“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” -- Oprah Winfrey

Oprah really hit the nail on the head with this one. It is easy to do what you're supposed to when you’re at work or out and about in public, but the true test of integrity is whether or not you have the ability to do the right thing even when nobody is watching. If you saw a piece of garbage on the street, would you pick it up? Sometimes, people don’t even do the right thing when others are watching, especially in public. In my opinion, seeing so many people we don’t know turns off our need to socialize because we can’t possibly socialize with everyone around us. Therefore, we all withdraw into our own worlds and refuse to come out, and because of this, people have a tendency to ignore things they would normally care about.

Integrity is a very broad term, and can be used to refer to large-scale integrity (such as not scamming your customers), small-scale inte...

“The minute you’re satisfied with where you are, you aren’t there anymore.” -- Tony Gwynn

If you’re not familiar with Tony Gwynn, he is a baseball player who was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2007, and although he is not a president or a business leader, he offers some valuable advice for anyone trying to accomplish something, be it improving at a sport, increasing your revenue, or simply working towards your next goal. I think most, if not all of us, can relate to this quote, because it really shows how competitive our world is. When you first set out to do something, you have a lot of excitement, you put in a lot of time and effort, and that keeps you going for a good bit, because you want to see where all this work will take you. And then the day comes when you finally see some progress, and you know that everything you did was worthwhile. However, a lot of times, people will be so happy with their progress that they want to bask in the glory of it and “ride it out”. Unfortu...

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” -- Jim Rohn

Change is something that is discussed often in the business world. If your product does not adapt to the changing market, it will not succeed. If your business plan isn’t as effective as it used to be, it needs to be changed. But something people don’t think about as often is personal change. Sometimes, when it seems like you are paddling into a headwind with no way out, instead of looking for a bigger paddle, you just have to change direction. When all the odds are against you and the work is piling up, you might feel like you’re being tested. And it’s true, in a sense. Pushing ourselves to the limit is good for us, and often brings in great rewards. However, you have to know when to buckle down and fight against it and when to put the sail up and ride it out.

Sometimes, change happens inadvertently, ...

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it." Pablo Picasso

Risk is inherent in any endeavor. Leaders know the more time they spend not taking risk the slower they grow. Risk is simply growth, taking on new skills or opportunities you have yet to learn about. By limiting risk, you limit learning, and if you are not learning, you are not growing .... you are shrinking.

Warren Bennis noticed leaders who take risks make one or two big mistakes a year and leaders who don't take risks make one or two big mistakes a year. Leaders get mistakes will happen and remain open to learning from mistakes to improve. When we limit our growth, we stagnate and so to do others around us.

"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking." Tim McMahon

If you are always focused on getting it right you are losing the opportunity to see new possibilities. It is through trial and error that growth happens.

Related: Creatin...

"In dreams begins responsibility." - William Butler Yeats

The ability to dream is one of the great responsibilities of leadership.

Everyday the noise of the world is wanting to engage you in the short term focus of the day. Yet the work, the real work is to hear the vision of the dream. Once you hear and see the dream you can help others focus the conversations, behaviors and actions to bring the vision to life.

Building the vision of the dream...the Longview ...is for the courageous few. Leaders are not rewarded for having a Longview. Today they are rewarded for the smart ideas they have to show short term growth.

Yet the truth of the future is held in nature. The strongest trees glow slow, steady and thick, fields produce more when they lay fallow one year, it takes years to raise a child, and the examples go on. To engage in growing good ideas, teams, businesses, etc takes the ability to see the Longview and it takes tenacity.

Having the Longview requires:

The ability to make ...