Integrity: by nature or by design?

In most organisations, policies exist for the situations someone already anticipated and worked out in advance, and there's a process to follow.

But the decisions that genuinely test integrity are the ones nobody wrote a rule for. A funder attaches conditions that pull against your purpose. A partnership makes sense on paper and not much sense otherwise. Someone raises a concern that would be far easier to leave alone.

Integrity is what makes those calls. And in a sector that runs on the trust of the communities it serves, those calls are what build that trust or quietly erode it.

Which raises a harder question for anyone responsible for an organisation rather than just their own conduct.

Does integrity come by nature, or by design?

If integrity is simply who a person is, it arrives with your best people and it leaves when they do. If it's built into how decisions get made, it can outlast them - so what structures would need to change to make it the path of least resistance?

We put these questions to six women leading for-purpose organisations across Australia. More on the women in our panel here: https://www.womenforpurpose.com/p/panel-integrity-by-nature-or-by-design

Kirsten, CEO, Reverse Garbage: Wholeheartedly, I think people are inclined to want to do good for the greater good. We must remember the majority of people aren’t ‘bad’. You may not agree with their politics, beliefs or favourite band, but they have their own integrity and believe that to be their truth.

Acceptance is a large part of integrity in my books. At Reverse Garbage we have such a wide and varied customer and audience that are welcomed to our warehouse by our incredibly diverse and accepting team.

Christina, CEO, Disability Leadership Institute: Most people seem to have a sense of right or wrong, but my experience is that very few people put the greater good and ‘right’ first. When things get sticky most people seem to struggle with putting integrity first, rather they focus on what is best for them.

My observation is that it is only those who have been raised within an environment of integrity who operate with integrity. It is learned not naturally present.

Danny, CEO, b kinder foundation: I believe most people have a natural capacity for kindness and want to do the right thing, but integrity is something we must consciously build and maintain. It is easy to act with integrity when our choices are comfortable or visible. The real test comes when doing what is right becomes difficult, inconvenient or goes unnoticed.

Our b kinder student leaders learn that leadership is not simply about wearing a badge or organising kindness initiatives, it is about living the values they encourage in others such as noticing someone who is alone, speaking up when another student is excluded, and choosing what is right even when it takes courage.

Jane, Executive Director, Eating Disorders Families Australia: While most people are naturally inclined to do the right thing, particularly when that path is clear and comes without personal cost, I believe integrity is a conscious choice we make. This is particularly true when doing the right thing is uncomfortable, unpopular, or comes at a cost. In those moments, you still have to make a deliberate choice, and doing so often requires courage and intention.

I believe integrity is underpinned by our values, but integrity is how we put those values into practice through the decisions we make, especially when no one is watching or when an easier option is available.

Yumi, CEO, Older Women's Network NSW: I've had the privilege of living in a few countries and I have observed that norms are very much based on cultural and environmental specificities of the place we’re in. So what someone would say is ‘awful behaviour’ would be seen as ‘normal’ in others.

One thing that holds true across all cultures is that we can recognise hypocrisy. This is especially the case for when those holding power speak about integrity, but don’t hold themselves and their mates to the same standard.

I therefore think that values such as ‘integrity’ need to be defined, practised and celebrated in order for it to be the ‘norm’.

Michelle, Chief First Nations Officer, Paul Ramsay Foundation: I think most people want to do the right thing, but doing the right thing isn't always easy. For me, integrity is built through your relationships to Country, family, community and culture. It's about being accountable to something bigger and knowing my actions and decisions affect those who came before me and those who'll come after me.

I've seen incredible integrity from people with very little power, and I've also seen it lost when status or pressure gets in the way. So, while I think the instinct is there, integrity is something we have to keep practising every day through humility, honesty and responsibility.

Christina, CEO, Disability Leadership Institute: The simple act of asking "what is right?"

When people pause and reflect on the impact of their decision it changes things. Their instinct might be to go with what works best for them, or favours them or those they care about, but pausing to consider "what is right" takes someone to the bigger picture and the impact on others and the long term effect of their actions.

Kirsten, CEO, Reverse Garbage: My grandmother had a saying that I hear in my head a lot – “Among them be it” – which I took to mean we all have a place, so should be accepting and tolerant.

In this day of hiding behind anonymous comment on social media, the ability to publish false media articles, I think we have to rely on finding out the truth and facts more, and think before you speak!

Jane, Executive Director, Eating Disorders Families Australia: I think values-based leadership and decision-making need to be at the heart of how organisations operate, rather than something that simply appears in a strategic plan.

For me, trust and accountability are particularly important. People need to trust that leaders will make decisions consistent with the organisation’s values, even when that is not the quickest, easiest, or most financially attractive option. Accountability means being prepared to explain those decisions and own their consequences. It also means creating a culture where people feel safe to question a decision or raise a concern without worrying that it will impact them negatively.

Danny, CEO, b kinder foundation: I believe we need to change how success is defined and measured, particularly within education. Schools are often judged primarily by academic results, yet education is also about helping young people become compassionate, courageous and connected human beings. Kindness, empathy and integrity should be embedded in school policies, leadership expectations and everyday practice. Currently they are often treated as optional extras or addressed only when something goes wrong.

I believe when systems actively teach, model, recognise and measure these values, doing the right thing becomes part of the culture. I believe that integrity would then become the expected and supported behaviour.

Yumi, CEO, Older Women's Network NSW: We need to cultivate other values such as kindness and empathy in tandem with building a culture of integrity.

People can choose not to act with integrity if they don’t care how their actions impact others. For example, when politicians stop taking donations from the fossil fuel industry, we will have better laws to address climate change. And if politicians had more compassion, they would see that their actions will impact people who have the least, the most. And if men choose to act with integrity when other men abuse/degrade women, they will start to dictate a new norm which will result in a safer world for women.

Michelle, Chief First Nations Officer, Paul Ramsay Foundation: I think we could shift from rewarding short-term outcomes to valuing long-term stewardship. Too often, our systems measure success by speed, visibility or immediate results, when real change is built through trust, relationships and accountability built over time.

From my perspective, integrity comes from recognising our responsibility to those who came before us and those who will come after us. If organisations were designed to value long-term relationships, shared decision-making and leaving things better than we found them, integrity would become much easier to practise because the system would reinforce it, not compete with it.

Reading the panel’s views, I didn’t come away with disagreement or consensus on integrity so much as 6 different lenses on it. Several answers pointed to culture - what's normal depends on where you grew up, who you're accountable to, and what's been passed down to you. Others, like Danny and Jane’s, pointed to cost - it's easy to be principled when nothing's on the line, and much harder once something is.

My takeaway from sitting with all of it is that integrity on its own isn’t quite enough.

Yumi pointed out that integrity needs kindness and empathy alongside it. And Kirsten gave a glimpse of what happens without that empathy, like hiding behind anonymous comment on social media.

The idea that integrity needs something outside the individual holding it ran through other answers too. Michelle put it most directly: integrity needing something bigger than any one person, a connection to community and the mutual accountability that comes with it. Less a trait one person carries, more something a group holds up together.

So, here’s a question for you to sit with: