What is leadership? I believe that each leader will wrestle with this question, and should, as it will help them focus their energy and time as they pursue leadership. However, my goal here is to explain how leadership operates. So for our purposes here I will simply state that leadership is intentional influence. As we will discuss what your goals are and where you are will highly impact what your intentions are but none the less your influence must be intentional.

No matter where you are and what you are doing as a leader you will have concern, or should have concern with a few basics that are consistent across the leadership realm. I would like to list a few of them and quickly elaborate on them as this will be helpful.

Moral North. This is the fact that every leader is trying to do the right thing. Understand that this is not discussing what the right thing is or from where we gain the standard for what is right. For many this just comes from within and they set their own standard others may look to religion or the laws of society. This is merely the fact that each person has a moral compass and as leaders we are compelled to try and follow it.
Communication. All leaders aim to communicate to those that they are leading. Some will choose to communicate through speeches, the written word, video, or any other opportunity. The point here is that leaders recognize that communication is vital to success. Whether it is to communicate to gain trust or for propaganda, communication is vital.
Vision. When someone has the foresight to see the possibilities in front of them are then in a position to achieve them. Quite simple really, you either can see things or you can’t. However this is definitely something that is inherently strong in some but can be developed in others. Without vision you will have no idea where to take people, this will parallel a mass of people wondering around the wilderness following a leader who has no idea of which way is out. It is true – without vision the people perish.

These few are at the core of every leadership training that is out there. I hope you consider giving some attention to each of these and spend some time with honest and critical evaluation.

In a day when “definition of leadership” brings you north of 2,350,000 results on Google, it can be noted that we have yet to agree on one definition. I am not setting out to define it but explain it.

The reason that we cannot agree on one definition is that we experience it so differently. While there are basic principles that are consistent in leadership there are many that we attribute to its nature that are not consistent with every leader in history. Through my consistent reading and attempts to be the best leader I can be wherever I find myself, I have found that there is a simple way that we can narrow the scope of our leadership.

This will give us the ability narrow our focus and multiply our influence. While the journey of leadership is often appealing to so many of us, we must not overlook the structure. The structure is what gives us the patterns and parameters to know when we are in our niche or overstepping our bounds. To do this we need to search out a few things, each of which may take us in a different direction.

• The Consistent Basics of Leadership
• The Opportunities for Leadership
• The Context of Leadership

We will take a look at each one briefly over the next few weeks. I hope you will stay with us.

Source: Mickey G Ottawa

As we begin looking at a Leadership Trait each week we are starting off with INTEGRITY. It seems appropriate as it encompasses so many of the traits we will be looking at in the coming weeks. What do I mean? Lets check it out.

While most people look at integrity and define it as the quality of absolute honesty, truthfulness and uprightness of character and moral principles, this is a definition is inspiring and challenging I believe it is off the mark. Do not get me wrong, it is accurate but for only one of the definitions that apply to the word.

I prefer to highlight this from a different angle. If you look it up integrity also means “the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished.”

When you look at integrity this way and apply it to your life it encompasses way more than just truthfulness and honesty. It now encompasses all of life. In every way are you whole?

Lets look at these three terms a little closer: whole, entire, and undiminished

• Whole. This means that you are full, no gaps. When you look at your life, inside and out, there can’t be anything missing. In every aspect you would be whole. Think about it this way, it is not just being honesty but without honesty you are not whole. It is not all about working hard when no one is around, but without a strong work ethic you would not be whole. Something would be lacking. To be whole, to have integrity, means that you are complete and not lacking.
• Entire. Again this focuses on having every element needed. If you have courage but lack wisdom, you have no more integrity then the guy who is an enthusiastic but selfish friend.
• Undiminished. While the first two look at integrity from the positive perspective of not lacking anything, this seems to show the reality of the other side. It may be grim but the truth is that you are diminished. When you lack integrity there are cracks, weak spots that can break. The integrity of a leader needs to have the same solid foundation as it would for a high-rise building. If you have a crack now then it must be fixed before you move on toward adding skills to sharpen your influence.

Lacking integrity is much more than not being honest. When it comes down to it, integrity means that you are lacking nothing, your foundation is secure. You are ready to be built upon that foundation anything you are desire.

You want to build a foundation that will last. If a storm comes and the structure crumbles you can rebuild it but if your foundation causes the mess it can be unrecoverable.

Getting Personal

What are you lacking? What is the crack in your foundation? Your attention must be focused here so that the foundation does not break and cause devastation because you lack integrity. Will your foundation last? What can you do to ensure your foundation is laid correctly? In what ways can you keep your integrity intact?

It can sting to answer questions like this honestly but the profit will far outweigh it. And remember the profit is directly correlated to the brutality of your honesty with yourself.