Integrity, Civility, and Leadership

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Good morning, Team! It’s Friday!


Let’s define a few related words to lay the groundwork…


According to ethicsunwrapped.com

Integrity, said author C.S. Lewis, “is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking.”  Integrity is a foundational moral virtue, and the bedrock upon which good character is built.

Acting with integrity means understanding, accepting, and choosing to live in accordance with one’s principles, which will include honesty, fairness, and decency. A person of integrity will consistently demonstrate good character by being free of corruption and hypocrisy.

Integrity is revealed when people act virtuously regardless of circumstance or consequences. This often requires moral courage. Indeed, integrity is the critical connection between ethics and moral action.

According to www.assignmentexpert.com:

Ethic of civility defines morally acceptable behavior towards fellow human beings. … Civility includes “politeness, reasonable, and respectful” behavior. In its essences, ethics of civility constitute the heart of morality.

According to www.indeed.com:

Leadership principles are the set of actions or guiding beliefs that leaders can implement to move them toward success. … Leadership principles are a framework of actions you can take as a leader to inspire others to work together toward a common goal—they are the foundation for success.

The world longs for these three descriptors to be wrapped into one person, one approach, one human being who can make a positive difference and help others reach their full potential.

Recent events have increased the desire for such a combination of principles to be more evident, more prevalent, more … common.

Why can’t it be you?

Why can’t it start with you?

Why don’t we all approach our world as it sits today with a pledge for integrity, modeling civility and embracing leadership behaviors and overwhelm the negativity with positive, not-what-I-saw-on-the-evening-news examples.

Someone posed the question tonight, “How do I explain the recent events (that took place in Washington, DC) to my children?”

How about, “This is an example of what NOT to do. Violence and chaos and hatred have no place in our democracy and it will not prevail. We quickly and courageously picked ourselves up, restored order and got back to the business of leading the free world.”

Have a blessed weekend!

Sign of the times

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Good evening, Team! It’s Tuesday!

Tomorrow is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year so I thought I’d send this one out in advance.

What do you see in the picture? Despair? Preparedness? Blessings and abundance?…or just a bunch of masks…

This is not a Rorschach test but how you answer might provide insight into how you view obscurity.

If you’ve paid any attention to the news lately, there may be renewed hope and a glimmer of goodness peeking out right before the holidays.

A leader recognizes that there is trouble around every corner and you must challenge yourself to find the opportunity buried within the quagmire. You must be prepared to work harder, dig deeper, investigate, test, and justify your actions while following the rules, paying attention to social norms, civility and etiquette.

More pointedly, wearing a mask, staying at least 6 feet apart, washing your hands for at least 20 seconds, disinfecting yourself multiple times a day is not hard, not an inconvenience, not uncomfortable, it’s … expected.

Here’s a handful of what not to do:

•Don’t wear your mask on your chin, it’s worthless and disrespectful.

•Don’t leave your schnazola hanging out, it’s still worthless and you’re not special.

•Don’t walk next to your walking partner expecting everyone else to walk on the grass. Unless you just got tested multiple times with all negative results and were transported in a hyperbaric chamber up until you stepped on the sidewalk, you should be on the grass, Karen!

The pandemic sucks and no one has all the answers. It’s not a threat elimination game because nobody knows exactly if, how and with what severity it will attack you or your loved ones. Minimize your exposure until we get a vaccine and show some respect for the rest of humanity.

Have a blessed holiday, wear your mask and count your blessings! If you screw this up, we’ll be isolated for Christmas, too…and I prefer hugging over zooming.

Between 8 & 5

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Good evening, Team! It’s Sunday!

Begin with the end in mind.

Source: Free Xenon

The title might suggest I’m referring to the antiquated standard work hours. Between Work From Home (WFH) pre-COVID and now as we are, work hours will never categorically fit into a standard frame again. But that’s not my reference for today…please read on.

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (most commonly known pictured below) theory has always struck me as a great way to explain human behavior and the implied ascension through life.

Modern theory includes the concept that rather than fulfilling each step and moving forward in some sort of ratcheted advancement, that it may not be so singular or linear.

His later work (pictured above) includes more steps where the pinnacle is actually helping others achieve self-actualization (transcendence).

Source: Professional Academy

What does this mean to you?

