Trust is the foundational cement of the building that is your team, and if you want to have a reasonable chance of building a strong foundation, you better have some great ingredients. These ingredients are honesty and integrity. But how do they really impact your leadership?

Honesty and integrity are important in leadership because these values help a leader quickly gain their team’s trust. When a leader has high moral and ethical standards, their employees feel psychologically safe and willing to take risks. This translates to fiercer loyalty, increased productivity, and boosted team efficiency.

This article will talk about the different ways honesty and integrity can impact leadership, including attracting and retaining high-quality workers, opening the lines of communication, and fostering mindfulness, accountability, and good character within the team. We will also discuss how honesty and integrity can help maintain a leader’s sense of power and authority and influence team agility. Let’s start!

Why Are Honesty and Integrity Important in Leadership?

The most powerful way honesty and integrity impact leadership is their potential to attract and retain first-rate workers. When employees feel valued, they won’t consider leaving. Furthermore, word will spread about the team’s ethical standards and potentially induce top-quality workers to join.

Here are 7 powerful ways honesty and integrity can impact your leadership style:

1. Helps Attract Top-Quality Employees

Honesty and integrity in a leader will attract the best employees. Individuals with exceptional skills and lengthy experiences in their field of expertise prefer being in an engaging environment where they feel valued and respected. The more top-quality employees join the team, the more productive and efficient it will be.

In the same way, a leader who exudes honesty and integrity will retain the best team members. Individuals who feel that they are seen, heard, and appreciated will less likely want to move elsewhere. High employee retention — specifically of top-quality ones — is a great way for the organization to ensure synergy, seamless operations, and productivity.

2. Encourages Mindfulness

Highlighting the value of honesty and integrity in your leadership style will help make you a conscious leader. Adopting an open and transparent outlook makes you more mindful of your thoughts, decisions, and actions, and will push the company’s best interests front and center.

Mindful leadership will make you more connected to your team by being fully present and focused on the here and now. You’ll be able to devote your attention, expertise, and time wholly to current issues without worrying about circumstances that have yet to come. This strategy will give you the clarity and composure you need to tackle even the most challenging tasks.

Being a mindful leader will also allow you to better interact with your team. Leading and managing people requires you to be both professional and empathetic in dealing with your workforce, and an open, honest disposition enables you to consider other people’s thoughts, feelings, and perspectives.

Being mindful exposes your organization to these benefits:

• Strategic problem-solving. Mindful leaders consider different perspectives — not just their own — before making any decisions. This tactic will come in handy during particularly difficult situations that make little room for mistakes and require the soundest solutions.
• Positive work culture. Honesty and mindfulness are contagious. Employees feel safe around such leaders and are likely to mirror their behaviors. This creates an open, encouraging work atmosphere where everyone in the team feels valued.
• Stress management. When people adopt mindfulness and a positive outlook on work, stress and anxiety are significantly reduced. Team morale and productivity are boosted, even in the face of dilemmas.

3. Helps Break Down Barriers

Some employees find it difficult and awkward to interact with their leaders. Sometimes, leaders are placed on a pedestal, and whether they exhibit suitable or antagonistic leadership styles, their team may find them totally unrelatable and out of reach.

I see this behavior mainly with new employees and particularly if they are young.

Honesty and integrity help break down these barriers because they make leaders more approachable and trustworthy. Employees feel safe around a leader who values honesty and integrity, so they tend to be more cooperative and supportive. They feel safe about speaking up and sharing their ideas because they know they’re in good hands. They also feel more motivated to always give their best.

4. Fosters Good Character

In the military, the expression “follow me” doesn’t only mean running behind someone on the battlefield; it is actually much broader and more important. It means to be a role model, to emulate the behavior that you want to see in your troop!

Honesty and integrity are among the hallmarks of good character, and these are values that are undoubtedly expected in an effective leader. A leader with good character can inspire people to aim for excellence. On the other hand, a leader with bad character may influence the team to adopt a negative mindset and unfavorable behaviors.

