Although there are different types of leadership styles, we can usually define leadership in two distinct categories.

The word “leader” usually brings to mind someone who is a leader of a group or an industry. We might also picture someone who is leading the way in business or in sports. The leader in golf would be someone like Tiger Woods, while Apple is the leading brand in portable music devices.

However, there’s a lot more to leadership than just someone who’s leading a group, a business, or leading in sports. People usually give orders when they’re trying to lead a group of people, or they may do underhanded things to trick people into following their lead.

Through experience, many people have learned to be cautious of “leaders.” They don’t want to be tricked or taken advantage of.

Again, there are different types of leadership, but the only worthwhile and long-lasting styles don’t involve tricks and distrust. If your followers get a whiff of any kind of deceit, you’ll lose all your credibility and the power that goes with it.

You need integrity in order to create trust in your followers. They have to believe you’ll do what you say you’ll do. You walk the talk.

One of the most common ways leaders hurt their reputation is by making promises that they can’t deliver on. It’s important to be careful about what you say.

People won’t be turned off by someone who is cautious with promises. They know you’ll only make commitments you keep. Since they can trust that you won’t back out of your promises, they will be better followers as a result.

What if you promised one of your employees that you are going to give them a raise next year? That is a problem.

A raise is often out of your hands, particularly if you don’t know how well the company is going to do this year. It’s better to think about approaching the subject of a raise in regards to your followers meeting sales goals.

Sometimes keeping promises can be really inconvenient. However, it is to your benefit to do all you can to keep them, even if it requires a little inconvenience. If there ever comes a time when you do need to pull out of a promise, apologize and try to find some kind of compromise.

All types of leadership can benefit from incorporating integrity. Leaders who demonstrate integrity are a lot more successful.