Great business leadership is characterized by honesty, truthfulness, and straight dealing with every person, under all circumstances. This law requires that you be impeccably honest with yourself and others. As Emerson said, "Guard your integrity as a sacred thing. Nothing is at last sacred by the integrity of your own mind." Integrity lies at the core of leadership, at the heart of the leader. Everything you do revolves around the person you really are inside. And the person you are inside is always demonstrated by your actions, the things you do and say.
Leadership Defined
Leadership has been defined as the "ability to get followers." For people to follow you, to subordinate their interests to yours, they must be able to believe in you and be willing to commit their time, money, and energy to you. Leadership is therefore a trust conferred upon you by others. To earn this trust, to deserve this trust, you must be true to yourself. Only then can you live in truth with everyone else in your life and work.
Be a Good Role Model
Perhaps the most important thing you do as a leader is to be a good role model. Lead by example. Walk the talk. Live the life. Always carry yourself as though everyone is watching, even when no one is watching. Good leaders are completely reliable. People can take them at their word and trust that they will do what they say. They make promises carefully, and then always keep their word.
Consistency
A key mark of integrity in human relations is consistency, both internal and external. The best leaders are consistent from one day to the next, from one situation to the next. Because of this internal consistency, these leaders are trusted. People know what to expect. There are no surprises.
Two Basic Types of Leadership
There are two basic types of leadership in business today, transactional and transformational. Transactional leadership is the ability to direct people, manage resources, and get the job done. But transformational leadership, the most important form of leadership today, is the ability to motivate, inspire, and bring people to higher levels of performance.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational Leadership is the ability to touch people emotionally, to empower them to be more and to contribute more than they ever have before. This ability enables transformational leaders to elicit extraordinary performance from ordinary people.
Action Exercise
Resolve to live in truth with yourself and with every person and situation in your life. Listen to your body and trust your intuition. Identify the main stress points and people problems in your life and then ask yourself, what is the right thing to do in this situation to resolve this problem and alleviate this stress?