Leaders with good character can also effortlessly gain respect from the team. They are open to discussions, appreciate other people’s perspectives, are humble, and are always gracious. The values they show will inadvertently influence their team members to think and act in the same manner, creating a domino effect that will benefit the organization in terms of boosting productivity and enhancing its reputation.

5. Promotes Accountability

Did you know that accountability is one of the main predictors of achieving a goal? Studies show that when you make someone accountable (including yourself) to complete a task, they are far more willing to spend resources such as time and energy into reaching it.

Leaders who are honest and exhibit integrity are not afraid to take extreme ownership of their decisions and actions. They are not disinclined to admit their flaws and mistakes either. This attitude encourages the rest of the team to echo their leader.

Being accountable for your actions and decisions promotes transparency in the team. It motivates everyone to be collaborative and supportive. It drives people to always give their best shot, yet not shy away from challenges. Driven individuals are not afraid to make mistakes since they know that their leaders and team members are always there to support them.

6. Helps Sustain Authority

Honesty and integrity can aid effective leaders in exerting and maintaining their authority within the team. Having authority means effectively leading and managing your team toward the attainment of set goals through well-defined tactics and strategies. You must be capable of influencing them to follow your lead, accomplish tasks on time, and work together synergistically.

Don’t mistake authority for tyrannical authority. Authority is neither good nor bad; it is merely the manifestation of who you are able to influence with your words and actions. What you do with your authority is up to you.

Leaders who are deemed dishonest and unethical will have trouble exercising their “given” power over their team members. Employees might feel as if they’re being deceived or manipulated when they sense that their leader’s intentions aren’t pure. When they don’t trust their leaders, they find it easy to defy and deviate from set rules and expectations. By exemplifying honesty and integrity, a leader can effortlessly command and maintain authority over the team.

7. Makes the Team More Flexible

Have you ever been on a team or seen one where there are just millions of questions? Every time a decision is made, the team spends hours reasoning why this decision is made. What will happen to me? Why was this decision made?

From my perspective, a team that spends too much time questioning every decision is a team that doesn’t believe the organization or leaders are honest with them.

From my perspective, a team that spends too much time questioning every decision is a team that doesn’t believe the organization or leaders are honest with them.

Instead, Leaders who promote honesty and integrity influence their team members to be perceptive, quick-thinking workers. When everyone is in the loop about crucial matters, it becomes much easier to make decisions, devise action plans, and execute tasks. The team can quickly move forward toward the attainment of goals despite encountering challenges and obstacles along the way.

Transparency and high ethical standards are keys to enhancing the team’s ability to respond and adapt to different scenarios. If the rules, guidelines, and expectations have been clearly set by their leader, the team will have no trouble distinguishing upstanding courses of action from those that have potentially corrupt undertones.

Honest leadership has remarkable effects on any organization. It fosters trust, respect, and integrity in the team and encourages everyone to be transparent in dealing with each other and matters of business. Honesty in leadership can sometimes be tricky but there are telltale signs that indicate you’re on the right track.

The best signs you’re practicing honest leadership are when your team starts mirroring you and taking risks for the business. When they echo your words, actions, and transparency, it means they admire and trust you. When they take risks, it means they feel safe and motivated by you as their leader.

This article will talk about different signs you can take note of that tell you you’re doing a great job in inculcating the value of honesty in your team. We will highlight cues such as mirroring, risk-taking, eager cooperation, sharing of personal details, and employee retention. Honesty can take your team places, so if you’re eager to learn more, let’s begin!

What Does It Mean To Be Honest as a Leader?

To be honest as a leader means you must be keen on sharing relevant information, especially when doing so benefits the company. You must answer questions truthfully, without corruption, even though it might risk offending the receiver. Honesty in leadership means you must model integrity and credibility at all times.

Honesty in leadership can be summarized in the following sentence:

If you have something to say, silence is a lie!

