Integrity, Honesty, and Fairness: Required Moral Values for All Team Members

PMBOK v8 Definition

Integrity, honesty, and fairness are values required of all team members, where people demonstrate the moral principles that guide their decisions, particularly in tough situations. These values form the basis for accountable leadership, where decisions made with integrity and fairness are focused on the common good, helping to build trust with stakeholders. This concept is embedded throughout the Resource Management and Leadership domains, specifically within accountable leadership characteristics.

Why It Matters for the Exam

This concept appears frequently in PMI exam questions about leadership styles, team development, and stakeholder trust. You will see it in situational questions where a project manager or team member faces an ethical dilemma, or in questions testing your understanding of the Team Charter and its role in establishing behavioral expectations. The exam tests whether you recognize that these values are not optional—they are required of everyone on the project.

Key Points to Remember (for the exam)

• Required of All: Integrity, honesty, and fairness are not optional leadership traits—they are required of all project team members, not just the project manager.
• Tough Situations: These values are most critical when decisions are difficult or controversial; the exam tests your ability to choose the ethical path.
• Common Good Focus: Decisions made with integrity and fairness are always focused on the common good and building trust with stakeholders.
• Servant Leadership Foundation: These values form the basis for servant leadership, which includes respectfulness, humility, and availability.
• Team Charter Link: Team agreements (codes of conduct) document these values and establish clear expectations for acceptable behavior by project team members.
• Accountable Leadership: Integrity, honesty, and fairness are key characteristics of an accountable leader who takes ownership of actions and decisions.
• Self-Awareness Connection: Effective leaders connect feelings, thoughts, and actions by understanding their motives, values, and strengths—this self-awareness enables integrity.

Typical PMI Exam Example

A project team is facing a tight deadline, and a senior stakeholder pressures the project manager to report incomplete testing results as "complete" to secure funding. The project manager refuses, documents the true status, and communicates the risks to all stakeholders. Question: Which leadership value is the project manager demonstrating? Answer: Integrity, honesty, and fairness—required values for all team members.

PMI Exam Traps

• Trap: Thinking integrity is only the project manager's responsibility
  • Reality: PMBOK v8 states these values are "required of all team members"
• Trap: Confusing "team charter" with "project charter"
  • Reality: The team charter establishes behavioral norms and values; the project charter authorizes the project
• Trap: Believing values are flexible in tough situations
  • Reality: These values are most important particularly in tough situations—the exam rewards ethical consistency
• Trap: Equating integrity with "being nice"
  • Reality: Integrity means demonstrating moral principles that guide decisions, focused on the common good

Important PMI Connections

Quick Review Questions

1. According to PMBOK v8, are integrity, honesty, and fairness required only of the project manager, or of all project team members?
2. In which type of situations are these moral principles most critical for guiding decisions?
3. What document establishes clear expectations regarding acceptable behavior and values for project team members?
4. What is the primary focus of decisions made by a leader with integrity and fairness?
5. Which leadership concept is built on the foundation of respectfulness, humility, and availability?

PMBOK v8 Reference

Section 3.8 - Accountable Leadership (Key characteristics: Integrity, honesty, and fairness)