Integrity in leadership is sacrosanct and you must fight the urge to dilute your brand with cheap substitutes and compromised values.
Can I offer you a substitute? We are out of milk. I just put oat malk in my coffee this morning. That’s not a misspelling, it’s a real thing. Actually, it’s a substitute for real milk, so not even the real thing. But I put it in my coffee this morning and I’m sitting here mourning the loss of that genuine dairy filled brew that I can never get back.
I am suddenly aware that we live in a world filled with options and alternatives. Some are designed to suit our individual preferences; others can meet specific needs. And then there are the knockoffs that claim to offer all the benefits of the genuine article at a reduced price or perhaps solve some trendy problem that we didn’t even know we needed to solve until it showed up on social media. I distinctly remember growing up in a world where we had two types of milk in the store: the one with the red cap and the one with the green cap. That was it, there was no oat malk, almond milk, soy milk, nut pods, etc. And now I have two gallons of the alternative in my fridge.
Along your journey, you will be asked to modify and expand your leadership offerings to your organization. This expectation is reasonable at some level because within your ever-expanding sphere of influence you will find wide varieties of needs and challenges that don’t meet the “one size fits all” criteria. But if you spread your leadership offering too thin, you risk diluting your brand and begin to let compromises creep in that take you far away from your leadership philosophy and down a path away from the vision.
On the periphery I am aware of cable channels like Hallmark and Lifetime. I don’t watch them, but I have friends (both men and women) who love the programming; particularly the holiday movies that start running right after Halloween and through the New Year. According to Lifetime, their channel “is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming.” That sounds like a noble endeavor, right?
Well, back in 2018 the geniuses responsible for developing programs for Lifetime decided to produce a short film called A Recipe for Seduction starring Mario Lopez as Colonel Sanders (the founder and mascot of KFC). This travesty of “high quality entertainment” is basically A.C. Slater wearing a Fu Manchu mustache and selling fried chicken. It is bizarre to say the least and I can’t help but wonder, “How did this happen?” I can’t imagine that Colonel Sanders had it in his original vision to create B romantic comedies for channel 300 on cable, and I can’t believe that the founders of Lifetime wanted to fill airtime with an hour-long chicken commercial.
The leadership path you walk along the journey to the vision should actually narrow as you move forward. If you find yourself in a place where you are trying to be all things, you will begin to produce mediocrity instead of excellence. Don’t fall into the temptation to make compromises or offer cheap substitutes to your leadership brand. Integrity in leadership is sacrosanct and you must fight the urge to dilute your brand with cheap substitutes and compromised values.
Take five minutes and consider, “Am I holding true to my vision for leadership? Where have I let compromise creep in and is my integrity as risk based on my current investments?”
I hope that at the end of your journey you’re not sitting at a table with a cup of oat malk and a bucket of fried chicken, when you could’ve had so much more. Today commit to pursuing your vision for leadership with a dogged pursuit of authenticity and make no compromises along the way.
The Now Go Lead community is participating in a 90 Day leadership challenge starting this month. If you would like to see your leadership in the next 90 days, please consider joining us at nowgolead.com/90days.
Brandon Pinkerton, PE is the founder and CEO of HP Engineering. Contact him at bpinkerton@hpengineeringinc.com.