Here are unmistakable signs that you’re practicing honest leadership:

1. You See Your Team Members Mirroring You

Honesty is contagious, and if you find your team members mirroring your words, actions, and attitude, you might be rubbing off on them in a good way. One of the marks of good leaders is their ability to act as great role models for their team. It’s a great way to set the tone for the entire organization and establish honesty as one of its core values.

Honest leaders who can influence their team to adopt an open, honest culture will help set the entire organization up for success. Word will get around about your team’s credibility and integrity, so a lot of other entities would want to associate with you. This translates to more business opportunities, enrichment of your client base, and the emergence of a loyal clientele.

Signs that your team is mirroring you:

• Your team is starting to use the same unique words and arguments as you do.
• They are starting to engage in the same free time activities as you.

2. Your Team Members Are Risk Takers

Honest leaders foster honesty in their team members, and they generally like working together and challenging each other to succeed and go beyond their comfort zone. The culture within the team is one where everyone is working toward development and growth.

Employees willing to take risks are highly advantageous for the business. The benefits include:

• Organizational growth. One of the usual ways employees take risks is by developing and modifying business operations. Their success spells growth for the business as well, and it further motivates them to find more ways to grow.
• Sense of ownership. When employees take risks, they develop ownership in their work and efforts. If they succeed, they revel in a sense of pride. If they fail, they feel challenged to do better next time.
• High retention rate. Employees who are inspired to take risks generally love the challenges of their job. Businesses benefit a lot when employees love their work and stay in the organization. Operations aren’t disrupted and the workflow remains seamless.

Signs that your teammates are risk-takers:

• You are presented with wild ideas, far outside the box.
• Teammates take the initiative and try new things, often without asking first.

3. Your Team Members Eagerly Cooperate With You

Employees tend to collaborate more willingly and enthusiastically with leaders who are honest and trustworthy. They know they’re in good hands, and they can comfortably voice out ideas and observations. Honest leaders establish a transparent, encouraging culture within the team, making everyone feel safe.

People like working with leaders who allow them to grow their skills, experiences, and careers. If others see you as a leader with integrity, you’ll find yourself constantly surrounded by individuals eager to collaborate — and this includes not only your team members but also people from other departments, similar businesses, or maybe even your competitors.

Signs that your team is eager to cooperate:

• They engage in discussions with you that are too sensitive or provocative for the public space.
• They choose to work together with you in the office instead of remotely.

4. Your Team Members Confide in You

Honest leaders make people comfortable enough to share information outside of the usual professional demands and expectations. Employees can sense that you have their best interest at heart so they feel at ease sharing their plans for the future with you. They might even share details about their personal lives, knowing that you consider such information sacred and private.

Signs that your team confides in you:

• They talk about events that put them in a bad light.
• They share stories that if it came out, would negatively affect them.
• They share their future plans that are not aligned with the company, such as quitting.

5. Your Team Members Go Over and Beyond the Call of Duty

Honest leaders are easy to work with, especially since they create a transparent, engaging vibe in the workplace. Subsequently, team members become keen on delivering more than what’s expected of them, sometimes as a result of boosted motivation levels, while other times just to please you.

Employees are inspired to go the extra mile when their leader makes them feel valued and secure. They can feel your guidance and support, so in return, they are willing to help you succeed. After all, their success is your triumph, too.

Signs that your team goes the extra mile:

• They share ideas and observe problems even though it will impact their workload negatively.
• They are constantly operating outside their comfort zone, such as looking for feedback or risking failure.

6. Your Team Runs Like a Well-Oiled Machine

Honest leaders create teams that are functional, synergistic, and productive. The open and transparent culture allows for great camaraderie and teamwork, making the workplace a highly conducive and engaging place. They say 2 heads are better than 1, but 3, 4, and more can certainly get things done better and faster.

Honesty within the team also allows team members to be more considerate and supportive of each other. When they feel that they can trust each other, they can open up about different aspects of their lives that may be affecting work. Perhaps an ongoing marital issue is making someone feel less motivated on the job, or maybe someone recently lost a pet and has been feeling down.

