John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Smart Decision Making

Idea 46: Integrity in business decisions

Truth … is the sovereign good of human nature.

Francis Bacon, English philosopher and scientist

What the world needs is people who are both good leaders and leaders for good. What does ‘good’ mean in the context of business today? Why do some business decisions have the hallmark of integrity and others do not? The former chairman and chief executive of one of the world’s ten largest companies once gave me this personal answer:

Most decisions in business are based on uncertainties because you don’t have all the information you would theoretically like to have, but having what you have, you must use your judgement and decide.

But, and this is what I mean by the overriding importance of integrity, the decision ...