Why does leader integrity matter to followers? An uncertainty management-based explanation

We seek a theoretical answer to the question of why leader integrity matters to followers. We begin by defining leader integrity to include both the leader’s word/deed consistency and the consistency between the leader’s values and the follower’s values. Drawing on Fairness Heuristic Theory and the Uncertainty Management Model, we suggest that followers use attributions of leader integrity as a heuristic for how the leader will behave in the future. Leader integrity attributions act as a proxy for necessarily missing information about leadership outcomes and offer followers needed confidence that their decision to follow is correct. Based on this uncertainty management model for leader integrity, we conclude with research propositions that may direct future studies. Business practitioners have a long history of advising leadership students and scholars that integrity is of central importance to effective leadership (Gostick & Telford, 2003). For example, George’s (2003) book Authentic Leadership calls for business to elevate leaders who are ―authentic leaders, people of the highest integrity, committed to building enduring organizations…[w]e need leaders who have a deep sense of purpose and are true to their core values ‖ (p. 5). In his more recent book, True North, George (2006) similarly elevated the importance of leader integrity by calling it the foundation of all efforts of leaders to lead in th