June 5, 2025
“Without integrity, nothing works.”
— Werner Erhard
Introduction
In the past weeks, I have been playing around with AI in better and better ways, getting some remarkable outputs.
One of the things I tried to develop was an assessment I can send to clients and or potential clients.
Given that I found it to be useful to fill it in myself, I thought I would share a short version with you:
Context:
Integrity is the foundation. For trust. For performance. For leadership. It’s not moral, not ethical, not about good or bad. It’s structural. Like gravity. If it’s missing, things stop working.
And yet most leaders don’t see where their lack of integrity is silently creating breakdowns—at a personal level, in teams, or across entire organizations.
This short self-assessment is an invitation to look directly:
Where are you not whole and complete with your word?
Where are the hidden misalignments?
And what’s the actual cost—in clarity, energy, trust, and results?
You’ll find three core dimensions of leadership integrity below. Each has reflection points that can reveal where your next breakthrough lies.
Integrity with Self
(Personal alignment with your word, values, and way of being.)
1. How often do you fulfill the commitments you make to yourself, whether it’s time, energy, growth, or space?
2. When you face hard choices, how much are you willing to choose from your values instead of comfort?
3. Do your actions reflect who you say you are—or who you think you need to be for others?
Reflection:
Where do you currently tolerate being out of alignment with yourself, and what does that cost you in clarity, energy, and power?
Integrity with Others
(How you relate to others in your word, trust, and transparency.)
4. Do you communicate your commitments clearly and completely to others? Or do you keep things vague, flexible, or undefined?
5. When things break down, do you take responsibility—fully—and restore trust?
6. Would the people around you say that your word means something, even when it’s inconvenient?
Reflection:
Where are you currently out of integrity with others? What relationships are fraying because you’ve left something incomplete, unspoken, or unkept?
Integrity with Systems and Results
(Operational alignment—your ability to create outcomes that match your commitments.)
7. Do your business systems reflect what you say your goals are? Or are they working against what you claim to be building?
8. Are there recurring breakdowns you’re tolerating—things that “don’t quite work” but never get addressed?
9. When results fall short, do you locate the breakdown and own your part, or do you push forward, hoping it resolves itself?
Reflection:
What is the cost of tolerating broken systems, unclear structures, or unkept agreements? What would open up if you fully restored alignment here?
Scoring Yourself
You can simply notice the patterns. Or, if it helps, score yourself:
1 = Rarely
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often
4 = Always
Total your score from the 9 questions:
9–18: Major integrity gaps likely exist. These are probably costing you time, energy, trust, or money—sometimes all at once.
19–27: You’re holding some alignment, but key areas are under strain. There’s a clear opportunity for growth.
28–36: You’re operating with a high degree of integrity, but even small cracks can compound over time. Fine-tuning will amplify your leadership impact.
Final Reflection
Leadership without integrity is performance without power.
Trust without foundation. Strategy without sustainability.
What do you think, did AI do a good job with this?
Have a great rest of the week,
Moritz