OCMetro Business - (Ethical Edge Letters on Integrity)

What is the power valentine?

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:19:00 GMT

“We cannot avoid using power, cannot escape the compulsion to afflict
the world, so let us, cautious in diction and mighty in contradiction, love powerfully.”
— Martin Buber

The power valentine? As you picked out a card for that special one over the weekend, did you browse through Hallmark’s Power Valentine's category? You missed it? Well, that’s OK – it wasn’t there! But if I’ve grabbed your attention to read on, let’s find out if there might be truth to Buber’s words of loving powerfully and find out how it defines meaning in your most personal relationships, as well as in the trust relationships you pursue in your professional life.

What is the power valentine? It involves both imaginative and moral thinking to explore love – not as rich, emotional sentiment, but as the ultimate force for good. Forty years ago, I was introduced to the great Jewish theologian, Martin Buber, and his classic book, "I and Thou." This little gem opened my awareness to distinguish between love as emotion for the few and love as thought expressed to the many. Buber purposefully laid out to the reader the two fundamental relationships: I-It and I-Thou. Now, after many years, I know as fact and life wisdom discovered that I-It relationships create conflict; I-Thous build trust.

Buber described how I-It and I-Thou operate in the mind of every individual. I-It relationships are premised on life transactions in which you see others as objects to manipulate for the purpose of you getting something. I-It focuses on me and what I think I need from you. In contrast, I-Thou relationships are not premised on transaction. Rather, I-Thou encounters are ones defined by respect and dignity – most importantly, how I honor and recognize the innate worth of another. While I-It is perpetually preoccupied with me and mine, I –Thou thinks about the significant other.

So what is love’s power valentine? Be sure, you will never find it in February’s card-seeking pilgrimage. No, this annual love fest is meant to focus our feelings shared for the select few. But, love’s power valentine has its work to accomplish in our thoughts and actions every day as we cultivate strong relationships. In doing so, we stretch the boundaries of what it means to connect, discovering that we have the mental capacity to create trust that produces good outcomes – at home, at work and in the community, for others and for ourselves.

Mission Integrity Action

I focus my internal conversation as I pay attention to how I view work relationships. I observe there are two worlds at play in my thinking and behaving. When I find myself in I-It relationships, I notice it’s about me; when I encounter I-Thou relationships, it’s about the significant other.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Dare greatly for the No. 1 worthy cause

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 10:58:00 GMT

“Credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly.”
— President Theodore Roosevelt

Our 26th president was a bold adventurer who faced defeat often, the most crushing of which was his bid to reclaim the presidency with a third-party candidacy in the 1912 election. This defeat nearly destroyed him.

Daring greatly! When activated, we re-invent ourselves with the Inside Game – the one played between our ears. We rekindle our moral imagination to focus on the timeless mission of the worthy cause.

What is the No. 1 worthy cause? It’s using precious personal assets – talent and time – to benefit another. Professional work has the potential to serve the worthy cause as we look to co-workers, clients, customers and organizations with the intention to give, in contrast, to demand we get.

Years ago, I became awake and alert to the giving versus getting principle when I listened to Dr. Wayne Dyer talk about his first job as a bagger at a grocery store. Dyer quickly discovered how most baggers worked – dulled by mental boredom and endlessly eyeing the clock waiting for the next break. Early on, young Dyer decided he would pursue work differently by giving himself to the worthy cause of becoming a speedy, friendly two-bagger to his customers and his employer – filling two brown bags simultaneously with a smile and a kind word.

Dyer dared greatly to make his work a giving experience. Such moral imagination sounds overly simplistic, yet is sage counsel for every professional. Daring greatly – to energize the giving mind – makes us instantaneously wealthy while simultaneously guiding us to weather the storms when we are marred by dust and sweat, underscoring Roosevelt’s words. Daring greatly to take action on the No. 1 worthy cause of bringing benefit to another is timeless wisdom that shapes both personal meaning and professional productivity in the marketplace.

Mission Integrity Action

This week, I look with fresh eyes into work as I greet challenges knowing I carry the wealth of the worthy cause: I dare greatly as I pursue actions that bring good to clients, co-workers and associates.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

You plus me equals we

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:45:00 GMT

“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don't think 'I.' They think 'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”
— Peter F. Drucker

Venture back with me to your youth to recall your high school years when you were on an athletic or academic team, or maybe the track, basketball or debate team. Can you remember a standout coach? If so, notice you instinctively recall that the coach you admired was a You Plus Me Equals WE motivator, guide, mentor, teacher – leader.

