Intentional Integrity

Robert Chesnut, a Silicon Valley expert who serves as General Counsel of Airbnb and has worked at two prominent Silicon Valley companies, argues that businesses which neglect integrity as a core part of their culture are headed for failure. He opens his talks to new hires by asking the room, pointedly, who among them believes they have integrity. Defining the word is harder than it sounds. It once meant telling the truth and keeping one's promises, and it required honoring the spirit of the law as well as its wording. Today's workplaces are more diverse, global, and networked, and when a company stays silent on integrity, employees are left unsure what is right and wrong. That uncertainty gives a small minority room to justify self-serving behavior.

Public trust in government, religious organizations, and higher education has declined, and technology is under a cloud of its own. Chesnut contends that this is where employers matter most. As faith in established institutions weakens, people increasingly look to their companies for stability. In the book he lays out a six-step process for leaders who want to build and manage a culture of integrity at work. He explains the reasoning and legal context behind these ethical practices and walks readers through scenarios that show how to think deeply and objectively about workplace culture.

Chesnut acknowledges that governments will always be needed to manage defense, infrastructure, and basic societal functions. His argument is that the private sector can still drive broader progress by bringing sensitivity and flexibility to its work, provided it acts with integrity.