Courage to Strive: Hypocrisy Monitoring, Integrity Striving, and Ethical Leadership

In the first edition of this book, Dufresne and Clair (2013) explored the complex relationships among integrity, hypocrisy, and ethical leadership. The essential claim in the original chapter was leaders who monitor their hypocrisy and strive for greater integrity are more likely to grow as ethical leaders. Research in recent years has advanced in these areas, contributing to both greater complexity and clearer understandings about these relationships. In this chapter, we revisit the core arguments made by Dufresne and Clair (2013), integrating advances in the related domains of integrity and hypocrisy. Furthermore, we turn to novel insights on workplace courage to illustrate the challenges and benefits of leaders recognizing their hypocrisy and striving for greater integrity. This new chapter proceeds as follows: first, we revisit the central arguments made by Dufresne and Clair (2013), augmenting those arguments with recent scholarship on integrity and hypocrisy. In these sections, we explore the relationships between integrity and hypocrisy and show how integrity striving shows meaningful growth as ethical leaders. Next, we explore the identity challenges and the role of courage in leaders’ grappling with their integrity and hypocrisy. Finally, we conclude with encouragement for more research to understand these vital issues.