Essential Leadership Quality: Integrity

Whether someone you look up to simply did their job, fulfilled their promises day-in and day-out to their employer and family, or they were a civic leader who made a promise to the masses and actually did what they said they were going to do, you have no-doubt been witness to what it means to have integrity.

The straight-talk definition of Integrity is:

"Doing what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it."

In other words, keeping your promises, and as a leader, being in integrity with your word is absolutely crucial to your ability to successfully lead and mentor your team.

No matter who you are or where you are from: world leader, boss, employee, child, Mom, or Dad, integrity matters; what you say matters, and who you are being when you are doing what you are doing matters!

After all, given the fact that we lead and teach those around us by example, what are we teaching when we aren't our word? What are we teaching if we occur as if integrity doesn't matter?

What We See in the Mirror

Quite frequently, the person we are out of integrity with most is ourselves, and when we are out of integrity - even in a way that others can't see - we know it; we beat ourselves up, it grinds us down, we get to a place where we are afraid of being found out, and we play smaller!

Integrity really gets to the heart of the very personal unspoken stuff that we think about when we look at ourselves in the mirror. So, what would it be like to be in integrity everywhere? To actually do what you say you are going to do every single time?

The truth is that as humans, some days we are going to be in integrity with our agreements and some days we're not. When your integrity is out-of-place, you will beat yourself up longer, harder, and meaner than anyone else possibly could, but don't waste time making yourself wrong. The world will do that for you for free! Instead, when you find that you are out of integrity in a part of your life, put it back. Say you are sorry! Forgive yourself! Clean it up! Get back into integrity!

No matter how great you are, there is going to come a time when you have to clean up your integrity. Part of living a life of integrity is developing the ability to be humble and take responsibility for your mistakes. We all make them. And know this: Being out of integrity doesn't mean you are a bad person. If you are out in the world shaking things up, you are going to be out of integrity at some point. Everyone makes mistakes, and if you are out in the world, being visible enough for people to notice, you are a leader and your integrity matters!

A well-known executive business coach, Clay Nelson is no ordinary, fly-by night, new-to-the-game coach! Clay Nelson has been coaching executives for over 30 years. Coaching from the core fact that growing people is the key to growing any business, Clay has helped countless business executives and their teams come together to not just improve their businesses, but to improve their lives. Clay's personal life experience, years of coaching, and his natural abilities to motivate, teach, and develop leaders is what makes him stand apart as a leader in the field... committed to making a difference wherever a difference needs to be made.

Clay Nelson is also a well-regarded motivational and educational speaker, providing outstanding programs customized to the audiences he is speaking with. Able to speak on any number of topics within his noted specialties, Clay Nelson is known for moving audiences from the status quo to action as they create the businesses and lives they say they want to have.

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Original article

Action And Integrity, Not Rhetoric, Makes A Leader

After over three decades of working closely with well over a thousand individuals in leadership positions, in training, qualifying, identifying and consulting, as well as having been both a volunteer and a paid leader for both for- profit and non- profit organizations, I have grown weary of late at the ever- increasing usage of fancy rhetoric, techno- jargon, platitudes, generalities, etc., that seem to be appearing in ever- increasing abundance in far too many organizations and their leadership. True leadership has never been about great words or oratory, nor using impressive technical sounding language. As it has always been, it is what a leader does, what actions he takes, and his personal and professional integrity that makes someone a great leader. It has never been about the rhetoric! Rumi wrote, "It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words."

1. Although many wannabe leaders have always resorted to rhetoric, why is it that it seems even more widespread today than ever before? Part of this is that there appears, in most organizations, to be far less competition for leadership positions than in years past. This often creates lower quality leaders, as organizations and their members are thus forced to accept less quality to be their leaders. Because there is so much competition for individual's time, effort, and resources, and because we have observed a diminishing number of individuals who even belong to organizations, both membership rolls and thus the choices for potential leaders have suffered.

