Finding the right talent is more than a simple checklist of skills and experience. As Warren Buffett powerfully articulates a lesson that was taught to him, integrity is the foundational quality that makes or breaks a hire. “In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”
A Risky Business
This nugget of wisdom cuts to the heart of recruitment: without integrity, exceptional intelligence and great energy become potential liabilities rather than assets. In the investment and trading landscape, as with other industries, a single compromised decision can unravel years of professional reputation. Integrity isn’t just a desirable trait; it’s the fundamental filter through which all other professional qualities must pass.
Taking Advantage
When you prioritise integrity in your hiring process, you unlock multiple benefits:
- Risk Mitigation – Employees with unwavering integrity are your first line of defence against potential misconduct. They naturally gravitate towards ethical decision-making, protecting your organisation from reputational and financial risks.
- Performance Reliability – A skilled, energetic individual with strong integrity has a far higher probability of consistently delivering high-quality work. They don’t just meet their targets, they honour commitments, even when no one is watching. They literally couldn’t countenance doing a below-par job!
- Team Dynamics – Integrity creates a culture of trust. so that when team members know their colleagues are fundamentally honest, collaboration becomes seamless and productive. You can spot a team that doesn’t trust each other a mile off.
- Client Confidence – In industries where trust is currency, integrity transforms from a personal virtue to a business imperative. Clients can sense authentic integrity, and it becomes a powerful differentiator. Not every firm has clients, but every business has vital relationships in their domain that need to be protected. For example, market makers do not have clients, but work closely with regulators, exchanges and institutional investors who are integral to their success.
- Regulatory Compliance – In highly regulated industries like financial markets, employees with strong integrity are more likely to adhere to complex regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of costly compliance breaches.
- Long-Term Organisational Resilience – Integrity-driven employees contribute to a sustainable corporate culture that can weather challenges and maintain a positive reputation, even during difficult times.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognise that hiring employees with high levels of integrity isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do.
“Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without [integrity], you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”
How To Reveal Character Through Thoughtful Interviewing
Traditional interview processes often focus narrowly on technical competence, but uncovering true integrity requires a more nuanced approach. Skilled interviewers look for consistent patterns of behaviour, listening carefully to how candidates discuss past challenges and paying close attention to how they describe relationships with previous colleagues and employers.
Truly effective integrity assessment digs deeper than surface-level responses. It involves asking situational questions that reveal a candidate’s moral compass, understanding their decision-making process, and exploring how they’ve navigated ethical dilemmas in previous roles. Look for candidates who demonstrate self-reflection, take responsibility for their actions, and genuinely commit to principled behaviour.
Try incorporating these behavioural interview questions to probe a candidate’s integrity and see what works best for you and your own style and language, adjusting accordingly:
- “Tell me about a time when you witnessed a colleague doing something you believed was wrong. How did you handle the situation?”
- “Describe a moment when you had to choose between what was personally advantageous and what was ethically correct.”
- “Can you describe a situation where you had to make a difficult decision between following company policey and delivering a business objective? How did you respond?”
- “Can you share an example of a time when you admitted to making a mistake that could have had negative consequences for you?”
- “Describe a scenario where you had to maintain confidentiality, although it was challenging to do so.”
Many interviewers feel uncomfortable probing deeply into a candidate’s ethical stance, fearing the questions might seem invasive or judgmental. However, the key is to approach these questions with genuine curiosity and a conversational tone. Frame the questions as opportunities for the candidate to share their professional experiences, not as interrogations. Remember that skilled candidates appreciate the chance to demonstrate their character and will typically respond with thoughtful, nuanced reflections.
The Cost of Compromise
The alternative – avoiding these critical integrity-focused questions – means you’re going to be judging someone’s ethical character on what? Gut instinct? I think we all know that that isn’t a winning strategy. As Buffett suggests, hiring someone without integrity is potentially catastrophic. An intelligent, energetic individual lacking moral compass can introduce systemic risks that far outweigh their apparent capabilities. In contrast, a person of integrity might seem less immediately impressive but will ultimately drive sustainable success.
Making Integrity Central to Your Recruitment Strategy
Transforming your hiring approach means seeing integrity not as a checkbox, but as the primary lens through which you evaluate potential team members. It’s about creating a recruitment process that doesn’t just identify skills but truly understands character.
If you have not yet adopted a structured interview process, get started now and make sure to include at least two integrity questions. And get them in early! If you leave them to the final round, you could be tempted to downplay the significance of the candidate’s answers after they’ve impressed with their technical skills, which is exactly the trap we’re trying to avoid.
If this article got you thinking about your approach to talent acquisition, great! If you’re now thinking you might want some help to adjust your interview process or set up a structured interview methodology, even better. With a depth of knowledge and experience honed over decades, we can help you build teams defined not just by their capabilities but by their fundamental commitment to doing what’s right.
Further Reading
These articles are excellent reads if you’re interested in diving deeper into the importance of ethics and integrity in business and leadership.
How to Build a Company That (Actually) Values Integrity, by Robert Chesnut – Harvard Business Review
How To Create A Culture Of Ethics & Accountability In The Workplace, by Esther Han, Harvard Business School Online
And for a read into evalauting character more broadly, Make Character Count in Hiring and Promoting by Mary Crossan is an excellent read.