Knowing such personal issues makes a team more sensitive to each other’s needs. Without animosity, they can offer support whenever someone needs it rather than becoming upset about perceived non-cooperation.

Signs your team is running without unnecessary friction:

• There are always volunteers to cover when someone needs to take time off.
• Routine tasks rarely require your support.
• The team automatically adapts to new information and changes direction when needed.

7. You Eagerly Share Relevant Information With Your Team

Honest leaders are excited about sharing relevant information with their teams. They see their team members as allies in business and can be just as significant to the organization as they are. They know that withholding important details from their team can have catastrophic effects.

Not knowing enough information can make an employee jump to the wrong conclusions. Being kept in the dark about the particulars of certain projects can make an employee deliver insufficient and irrelevant work. Your honesty and transparency in business will be much appreciated by your team members and will encourage them to work more collaboratively with you.

Signs that you are sharing the correct amount of information:

• Your team rarely says, ” X person told me this; why haven’t you told us”
• Teammates ask only a few questions (this is a sign they trust that you deliver the essentials and that you hide nothing).

8. Your Team Members Run to You for Help

It takes a while to earn a person’s trust. In the business setting, apart from time, it also takes the right kind of leaders to win a team’s confidence, and honesty, transparency, and integrity will definitely get you there.

If you find yourself being sought out by your team members for insights and advice on how they can better handle different tasks and situations at work, it’s a clear sign that they trust you and appreciate your openness, sincerity, and emphasis on your duty of confidentiality. Sometimes, they might even run to you for help regarding personal issues outside the professional scope.

Signs your team trusts you for help:

• They ask you for advice even though they should or could have gone elsewhere.
• They ask personal questions unrelated to the business.

Dishonest leaders never succeed in the long run; I’ve seen it over and over again. They come across as uncommunicative, deceiving, and unworthy of trust, and you find yourself always questioning their motives. What makes it complex is that most of the time, it isn’t obvious that the leader is being dishonest.  

The most discreet sign of dishonest leadership is self-centeredness and self-promotion. Dishonest leaders habitually toot their own horns, even when the credit is not fully theirs. Their main focus is advancing in their careers and they’re willing to trample on anyone to achieve their goals.

This article will discuss subtle signs of dishonesty in leadership, including self-centeredness, an overwhelming sense of superiority, and an inclination for secrecy. We will also discuss behaviors that may indicate dishonesty, such as bullying, gaslighting, and gossip-mongering. Dishonesty in leadership is a red flag, so if you can’t wait to learn more, let’s start!

1. It’s All About Me, Myself, and I

Dishonest leaders are not keen on giving credit where credit is due. They are often too arrogant to acknowledge excellence in their team members, especially if the act will overshadow their own perceived brilliance. They are also too prideful to admit mistakes and shortcomings, and may even sometimes place the blame on their unsuspecting team members. 

Dishonest leaders are usually so egocentric and self-absorbed that they only think about their own welfare and how they can protect and advance their careers. They are always on the lookout for what can benefit them, rather than searching for opportunities to promote their team’s development. 

2. They Think They Know Everything

Dishonesty in leadership becomes quite apparent when there is an attitude of self-centeredness and conceit. Good leaders are eager to grow and are humble enough to acknowledge that they aren’t always the smartest person in the room. When a leader isn’t curious about new information or other perspectives in the business and isn’t unassuming enough to try and learn from others, it’s a red flag. 

3. They Love Playing the Blame Game

Good leaders practice extreme ownership. Being answerable to the work you deliver is a positive trait that focuses on the willingness to improve. On the other hand, placing the blame merely highlights negative points and focuses only on what has been done erroneously. 

An honest leader sets high standards for the team that are both realistic and challenging. When team members falter, leaders must step in to offer guidance in finding solutions and aiming for improvement, rather than wasting time playing the blame game. Pointing fingers and harping on mistakes pulls down the team’s morale and makes them feel disinclined to interact with their leader. 

