FORTIV on Integrity: The Leadership Principle That Makes Everything Work

At FORTIV, we’ve seen time and again that strategy, talent, and innovation all collapse without one foundational element: integrity.

Michael Jensen, in his landmark interview Without It, Nothing Works, makes a bold claim—integrity isn’t about morality or ethics. It’s not about “good” or “bad.” Like gravity, it simply is. You can’t negotiate with it. You can only honor it—or suffer the inevitable consequences.

Integrity Defined (and Misunderstood)

Jensen defines integrity as “what it takes for a person to be whole and complete.” That wholeness comes from honoring your word—not just keeping it when it’s convenient, but also acknowledging when you can’t keep it, informing those affected, and cleaning up the mess.

This is where most leaders stumble. They see integrity as an optional virtue—a “nice to have” when it doesn’t cost too much. Jensen flips that thinking: integrity is a performance multiplier. Without it, workability and trust plummet; with it, the possibility for extraordinary results expands.

The FORTIV Connection: Integrity as a Performance Strategy

At FORTIV, we reject the “cost-benefit” mindset when it comes to our word. Jensen warns that applying a cost-benefit analysis to honoring commitments all but guarantees you’ll lose trust. For us, the question isn’t “Is it worth it?”—it’s “How do we honor it?”

Why? Because integrity creates workability, and workability fuels growth. Jensen notes that organizations focusing on integrity have seen performance jumps of 300% or more without additional resources. This isn’t soft leadership—it’s operational efficiency at its peak.

The Hidden Costs of Being Out of Integrity

One of Jensen’s most powerful insights is the Veil of Invisibility—the eleven factors that hide how much out-of-integrity behavior is costing us. These include:

• Failing to honor your word to yourself.
• Defining integrity too narrowly (only as “keeping promises”).
• Fearing the admission that you can’t keep your word.
• Treating integrity as a virtue instead of a factor of production.

In Fortiv’s leadership coaching, we see this veil every day. Leaders blame market conditions, team bandwidth, or competitors—when the real drag is internal misalignment and unkept commitments.

The Leader’s Challenge

Jensen calls integrity a “mountain with no top”. It’s not a box you check—it’s an ongoing climb. At FORTIV, we train leaders to:

1. Live with 100% integrity—your yes means yes and your no means no.
2. Keep their word visibly—making commitments a lived, daily reality.
3. Honor their word when broken—with transparency, accountability, and repair.

Why This Matters Now

In times of uncertainty, trust is a leader’s greatest currency. And trust, as Jensen argues, is created instantly by honoring your word—even when you can’t keep it—than by trying to hide a failure. At FORTIV, that’s not just philosophy; it’s a non-negotiable leadership standard.

📖 Read Michael Jensen’s Integrity article here: Integrity: Without It, Nothing Works.

And then ask yourself, as a leader: Where am I not honoring my word—to myself, my team, or my stakeholders? Your answer might just be the key to unlocking your next level of performance.

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