Tag Archive - Integrity

Buzzword Defined (Part 2): Integrity

April 25, 2013 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 2 Comments
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'Integrity' highlighted in green

There is a lot of discussion of the word integrity in business books, in politics, in universities…in every walk of life.  I read about it all the time.  But, my father, General Jim Anderson, the former Master of the Sword at West Point, taught me more about integrity than any other source.  He says:

INTEGRITY requires three steps:

  1. Discerning what is right and wrong.
  2. Acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost.
  3. Saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right and wrong.

Understanding integrity is foundational to our character development.  The more I speak on the importance of character, the more I see that integrity needs defined.

This is reposted from March 2012.
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Buzzword Defined (Part 3): Courage

March 22, 2013 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 0 Comments
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Courage To Act

“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point.”  –C.S. Lewis

Wow.  Opening this post with this quote from C. S. Lewis just heightened my level of attention to a subject that has been watered down through over use and misunderstanding through the years.  How do we recover the word Courage from the Buzzword purgatory it’s currently relegated to?

My answer is to define it and to continually discuss it.  That is the problem with corporate values statements as well.  They are inadequately defined and communicated infrequently.

The topic of courage has generated a lot of interest in recent posts.  This is a previously published blog where I define courage and give examples of everyday courageous acts.

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Leadership Failures Are Usually Character Failures

February 26, 2013 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 12 Comments
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Leadership Philosophy

Leadership is a blend of competence and character.

BG (Retired) Jim Anderson, my father, taught me that. In 41 years in the Army, including two tours in Vietnam, he saw a lot of great leaders and a lot of leadership failures that formed his philosophy.

One year ago, I started this website with this post.  I have learned a lot in the last 365 days.  Thank you for joining me and contributing.  Every time you comment on a blog, you make me better.  Thank you for that!

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The #1 Priority For Leadership Development

January 14, 2013 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 2 Comments
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The Tools Don't Make The Leader

A man came to my house the other day asking for work.  I handed him a hammer and some nails and told him to build a tree house for my kids.

In fact, I gave him every tool he needed to complete the job.  He should be able to build the tree house if I give him the right tools, shouldn’t he?  Not necessarily… Continue Reading…

The Unethical Leader- An Oxymoronic Leadership Yarn

September 14, 2012 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 6 Comments
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The Self-Centered Leader is an OxyMORON

Brad decided to write a book about effective management techniques.  The title:  How to Win, described his leadership philosophy.  Just win baby!  That was his motto and it had served him well. Continue Reading…

Buzzword Defined: Character

July 9, 2012 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 2 Comments
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Definitions

Character is now a buzzword.  I use the term buzzword here to describe words that we hear frequently yet are rarely defined by the speakers.  The Presidential campaign is full of buzzwords.  I hear athletes described on Sportcenter using some of the same buzzwords as the politicians use.  The problem is, if you dig into those words’ real meanings, you would see how much of a stretch the speakers are making. Continue Reading…

My Un-Resume: Avoiding Reference Checks

June 29, 2012 in Management with 0 Comments
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My Un-Resume

Brett was stealing from the company.  Primarily, he was stealing his salary because he rarely worked a full day.  However, I even found out after I fired him that he was also using his company credit card for personal household purchases!

In the interview Brett was great.  He had a great resume and was a former college athlete.  He was funny and people were drawn to him.  He had all the tools to be successful. But, the truth was I hired a dud, and it was my fault.  I didn’t do reference checks and my excuses for not doing them were lame. Continue Reading…

Leadership Video: Habits Form Character

May 11, 2012 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 0 Comments
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What is the definition of character?

Character is our habitual way of operating.

HOW we are is WHO we are.

 

Our character is ultimately determined by our habits.  If I am in the habit of doing what is moral and right, I am a person of high character.  If I am in the habit of cutting corners, telling “small lies”, or any other morally questionable act, that is who I am as well.

In April I spoke with a one of the top sales teams for Raycom, a media company that owns more than 50 TV outlets across the country.  Attached is a previously unpublished 3 minute clip of my discussion of character with this team.

Question:

How do the words you hear me speak cause you to evaluate your habits?  Do you see changes you can make at work or at home?  Do you see a path to teaching your kids about character?

 

Are Your Values Valuable?

May 7, 2012 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 2 Comments
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Do we have valuable values?

“At Acme Inc. our core values are Integrity, Trust, Innovation and Community.”

That statement or something similar can be found on just about any organizational website.  Most companies and individuals believe having values is important.

They say it.  So it must be true…Right?

Just because a contestant on American Idol claims they can sing doesn’t mean they can.  Whether in business, in ministry, or in our homes, claiming to have values does not mean I actually have values. Continue Reading…

Leaders of Character: West Point’s Way

March 30, 2012 in Leadership My Dad's Way with 48 Comments
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What They Missed

Headline:  West Point, The Best Public College in America — US News and World Report in 2011. 

My alma mater opened in 1802 as an engineering school.  In 2011 it was ranked third in the nation for undergraduate engineering, still lockstep with its 200-year-old original purpose.  But at its heart, West Point is a leadership school.

The primary mission of West Point has been to provide leaders of character for our nation.

The question, “Can character be developed?” is answered every May when a new group of 1,000 second lieutenants complete four years of character development.  In June of 1984, I began my journey from typical high school graduate to trained Army officer four years later.  West Point changed my attitude about what the word character means.

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