4. They Like Keeping the Team in the Dark

Effectively leading and managing a team requires great communication skills. Good leaders ensure that the team runs like a well-oiled machine and everyone is in the loop about set objectives and the strategies and tactics to get there. They also update the team about any challenges or glitches encountered along the way.

Dishonest leaders aren’t open and transparent when dealing with their team members. They choose not to disclose relevant information for self-serving reasons. It may be due to a lack of trust in their team’s loyalty, paranoia that something might backfire, or simply wanting to keep information to themselves. 

These leaders have a tendency to manipulate or distort the information, so it isn’t always obvious that they are hiding information. Part of the reason they do this is to keep the informational upper hand thinking this will make them more powerful and important in the organization.

5. It’s a One-Way Street and They’re in Charge 

Dishonest leadership creates an inflexible, stressful atmosphere in the workplace. Communication lines aren’t open between the leader and team members, making everyone feel quite weary and unsure. The flow of ideas, guidelines, and input come only from the leader and they do not expect nor encourage their team to participate in any discussions. 

For these reasons, dishonest leaders find it difficult to develop rapport with their team and earn their trust and loyalty. Often, this further fortifies their resolve to conceal information and maintain ambiguity in the workplace. 

At Sancus Leadership, we are extremely clear on one thing; without trust, there is no team, only a group of people.

6. It’s Their Way or the Highway 

Leading and managing a team doesn’t mean that only your ideas, rules, and expectations matter. Although certain leadership approaches — such as an autocratic leadership style — give leaders complete control over decision-making matters within the team,  leaders should still consider their team members’ perspectives. 

Dishonest leaders tend to utterly disregard or reject their team members’ viewpoints since they do not support transparency and openness in business. They fail to see the value of synergism and engagement and instead prefer that they always get their way. Most of the time, they will do everything in their power to enforce their ideas even if it means trampling over someone on the team. 

7. They’re Micromanagers

Micromanagement is often a sign that leaders are having trouble trusting their team members. In turn, they make themselves unworthy of trust, too. Instead of giving their team members autonomy and space to perform their tasks and make decisions on their own, micromanagers make work more tedious than it should be by demanding compliance without any qualms, frequent updates, and acquiescence to constant monitoring. 

Teams that are micromanaged often see their leaders in a negative light, especially since they can’t help but mirror the mistrust accorded to them. They view their leaders as dishonest and self-serving, making it such a chore to work with them.

8. They Almost Never Say “No”

Leaders who have trouble saying “no” might be people-pleasers. This can be favorable to their team members in certain aspects, especially if this behavior allows them to make decisions and accomplish tasks autonomously. However, it can also potentially not be a good thing, especially if the leader is merely reluctant to disappoint or offend people. 

Not being able to say “no” even when the situation calls for it makes such leaders inefficient in their job. Their dishonesty can be detrimental to the business and to the people around them. The organization’s welfare should be among their primary concerns, so they should learn how to be tactful enough to disapprove ideas and input without coming across as offensive or insolent.

One of the best predictors of success in business is scoring high on disagreeableness, I just did my big five personality test a few weeks ago, and it gave me very useful insight into my character. You can do your own big five personality trait tests for around $10, and I definitely recommend it.

9. It’s Difficult To Get Their Reaction

In managing a team, leaders must offer guidance and support to their team members and ensure that they are always on the right track in terms of accomplishing goals for the business. Providing constant feedback is key to ensuring this, so leaders must become honest, thorough, and intentional when doing so. 

Leaders who rarely react or provide any feedback to their team members fail to help them grow and develop their skills. Some team members may assume that not eliciting reactions from their leader signifies satisfaction with the quality of work they deliver, only to be taken completely by surprise later on when things backfire. Honesty and transparency are keys to providing helpful feedback and are among a leader’s most vital roles. 

