How to Keep Your Integrity While Adapting to a Changing Environment

When he’s not running the Los Angeles Tribune, Moe Rock is working hard to support business owners as they develop their communities, strengthen their leadership, and advance personally. His first book, The Moral Compass: 28 Principles for Integrity-Driven Leadership, which will be published next month, is based on his conviction that everything ultimately boils down to integrity. He says, “I think we don’t talk about integrity enough. “It all starts with integrity. It’s the foundational component of all success and it’s the foundational component of all aspects of life. Without integrity, we cannot have a functioning organization, we cannot have healthy relationships, and we cannot have a flourishing world.”

Although businesses are investing more in integrity training, upholding a high standard of integrity is not without its difficulties. 97% of respondents said integrity is important, according to the EY Global Integrity Report 2022. But more than half claimed that during the 18 months prior to the report, ethical standards either remained the same or got worse.

This kind of data served as the initial inspiration for Rock’s book. Rock shares 28 principles in his book for leaders to ponder in order to give them more perspectives on the importance of integrity in their lives and businesses. Empathy is one of them. “Empathy is a skill that can be developed, a culture can be established, and when empathy is valued in the workplace, productivity increases and the number of people leaving your company actually goes down. You should incorporate empathy into your company’s culture for practical reasons. Remember what it’s like to be human, shall we?”

When working in a rapidly changing environment and trying to keep up, Rock says it’s easy to lose sight of our humanity. While he acknowledges that computers will replace many of the tasks that humans perform, he emphasizes what binds us together as “our heart-centered decisions, our integrity, our empathy, and our ability to love.” Rock spoke with Jessica Abo about his book, the role he sees AI playing in journalism, and what it’s like to take over a legacy brand.