By Dr. Mercy DeSouza
In an era where reputations can be damaged in a single news cycle and public trust is increasingly fragile, most organizations are searching for what truly sustains performance. Strategy matters, innovation matters, and technology matters, but none of these can endure without integrity and ethical leadership.
The two concepts are connected, yet distinct. Integrity provides the foundation; ethical leadership is the force that shapes culture around it. When leaders treat integrity as a strategic asset, rather than a moral slogan, they create organizations that are not only successful but resilient.
Understanding integrity
Integrity is often simplified to “doing the right thing,” but the idea is more nuanced. It is the state of being whole, consistent, and dependable both in character and action. It is about being reliable and consistent enough to be depended on. Systems, relationships, and organizations function at their best when integrity is present.
No integrity, no workability. No workability, no sustained performance. This rigorous view, drawn from Erhard and Jensen (2024), sees integrity as a matter of one’s word being complete and unbroken in what we say, what we do, and what we stand for. Under this perspective, integrity shows up when we:
- Fulfill our commitments as promised, and on time
- Do what we know should be done, even without an explicit promise.
- Act according to what others can reasonably expect from our roles, unless we have clearly stated exceptions.
- Uphold moral, ethical, and legal standards we have not explicitly rejected.
These four dimensions form the basis on which ethical leadership is built.
Ethical leadership – Integrity in practice
Ethical leadership is the use of influence, decisions, and example to establish, protect, and spread integrity throughout an organization.
Ethical leaders:
- Demonstrate alignment between their words, decisions, and their behavior.
- Make transparent, accountable decisions even when costly or inconvenient.
- Challenge harmful informal norms rather than benefiting from them in silence.
- Put systems in place that reward integrity and discourage misconduct.
Bringing it home to Africa
Large organizations, especially complex public-sector environments, face conflicting pressures. Formal rules may be clear on paper, but employees must also navigate political demands, loyalty expectations, and deeply rooted social norms.
Research from Ghana’s public service (DeSouza, Swanzy & Asumeng 2025) shows that officials often weigh not only ethical and legal rules but also pressure from above, expectations of reciprocity, and loyalty obligations when confronted with corruption-related dilemmas.
In such contexts, ethical leadership becomes decisive. Formal codes matter, but it is leadership behavior that signals which rules carry weight, which norms are tolerated, and which values genuinely guide action. Integrity provides the standards. Ethical leadership embeds those standards in hiring, promotion, daily decision-making, crisis response, and organizational culture. Put simply, you can have integrity without being a leader, but you cannot be an ethical leader without integrity.
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Why the link matters for African organizations
In today’s BANI (brittle, anxious, nonlinear, and incomprehensible) world, the link between integrity and ethical leadership is not just a moral concern; it is a core performance requirement.
- Trust has become a business asset – Employees, citizens, customers, and regulators expect transparency and will withdraw trust quickly when organizations appear inconsistent or self-serving.
- Decision-making is more complex – Leaders face dilemmas where financial, legal, political, and social pressures collide. Integrity provides a compass when rules and incentives are unclear or contradictory.
- Informal norms remain powerful – The Ghanaian study (DeSouza et al., 2025) highlighted how informal norms like political praise-singing, reciprocal favors, and apathy toward work can quietly erode integrity and fuel counterproductive work behaviors if left unchallenged. These norms flourish when leadership fails to enforce organizational codes of ethics.
The positive ripple effect for African organizations
When organizations embed integrity into their leadership practice, the impact is far-reaching:
- Culture – Employees learn that honoring commitments, raising concerns, and blowing the whistle are not career risks—but expectations.
- Performance – Workflows become smoother because people spend less time covering their tracks or navigating contradictions and more time delivering results.
- Corruption risk – When leaders consistently honor their word and enforce standards fairly, informal pro-corruption norms lose influence. Decisions become rooted in organizational purpose rather than personal or political pressure.
Over time, ethical leadership turns integrity from a statement of intent into a lived organizational habit.
From stated values to lived practice
Most African organizations already have strong values displayed on office walls and in organizational manuals. The challenge is translating those values into behavior. This requires leaders to:
- Honor their word precisely – Do what you commit to do, and when you cannot, communicate early, take responsibility, and address the consequences.
- Expose and address negative informal norms – Ask: What behaviors are truly rewarded here? What norms do people rely on to “get things done”? Ignoring negative informal norms leaves organizational integrity at the mercy of invisible, damaging rules.
- Align systems and incentives with integrity – Promotion, recognition, and resource decisions should reflect not just what people achieve, but how they achieve it.
- Build ethical reasoning capacity – Rules alone do not drive behavior. People act based on their attitudes, expectations, and personal reasons. Creating space to discuss dilemmas, reflect on decisions, and understand the “why” behind rules strengthens ethical judgment.
A call to leadership
Integrity and ethical leadership are not abstract ideals. They are practical conditions that determine whether organizations can be trusted, effective, and sustainable (Sustainable Development Goal 16).
- Integrity asks: Is our word whole and reliable?
- Ethical leadership asks: How do we make that word real in every part of the organization?
In a world of complexity, scrutiny, and rapid change, organizations that stand out will be those whose leaders understand this link and act on it. Strategies may change, structures may be redesigned, and technologies may advance but without integrity at the core and ethical leadership at the helm, even the best-designed organizations will struggle to earn and retain the one resource they cannot buy: trust.
-About the Author-
The author is an academic and consultant with over two decades of experience across Ghana, Burkina Faso, Namibia, and Germany. She holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and integrates research, practice, and teaching to strengthen leadership capacity and organizational effectiveness. At Ashesi University in Ghana, she lectures in Organizational Behavior, International Human Resource Management, and Psychology of Work and Human Behavior, drawing on global perspectives and evidence-based approaches to inspire critical thinking and practical application