10. They’re Gossipmongers

Effective leaders exude professionalism. They must be sticklers for accuracy, quality work, and productivity. They should spearhead efforts in promoting a healthy, professional culture in the workplace, and must never be associated with spreading rumors and false information. 

Leaders who often speculate about others may find it difficult to earn their team’s trust, respect, and loyalty. Their team members won’t be comfortable confiding in them or discussing struggles with them for fear of this sacred information being disseminated to the whole team. This will result in the cultivation of ill feelings and secrecy within the team, making it extra challenging to work synergistically.

11. They Resort to Gaslighting

Effective leaders are good for their word and can be depended on by the team to follow through on their commitments. They make sure that their team members always have access to the truth to ensure the workflow is always smooth and synergistic. 

Dishonest leaders are often inconsistent and cause a lot of confusion in the team. They backtrack on the things they committed to and put the blame on their team by gaslighting them to save face. Such leaders disrupt the workflow and encourage animosity and mistrust within the team. Instead of cultivating a healthy, engaging atmosphere, they foster uncertainty and skepticism.

12. They’re Bullies

Toxic and dishonest leaders think they’re superior to everyone else, and that they’re always right. Since they possess power and authority due to the hierarchy in the workplace, they expect their team members to promptly follow their lead and dislike being questioned or corrected.

When team members speak up to them, regardless of how respectfully done, such leaders berate their team members, label them uncooperative and insubordinate, and may even resort to bullying them. They focus on getting their way, even if it means resorting to spreading false assumptions, rather than doing what’s best for the business. As a result, team members also become reluctant to be transparent to their leaders, causing a rift in team dynamics.

During my 12 years as a military leader, I saw many managers fail to meet the organization’s needs, and it wasn’t because of their lack of skills. Their willingness to speak the truth made them succeed, even if it took them outside their comfort zone and offended people along the way. Honest leaders have a powerful effect on the people around them and the organization they belong to.

The most fascinating effect honest leaders have on business teams is how fast they can foster a culture of transparency. Honesty is contagious, and this core value can easily rub off on the rest of the team. Honest leaders can help maintain high moral and ethical standards by being good role models.

In this article, we will talk about the significant effects honest leaders can have on their team, including how they can influence teamwork, accountability, and loyalty. We will also discuss how honest leadership can pave the way to a better team reputation, higher employee retention rates, and crisis prevention. Let’s begin!

Why Is Being Honest Important as a Leader?

Being honest is important as a leader because this allows you to establish a transparent, efficient, and collaborative team. Your honesty will inspire your team members to follow your lead and put a premium on trust and integrity. An honest leader is someone the team can emulate and trust.

Honesty in leadership has a powerful influence on a business. Here are 7 of the most fascinating effects honest leaders can have on their team:

1. Honest Leaders Are Contagious

The way a leader thinks and acts affects the entire organization. They occupy a significant space within the limelight and must always keep in mind that the team looks up to them as a role model. When leaders act with honesty and integrity, there’s a high probability that these core values will resonate and set the tone throughout the entire organization.

Team members will be inspired to follow your lead and act more graciously, responsibly, and judiciously. If you establish high moral and ethical standards for the team by setting good examples, you’ll create a transparent, collaborative culture in the organization where everyone works synergistically and efficiently toward common goals.

I saw this happen firsthand when I worked with my military bomb disposal team. One team leader in my platoon would often stay away from sharing all the necessary details. Instead, there would be a manipulation of what actually happened. Everyone on that team was often very approving and agreeable during meetings but would later, behind closed doors, share their real thoughts.

This team didn’t take long until it broke up, and individuals went on separate paths.

On the other side, most of the teams I worked next to felt almost forced to be honest, as if something big depended on it, maybe even existential in some sense. These leaders put honesty and integrity at the top of the podium, and their teammates would do the same.

Those were the teams that stuck together and were able to perform!

2. Honest Leaders Boost Team Collaboration

People are more willing to work with honest leaders than those they deem devious and deceitful. They know that they’re in good hands and they can speak their mind when they need to. Honest leaders don’t keep their team members in the dark, especially when it comes to setting goals and laying out plans.

