Middle Way Management and Integrity

In my last post, I discussed how shared vision is a moral imperative of the Middle Way Manager™. In this post, I consider the role of integrity in your Middle Way Management™ practice.

Both Integral and Congruent
As I reflected on what I would say about management integrity for this post, I thought immediately of several characteristics that represent a manager without integrity! We all have these examples in our heads. Rather than dwell upon what it means to conduct yourself without integrity, I'd much prefer considering the role it plays in a positive, integral management approach. By this, I also mean a congruent approach able to produce the types of consistency and equanimity that are hallmarks of a true Middle Way Manager.

As you walk your Middle Way Management talk, you actively engage in truthful, candid, compassionate, and empathic accountability with the singular goal of relieving organizational suffering at all levels in your workplace. When you do this in a congruent way so that the various characteristics of your practice are never in conflict, you are a manager of integrity. For instance, what sense would it make to be truthful, candid, compassionate, and empathetic, yet never hold anyone in your organization accountable for their words and actions? A lack of integrity in this way will not only damage the efficacy of your Middle Way Management practice, it will result in significant organizational suffering - all created by you!

A Way Out of Organizational Suffering
The practice of Middle Way Management offers a way out of organizational suffering.  In fact, it's the third tenet of my adaptation of the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism:

1. Organizational suffering exists,
2. Organizational suffering is caused by the habits and behaviors of managers,
3. There is a way out of organizational suffering, and
4. The practice of Middle Way Management is a way to end organizational suffering at all levels.

As you practice Middle Way Management, you must constantly remain mindful of your habits, behaviors, and actions to ensure your own integrity. As you find chances for improvement, you will work with another to deploy the methodology I've described in other posts. This will offer an excellent example for those you manage. If you can monitor your own habits and behaviors and adjust them when necessary, the people you manage will be more inclined to do so when you ask them to monitor and change theirs.

An Integral Management Practice
So, start today - as you engage with others, particularly the people you manage, check to see if your practice is integral and congruent. A great way to do this is to take some quiet time early in your day to reflect on how things have gone to that point and to visualize how you want them to go for the remainder of your busy day. If things have not gone in an integral way up to that point, it is your opportunity to change them and move into a more positive, productive space. In the end, you must ask: Do I want to be an honest, candid, empathetic and compassionate leader/manager or do I want to be something else? As a practicing Middle Way Manager, the answer to this question is nearly rhetorical and easily discovered.

Go now, and manage with compassion!

Onward! Darin

Copyright © 2009/2010, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.