Integrity
Are You a “Go First” Leader?
Over the past few weeks, I’ve blogged about material from my new book, Leadershift: 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace. We’re nearing the end of that process, so I want to talk about one of the more challenging shifts some leaders face. It’s the Cost Shift—moving from the perks of leadership to the price…
Read MoreMark Cole: 11 Reasons Why You Will Be a Better Leader This Year
There’s a hunger for leadership in the world today like never before. People have looked to Hollywood, sports figures and politics, all in hopes that leadership will show itself. We’ve all been disappointed in places of business, or faith, or Wall Street. And this has generated confusion about what leadership really means. This hunger produces…
Read MoreThe key to gaining influence is earning it, not borrowing it
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Leadership is influence — nothing more, nothing less. The more I speak to leaders of all stripes, the more I’m reminded of the truth of this statement. No matter who you are, no matter where you serve, if you have influence with people, you can lead them.…
Read MoreThe Lawyer Who Didn’t Lie
A busload of lawyers careened off a mountain road and tumbled over a cliff. The bus was destroyed and there were no survivors. Tragically, the bus was only half full. Though there are a number of wonderful attorneys, as the joke above indicates, members of the legal profession are often subjected to a negative stereotype.…
Read MoreLive Like a King
Crowns and scepters, thrones and palaces, rulership and riches—these are the words we associate with medieval royalty. Celebrity and ceremony, elegance and style, popularity and paparazzi—these are the words we associate with modern royalty. Tattered cloth and shepherd’s staffs, a stable and manger, humility and servanthood—these are words we associate with the newborn king celebrated…
Read MoreCharacter: who we are on the inside
I believe it is a normal human desire to be concerned about how we look on the outside. There’s nothing wrong with that. What can get us in trouble is worrying more about how we look on the outside than about how we really are on the inside. Our reputation comes from what others believe…
Read MoreAdopt the Golden Rule as the Integrity Guideline for Your Life
Swiss philosopher Henri Frederic Amiel stated, “He who floats with the current, who does not guide himself according to higher principles, who has no ideal, no convictions—such a man is a mere article of the world’s furniture—a thing moved, instead of a living and moving being—an echo, not a voice.” No one wants to be…
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