Employees also know that they can trust the answer that is given to them, even if the questions are uncomfortable or threatening to the leader. This increases the chance of teammates speaking up and sharing new thoughts or ideas. I mean, if you don’t trust the answer, why ask the question?

Another reason people value cooperating and working with honest leaders is they can learn a lot from them. Leaders who favor openness and transparency are more willing to share their time, knowledge, and expertise with their team. They are enthusiastic about guiding and supporting team members to help them achieve self-improvement and advancement in their careers.

3. Teams Want To Go Over and Beyond for Honest Leaders 

Honest leaders tend to quickly earn their team’s loyalty and trust. When their leader is sincere and ethical, team members are inspired to go the extra mile in finishing their tasks and making their leader feel proud and satisfied with their accomplishments.

Honest leaders motivate their teams to go beyond their comfort zone and always aim for excellence. This results in better efficiency and higher productivity for the team. Employees can focus more on getting the job done, improving their skills, and acquiring more relevant experiences, all for the sake of helping the business prosper. 

The employees also know and feel that the feedback given to them is not given because of manipulation but rather a reflection of the leader’s honest observations of their behavior.

4. Honest Leaders Encourage Team Accountability

Honest leaders are not afraid to show their vulnerable side to their team. They are willing to admit mistakes, acknowledge shortcomings, and work on their flaws. They are eager to show their team that they’re also a work in progress, diligently working toward self-improvement. Leading and managing a team doesn’t mean you have to feign faultlessness. On the contrary, you will be more effective if your team members find you relatable.

This kind of attitude encourages team members to adopt the same mindset. It opens the lines of communication and creates an engaging, transparent atmosphere where team members feel they can safely explore their talents and skills, recognize their weaknesses, and acknowledge faults.

5. Honest Leaders Establish a Solid Team Reputation

A team built on honesty and trust exudes professionalism and integrity. In today’s modern world where reputation can easily make or break a business, creating a positive image is crucial to survival, growth, and success.

Effectively leading and managing a team means you have to set standards and boundaries. Honest leaders set the tone for how the team handles different scenarios — accomplishing tasks, tackling obstacles, facing crises, or handling clients. When you set the bar high, your team will learn to always aim for excellence in whatever they do.

6. Honest Leaders Churn Out Loyal Employees

Leaders who embody honesty can easily forge solid professional relationships with their team members. Your employees will be able to sense your commitment to always having the team’s best interests at heart, and they will reciprocate by going the extra mile when situations call for it.

Loyal employees are great assets to any organization since they keep the business flow seamless and help ensure continuity. Employee retention has a significant impact on a business and low turnover rates indicate good employee morale and high job satisfaction. All these translate to these benefits:

• A skilled workforce. The longevity of employees in a company has a direct relationship to their relevant skills and experiences. Generally, the longer employees stay, the higher their level of expertise.
• Reduced hiring costs. Hiring new individuals involves advertising expenditures, interview costs, and training expenses, to name a few.
• Enhanced client relations. Business continuity might be affected by a high employee turnover, and your clients will certainly take notice. Forging familiarity, rapport, and client loyalty takes time.
• Seamless business operations. Teamwork and collaboration will be affected if you have trouble retaining employees, with personality mixes and varying working styles always threatening to disrupt the flow.

7. Honest Leaders Can Help Prevent Crises

Leading and managing a team calls for transparency, especially when dealing with your workforce. They need to be in the know when it comes to essential aspects of the business, and an impending crisis is certainly one of those situations that require your honest take.

Being transparent and truthful to your employees can help prevent problems for the team and nip potential disasters in the bud. Honest leaders don’t balk at the prospect of offending anyone if the business’ interest is on the line. In return, team members will appreciate the guidance, especially if it is enforced by a leader who isn’t seen as an enemy, but one who has the best intentions for their improvement and advancement.