Leadership is the ability to build and maintain a team that can outperform the competition. Therefore a good leader must be someone others are willing to follow.

People look for four essential characteristics in leaders, the first of which is integrity.

People need to know that the person in charge won’t take advantage of his or her position—won’t lie, steal, play favorites, or betray subordinates. Unfortunately, many do.

Integrity is the most important characteristic of good leaders. In our survey of more than 1,000 individuals, 81% said trustworthiness was the most important personality characteristic of their best boss. Conversely, 50% described their worst boss as deceitful.

Trust in one’s superior is essential, and predicts the entire range of desirable organizational outcomes: productivity, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Once subordinates lose trust in their leaders, the relationship can never be repaired, and they are likely to remain outside the circle of trust.

To read more about the essential characteristics of good leaders, check out our free e-book, The Hogan Leadership Model.