Question

Emily is a career-driven thirtysomething with big ambitions and a young family. She is making an impact as a leader at a tech company, but after being passed up for multiple promotions, she finds herself at a loss for how to improve. Fate answers her in the form of a kind--and surprisingly direct--older man in a coffee shop. A well-respected CEO before he retired, David has deep and rich leadership knowledge. Emily needs direction, and David is the perfect mentor. Growing Influence offers readers both practical advice on how to develop leadership skills and a relatable account of one woman's growth by applying the principles in the book. Unlike nonfiction business books or business memoirs, this story is a business fable that is both impactful and transformative.

Read the first section of Growing Influence, pages 1 - 63. We will be following Emily's journey in the book.

David talks about three types of influence: control, collaboration, concern; and talks about three types of leadership: positional, expert, and character. For your first exercise, I would like you to think and write about how you might define integrity in the dimension of character leadership for yourself (approximately 500 words).

Emily writes her own on page 67, FYI.

Answer 1

Of all the aspects of character, integrity may be the foremost crucial – it builds valuable trust between individuals – and nevertheless conjointly the foremost recondite. I’ve detected several sage leaders say, “Integrity is doing the proper factor once nobody is look.” That definition depends an excessive amount of on habit. I will be while not integrity, nevertheless trained to behave predictably in an exceedingly sure manner. Of course, discipline is valuable; however i need to understand that my hands square measure disciplined as a results of the integrity of my soul, not my ability to follow rules stupidly regarding them.
There square measure 2 crucial parts of integrity that transcend simply doing the proper factor once nobody is wanting. the primary is that the adherence to moral} or ethical principle. This isn’t easy compliance to a rule; it implies a philosophical understanding of the explanation it exists. The second is that the pursuit of associate degree unrelieved state or condition. everybody makes mistakes, therefore being someone of integrity doesn't mean you haven’t committed moral} or ethical violation, ever. It means that having the strength of character to find out from those ‘misbehaviors’ and request continual self-reformation.
The word ‘character’ springs from the Greek word charattein, desiring to engrave. This provides a far richer understanding of integrity as one thing we are able to develop and strengthen, instead of as a glass ball bimanual to North American country that we have a tendency to strive vainly to not drop. Our integrity is formed by our most precious life lessons, those who concerned our deepest problems with honesty and motive. Integrity needs humble self-contemplation, not pietistic declaration. for example, I’ll say while not hesitation that I don't lie, cheat or steal; however, have I ever tried to deceive someone? I’ll actually be lying to myself.
So before we are able to even embrace the notion of integrity, we want to develop the flexibility to intellectually wrestle with the urge to rationalize away our underlying faults and therefore the connected consequences. Intellectual possession produces legitimacy, and legitimacy doesn’t suffer compartmentalization or rationalization. Our actions should mirror our words altogether aspects of life.
The engraving method that's the event of our character needs bravery and transparency to forge this true integrity. My integrity is what it's these days attributable to painfully valuable lessons with consequences, born from answerableness to ethical and moral principles. I learned to not lie attributable to a lie I told once was young, one that had a consequence. Then, years when my integrity wouldn't tolerate an easy lie, I improved on this lesson even further: I learned that satisfaction with a misrepresentation is unacceptable once the full truth will be won. This lesson was pricy nevertheless therefore valuable, and that I solely understood it with the assistance of a American statutory United Nations agency schooled that integrity isn't the absence of failure, it’s moving forward from it.