Abraham Lincoln is often regarded as one of the best presidential leaders in history. Throughout his lifetime, Lincoln demonstrated numerous WOW leadership skills, with his greatness formed around a solid foundation of honesty and integrity.

The former president was probably first referred to as “Honest Abe” while working at a small store in New Salem, IL. As the story goes, whenever he accidentally shortchanged a customer, he would go out of his way to return the money, even if it was an inconvenience. His honesty was an ingrained character trait, and one that served as the cornerstone for all of his other values, skills, and leadership attributes.

Like Lincoln, every WOW leader should first, foremost, and always be honest. A leader needs to be trusted, without question, in order to be followed. Without a steady moral compass and a strong ethical backbone, it’s impossible to inspire, motivate, and encourage best practices in others.

Honesty takes courage, consistency, and confidence. A great leader does not need to be perfect, but he needs to possess a self-assuredness and fearlessness at all times that enables him to act truthfully, acknowledge his shortcomings, and admit his mistakes. Only then can he garner the respect of his team and by way of example, teach them to conduct themselves with the same level of integrity.

A few years ago, my nephew, Kyle Hitchcock, demonstrated the ultimate in courageous honesty. He was playing in the state qualifying round for his high school golf team when, after walking off the course and signing his score card for accuracy, he looked at the leader board and realized he’d made an error. Instead of hiding the mistake, he owned up to it, and as a result, contributed to his team losing the state title.

Although playing fair was the right thing to do, the end result of a team loss was a difficult pain for Kyle to bear. Ultimately, however, the story went national, and an outpouring of support ensued. He even received an unexpected letter from professional golfer Arnold Palmer celebrating his young honesty and integrity on the golf course. “It wasn’t easy going through that,” Kyle said, “but maybe what’s happened to me will make it easier in the future for another kid who finds himself in the same situation.”

Even if you’re not a Lincoln–or a Hitchcock–you can follow their examples and take the sometimes challenging, but always right, path of honesty. By displaying integrity in your actions, staying true to your word, and being upfront and forthcoming about your errors, you’ll be respected as a WOW leader worthy of following. And that’s no lie!

–Sheri Staak