If you’re lost, at whatever point in your life, this is a helpful roadmap…if you choose to proceed. You can stay stuck at any level, and many do, but for those who look forward with an eye for the challenging, you might be interested in the top graph.

What is most intriguing to me is the revelation that there are no guarantees, no level reached and therefore, no floor. If you are climbing the ladder inside of the pyramid pictured above, you don’t expect the rungs to snap and find yourself descending…but it certainly happens.

If any level is destabilized, you may be beckoned back to that level to work on it and hopefully restore it and it may take all of your energy, requiring you to surrender the level (or levels) you achieved. It will then take a lot of work … and forgiveness, not foreboding…to start climbing again.

Onward…and upward.

Have a blessed week!

Courage

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!


“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9b


I wear an aluminum badge with this inscription around my neck provided by my men’s bible study group.  It has the third chain on it as the first didn’t fit my thick neck and was made of material similar to the old pull chain for the lights I grew up with.  The second I cobbled together with a chain I bought to attach to my glasses that a librarian in the 1950’s might wear (not sure why I bought it or why I kept it) and the current version is stainless steel, welded and passes through the new link to the badge.  It is stronger, more functional, and more durable.  The phrase remains and reminds.


Like the chains that hold on to a valuable sentiment, adapting and adjusting over time  is incredibly important for all of us:

Having the courage to change

Having the courage to look past pain and loss and heartbreak

Having the courage to let go

Having the courage to look forward

Having the courage to forgive 

Having the courage to focus your energy on who you are becoming rather than who you are today


So much of who we are and what we do is defined by the choices we make each day when we wake.  How will you show up today?  How do you want to be remembered by the people you make contact with today?  

Have the courage to visualize yourself as the person you were meant to be, not the person you previously allowed circumstances to define for you.


Have a blessed weekend!

With purpose

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Good evening, Team!  It’s Friday!


I learned this week of a colleague who had a loved one fall from a precariously high position while constructing a building, shattering their hip and pelvis.  A tragic accident like that will bring clarity and purpose in what needs to be done next;  Inform work of your absence, notify friends and family of the incident and your whereabouts, recruit spiritual warriors to hold the accident victim up in prayer, get to their location as quickly and safely as possible to be their advocate.  Lots of anxiety, lots of clarity, no hesitation…with purpose.


You may have referred to someone as “on a mission” to do something, whether it is fix a problem, buy a particular item or find someone.   

So what are you on a mission to do?
-Is it to raise healthy, productive children?

-Is it to share knowledge and develop leaders?

-Is it to improve the world with your skills, experience and resources?


Do you have the same clarity and purpose as a Mother ensuring her son has access to the best healthcare and sits by his side as long as the hospital will allow her?


Do you carry the same intensity and compassion as the Mother mentioned above as you approach your objectives … with purpose?


The benefit of a singular purpose is that you can align your efforts with your goal.


Recently, my employer rebranded themselves as “clean energy and infrastructure”.  We build wind farms and solar farms (clean energy) that continue to grow in viability and also reduce carbon emissions, ultimately improving the atmosphere we rely on to live a high quality life.  In other words, we are saving the planet.  I get to go to work each day, with purpose, to save the planet.


My challenge to you this week is to identify what you are best suited to do, most passionate about and approach it with purpose.


Have a blessed weekend!

Beer fridge

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!
Adapting and adjusting is hard work, no matter how nimble you might think you are.
This week I learned of a former, influential coworker, who relocated his family to one of the hottest and now one of wettest parts of the country, in the middle of a pandemic, to a house purchased site unseen needing appliances that can’t be delivered due to COVID precautions leaving him to pick them up, one per store, due to low inventory and trying to feed a family of five out of a … beer fridge.
A story within a story, those three young ones, not only changed states and cities but also school districts.  Now that school has started, the “new kid” students aren’t very excited about starting class (even if it was home town) but new town…even less so.
We’ve been distance socializing with friends in the garage far enough apart yet close enough together.  Last weekend I heard a story of one couple’s surprisingly  poor service at a restaurant in a prominent community.  When Dad went home to commiserate with young, aspiring, health care worker daughter, she quickly responded…”Dad (sigh)…I don’t want to hear it.  I was at work today and dealt with one elderly patient who, not knowing what he was doing, messed himself, not once or twice … but five times.”  Apparently, after each cleaning, changing and tucking it was followed by a feeble “Oops.”
I’m going to guess that you aren’t using your beer fridge to feed your family out of and that you haven’t had to clean up after a poor, incontinent patient for four hours straight today … but if you did, kudos to you.
These are first world problems by anyone’s measure but we are creatures who seek comfort.  Regardless of reason, when we are inconvenienced, it stings.
If you find yourself struggling with the changes demanded by COVID, you are not alone.
My challenge for you today is to think beyond yourself and beyond your current circumstances.  Someone always has it worse than you.