2. Far too many of the individuals thrust into leadership positions are either unwilling, unable, or insufficiently committed, to undergo effective training and learning. While in better times, many organizations did not envision the need to professionally train its leaders, in these leaner times, when in many cases there is an apparent dearth of leadership in many cases, this lack of leadership preparation has come back to haunt them. People are not born as leaders, but leadership is a combination of training, personal qualities, traits, and an attitude that makes someone a truly great leader. Many people, unfortunately, have only minimal training, and often only take away from the training some expressions or words that trainers often use. True professional training is multi-faceted, and involves continuous and ongoing work, and development of an understanding that true leaders take action in a timely basis rather than resort to mere rhetoric.

Far too often, this techno- jargon, or rhetoric replaces comprehension. Individuals unready to lead look to a guru and a quick fix, and thus rely on terminology. Some of these dangerous terms that are both overused and misused include: governance; metrics; teams; next level; etc. True leaders understand that they must develop a true caring bond with those they represent, adopting an attitude that a leader's primary responsibility is to provide value and to serve the needs of his constituents.

Richard Brody, with over 30 years consultative sales, marketing, training, managerial, and operations experience, has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as a company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs, and regularly blogs on real estate, politics, economics, management, leadership, negotiations, conferences and conventions, etc. He has negotiated, arranged and/ or organized hundreds of conferences and conventions. He's a Senior Consultant with RGB Consultation Services, an Ecobroker, a Licensed Buyers Agent (LBA) and Licensed Salesperson in NYS, in real estate.
Richard has owned businesses, been a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has a Consulting Website ( http://tinyurl.com/rgbcons ), and his company PLAN2LEAD, LLC's site ( http://www.plan2lead.net/ ), and can be followed on Twitter

Original article

Leaders Need Integrity And Self Confidence

Effective leadership only comes about when a properly trained and qualified individual also possesses both personal integrity and self confidence. While both integrity and self confidence are essential, the mere possession of one of these characteristics without the other, minimizes the effectiveness of the impact, and thus the results.

1. William James wrote, "There is but one cause of human failure. And that is a man's lack of faith in his true self." Individuals who fail to possess this faith can never be really effective leaders. They will never be able to trust their decisions fully, and thus, regardless of how well trained and otherwise qualified they may be, they will fear taking decisive stands, and leading others. Without self- confidence, individuals offer defer to others, and thus do not lead. True leadership is about leading others to follow one's vision, and this vision can only be viable when a leader has an underlying driving force that propels him to do everything in his power, and to use everything he can, to motivate others to understand the vision, and why it is so essential and vital. How can one truly lead others if he is uncertain himself? Please understand that self- confidence is far different from conceit. It is rather a feeling that a leader has examined everything thoroughly, gathers the necessary information, effectively listens and communicates, gains knowledge and true expertise, and then has the confidence to be brave enough to dare to express an opinion or stand up for something, even if it might be unpopular.

2. H. L. Mencken wrote, "Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking." A leader needs to possess absolute integrity, rather than convenient integrity. One only possesses true integrity when he consistently does what his conscience tells him is the right thing, and he must follow that direction at all times. In my over three decades of intimate involvement with over a thousand leaders, I have come to the conclusion that there are some telling signs of whether someone has integrity. The first "tell" is to observe what the individual does when he doesn't realize others that others are observing. Next, listen for a consistent message, regardless of the audience being addressed. Next, be certain that the individual always assumes final responsibility, and doesn't play the blame game. However, perhaps the most telling sign is to correlate one's words or rhetoric with his actions, to assure that they are consistent. There are far too many in leadership positions who merely do what's convenient and easiest, seeking credit without potential blame, and responsibility only when there are positive results.

Beware of anyone in leadership who uses revisionist history when describing his previous positions, actions, or thought processes. Beware of a leader who refers to everyone as his friend!

Richard Brody,with over 30 years consultative sales,marketing,training,managerial, and operations experience,has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as a company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs, and regularly blogs on real estate, politics, economics, management, leadership, negotiations, conferences and conventions, etc. He has negotiated, arranged and/ or organized hundreds of conferences and conventions. He's a Senior Consultant with RGB Consultation Services, an Ecobroker, a Licensed Buyers Agent (LBA) and Licensed Salesperson in NYS, in real estate.
Richard has owned businesses, been a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has a Consulting Website ( http://tinyurl.com/rgbcons ), and his company PLAN2LEAD, LLC's site ( http://www.plan2lead.net/ ), and can be followed on Twitter

Original article