vital Integrities and read it cover to cover. If you're an individual contributor, read the book anyway. Consider ways in which you can apply its message to your own life and career. After all, it's not only managers who should exhibit integrity in their work.

Then buy a copy for your manager and place it in a prominent position on his or her desk. Maybe, this time, you won't feel compelled to leave your manager... or your organization.