-When you open your beer fridge tonight or later this afternoon, think about the family above and be grateful
-When your kids go back to school, if they are returning to the same location and not a hybrid or distance learning… be grateful
-When you go out to eat, be a little more tolerant and tip a little bigger than you used to, because you can, and be grateful
-When you go to work next, be grateful you have a job to go to and smile more when you’re there
-When you cash your check or look up your direct deposit, instead of focusing on the taxes taken out, be joyful about what’s in there and be generous
Have a blessed weekend!

Behavior

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

What separates us from the rest of the animals on the planet?
•Is it our opposing thumb?
•Is it our brain?
•Is it our emotional intelligence?
More specifically,
How do we react?
How do we behave, especially in the face of adversity, challenges, and frustrating triggers?
I heard about a current leader who behaves with Civility, Compassion and Empathy.  She majored in communication in college but has demonstrated she paid attention in class and is now leveraging those lessons – when lives matter.
In a recent article written by Suze Wilson, she highlights three major areas where Ms. Ardern shines:
-Motivating followers to give their best with a rare balance of “direction-giving”, “meaning-making” and “empathy” (as described by the research from Milton and Jacqueline Mayfield).
-Enabling people to cope with change
-Persuading many to act for the collective good
As the New Zealand Prime Minister said,
“I can only be true to myself and the type of leadership that I believe in.”
It seems to me we could use more of this type of behavior, whether in politics, in business, or in our neighborhoods.
We are all suffering.
We are all sacrificing.
We are all entering new territory as we try to make sense of what is most important to us during these uncertain times.
Let’s behave like mature adults, concerned about each other; how others feel and how others stay healthy and happy.
Have a blessed weekend!

Balance

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Good morning, Team!  It’s (almost) Friday!

We first learned of the balance concept through the tale of Goldilocks and the three bears.  Since then, we’ve all been on a subconscious quest for “just right”.  Ironically, there is no such thing.  Balance is a continuous process, not a destination.  You don’t pull your proverbial RV into the just right camp site and hang out for a year.  It’s more like driving around the perimeter of the campground and the kids point to their desired spot … but you never actually stop the RV.
Let’s look at this from a leadership perspective.
Too big, too small, just right.  
When you step into a new role, you’re likely stretched thin and it feels too big.  “Maybe I bit off more than I can chew…”.  Then one day after position mastery you begin to think, “I could do more.  Maybe this role is too small for me to settle in for the remainder of my career.”  Ultimately, we all find something that seems just right.  Enough challenge, enough opportunity, enough free time, enough executive or Board support.  Just right.
Truth:  we all need to be stretched and if you do feel just right, you’ll quickly become complacent and perform poorly over time.  Perhaps the best fit is the pace of change balanced against your appetite for it.
Too hot, too cold, just right.
 
Whether porridge, thermometer, relationships or political climate, it seems the temperature is constantly changing wherever we turn.  You can change your environment or change your attitude.  The latter is much more sustainable.  We adapt and adjust and seek a new balance.
Truth: The more nimble we become, the more valuable and more pleasant we are to those around us.
Too hard, too soft, just right. 
 
I’ve been watching The Last Dance about Michael Jordan’s basketball career and focusing on his  last season.  Most of his team would say he was…not soft.  His leadership style on the court reminds me of Steve Jobs stories of a difficult personality who pushed the people around him to achieve unheard of accomplishments … but how are they remembered?  These two exceptional mentions became billionaires and well respected global icons.
We, as spectators, are fascinated with breaking barriers and high success but what price would you pay for that?  Don’t we all want rewarding work (Mastery), high purpose, and autonomy as Daniel Pink suggests in his book Drive?
Truth: Leadership is influence and it requires balancing your approach to your audience to help them realize their full potential.  Being a tyrant could possibly make you rich and famous (more likely it will alienate you from most people) but that’s not leadership.
 
