Leadership and personal integrity

Most recently, I have been thinking about two things that matter a lot to me: responsibility and personal integrity.

As I am now back in school, I am once again reading non-fiction books that are interesting- even though the titles are not always the most compelling for me. As usual, I am finding nuggets of wisdom in just about anything.

Here are some particularly interesting passages from The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner:

"leadership begins with something that grabs hold of you and won't let go. This is where you must go to find you voice. To find your voice, you have to explore your inner territory. You have to take a journey into those places in your heart and soul where you bury your treasures, so that you can carefully examine them and eventually bring them out for display."

"honesty is strongly tied to values and ethics. We appreciate people who know where they stand on important principles. We resolutely refuse to follow those who lack confidence in their own beliefs. We simply don't trust who can't or won't disclose a clear set of values, ethics, and standards and live by them."

"Leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who chose to follow. It's the quality of this relationship that matters most when we're engaged in getting extraordinary things done. A leader-constituent relationship that's characterized by mutual respect and confidence will overcome the greatest adversities and leave a legacy of significance."

"You have to genuinely express yourself."