Mike Smith, author and former Head of Business Programmes at IofC UK, gave thanks to contributors to his new book; Leading with Integrity at its London launch on 16 October 2019..
He said: “The book wouldn’t exist without you. You are its raison d’etre, and the book is written in your honour.”
It was an evening of great celebration as people came together to share stories of personal and business integrity. Mike was welcomed on stage by Genevieve Boast, friend and business associate, who in her own right is a leader of integrity. Smith told how she risking her whole career in her early 20s when she exposed theft and corruption in the electronics supply company where she was working in Sheffield. Her story is in his book.
The book presents stories of business leaders who have aimed to build trust in the economy, and have delivered value through integrity, cooperation, stewardship, purpose and sustainability. It proposes the eight Cs of trust which can define the culture of organizations: contracts, covenants, competences, character, conscience, conviction, courage and change.
Mike hopes the book will be read by business leaders and politicians alike as well as being course reading material in universities and business schools across the UK and worldwide.
He asks the question, “What are the sources of inner inspiration that guide our daily conduct and motivations in the workplace?”
He continued: “We urgently need a leadership of integrity, so lacking in the current political and economic climate. We need integrity to restore trust in business and political life, from Westminster to the White House. And integrity implies honesty and walking the talk. It has been said that ‘integrity is doing the right thing when no one else is looking’. The fundamental choice is between those who are motivated by acquisition and accumulation, or downright greed, and those who are motived by care and contribution to society and concern for all stakeholders. And that includes future generations, as Greta Thunberg has so passionately expressed.”
The book is available from the IofC shop website.
English