Out of the headlines
As a country, we are all facing the balance between long-term public health and a sustainable economic plan.  We can’t even agree on wearing masks right now, although this seems to be approaching uniformity.
Has anyone stopped to recognize how our reactions to the COVID crisis stands out compared to the rest of the globe – in a less than favorable way?
We are out of balance as a country and need to employ some self and situational awareness (cornerstones of emotional intelligence) to bring the effects of this virus to an end.  Wear your mask.  Keep your distance.  Practice good hygiene.  Adapt and adjust your previous habits into new and socially acceptable behaviors.
Have a blessed weekend!

Change agents, problem solvers and leaders

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Saturday!
A lot has happened since my last blog and rather than jump into the fray, I wanted to take some time to absorb this rather than simply react.
I’ve listened to a variety of perspectives on the current civil unrest and without a doubt, we need things to improve.  Let me restate that…we need to greatly improve the current state.  How we do that seems to be the bigger question.
Change agents have been heard these past few weeks.  They have the megaphone and people are listening.  We can no longer sit quietly as inactivity translates into acceptance.  Radical thinking like abolishment or defunding of law and order is an overreach without thought to the well being of society.  There is bad behavior that has been tolerated for too long but to throw the baby out with the bath water is simply irresponsible.  Couple that with inflammatory language interjected when respectful dialog is the norm during problem solving and you get a monologue.
Problem solvers … do just that.  Consultants and negotiators and subject matter experts and people who have gained decades of experience are best suited to be involved in creating meaningful solutions for the wickedly complex issues we face today.  This may include politicians and police chiefs and military dignitaries as well as stakeholders from each aspect of the affected parties.  All must be heard and all must listen.
Leaders often possess traits found in change agents and problem solvers.  We may have experienced an occasional generalist leader with specific traits that could do it all themselves.  Unfortunately, the issues of civil unrest we currently face are a heavy lift that we, as a country…and as a global population have failed to succeed at so far.  Leadership is influence.  The greatest leaders need to be at the table and stick to their part while the rest of the stakeholders and solution providers are heard as we arrive at a sustainable solution we can all be proud to be a part of.
Everyone must do their part and everyone must stop stereotyping and demonstrating bias based on their past.  As we look forward, we can’t dismantle the past.  It forms the path to how we got here.  Does selective memory serve us well?  I think it is how we regard the past, not whether it existed or not.
A special note to the very high percentage of law enforcement and military personnel that serve their communities with honor, love and respect, THANK YOU!  We enjoy our freedom and security because of you.  Senseless violence has no place in our society.  We appreciate all that you do to uphold order in the face of adversity, confusion and lawlessness.
Have a blessed weekend!

Working from home

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Good morning, Team!  It’s Friday!

In 1989, I started working in a town 90 miles away from my home.  I drove in daily for the better part of 16 years.  My choice.  When I asked my supervisor if I could work from home once in a while, he said “We don’t have a telecommunications policy.”
Well ok then.  I guess I’ll continue to drive back and forth.
Fast forward 31 years…
For the last 2 months, if we didn’t have a large amount of work force working from home (WFH), we’d be in a literal world of hurt.  Today is far from perfect and we may not know how much economic damage has been done or when things return to anything close to what used to be.  This much is for certain:
•WFH will be more common from here forward
•Distance learning can be accomplished effectively
•Technology will continue to fill in the gaps discovered by this global pandemic
•Driving and flying will be considered an optional premium for many businesses
•Leaders can no longer expect that “no telecommunications policy” will be an effective reason employees need to be in the office everyday to demonstrate their value
Times are changing and leaders need to stay nimble, flexible, open-minded and focused on how to maximize value rather than simply collect talent in familiar places so they can see the whites of their eyes.
Qualifications:
Trust is earned not granted so it may take time to be allowed to work remotely.
Some types of business roles require physical interaction and WFH may not be possible.
I personally prefer a mix of WFH and face to face and believe balance is critical to function optimally.  Leaving the choice, when possible, up to the individual is best practice.
Have a blessed Memorial Day holiday weekend!