Drucker had it right. Leaders who lead with WE get their I out of the way. In doing so, they tap into the creative potential and results-driven opportunities that shape WE action.

What is WE leadership? You’ve experienced it in your professional life. It percolates with the recognition that every person is a vital contributor and producer of commonly shared results. WE leadership energizes the power of one, multiplied.

Sam Walton shaped a business empire with WE. An example of institutionalizing WE in his business empire was the employment of thousands of senior adults to stand at the entrance of stores to put a friendly "Hi & Welcome" to the Wal-Mart shopping experience. Walton instinctively knew that WE personalizes the mission of an organization by having it everywhere present. WE leadership is fearless in its intent to put the mission of the organization on the face of every employee.

It’s impossible to fake WE leadership. Why? At the center of WE leadership is trust. WE organizations, by their behavior, are driven by relationship building as the fire that fuels explosive results. In contrast, organizations built on positional authority will usually shape cultures where employees are viewed as units of production, capable of constant incompetence unless supervised to minimize failure. Do these organizations produce results? They do, but with significantly reduced incentive for personal initiative.

Mission Integrity Action

WE leadership is at work in every one of us. Watch your You Plus Me Equals WE cooperative teambuilding come alive this week in your professional encounters with colleagues and clients.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Find your shining moments

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:01:00 GMT

“The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” — M. Scott Peck

Our finest moments? Well, they are not to be confused with one shining moment at the end of March Madness! But, as we find our attentions focused on conversations with business friends, be ready to encounter the moments with another when you hear the search for truer answers.

But, what about truer answers for professionals confronting the continuing unsettled economy? Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, appeared on "60 Minutes" to take his case to the public, bluntly informing his audience that although he is long-term bullish on the economic leadership and entrepreneurial vitality of the American economy in the next decade, high unemployment, troubling deficits and financial uncertainty for small businesses will be on our national plate for the next four to five years. No politician – and Bernanke is not one – would ever take to the airways for such frank commentary on troubling economic times.

Agreeing or disagreeing with the Federal Reserve chairman’s assessment is not the point of my remarks. What is? I have spent a good bit of time in 2010 listening to conversations by professionals in small business, education and nonprofits. I’ve heard two distinct conversations: The Rapids and The Currents. The Rapids focuses on the unknown. Typically, this conversation is characterized as: Keep your oar in the water to maneuver through the next scary moment. I met such a moment in April when I learned that a heretofore trusted investment adviser for Passkeys Foundation had committed fraud with foundation assets. For three months I felt myself nearly capsizing in The Rapids as I tried to keep my oar in the water.

The Currents conversation is distinctly different. It is the conversation of reasoned hopefulness. It is the marshalling of the inner core of personal beliefs, wed to intention and action, that point us in the direction of steady movement. I am not describing The Currents conversation as bravado in the face of disaster. Rather it is the silent, quiet certainty that says: Moving forward is what I do; it is what is true. It is always the fresh answer. So, too, I have experienced The Currents conversation in the last three months as The Rapids of the foundation’s financial losses have given way to the Currents of my recovering the tangible assets of renewed ideas, clarity and commitment.

Mission Integrity Action

The Currents? They are our shining moments. They take us from trouble into truth. Be attentive to The Rapids and Currents conversations with co-workers, business associates and clients. If you hear someone in The Rapids, simply listen. If you hear someone in The Currents, thank them for their encouraging clarity.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Thoroughbreds run in the distance

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:56:00 GMT

“Great is the art of beginning; but greater is the art of ending.”
— Lazurus Long

I saw an inspiring film, "Secretariat," over the recent weekend. Knowing, in advance, the outcome of the last Triple Crown Feat did not diminish the excitement of watching and recalling the spring of 1973 when the greatest of the great thoroughbreds charged from behind the pack and ran his way into racing immortality.

Bold Ruler sired Secretariat. Before Secretariat, the offspring of Bold Ruler had a poor record on long-distance races. The Belmont Stakes, the last race in the Triple Crown, is the longest. Racing experts of the day didn’t think Secretariat could handle the distance. He proved them wrong – big time! He won by 34 lengths over his rival, Sham, and set a race record that has not been approached in the last 37 years. Great thoroughbreds run for distance. Secretariat proved he could.

So, where am I leading you with this racing remembrance? The gate has opened on 2011. It’s time to begin anew. You are off and running! Your hands are on the reins of professional expectations. You are ready to ride holding intentionality as your whip while you eye the field. You are positioned to move, pursue, strive, take on challenges and explore opportunity! It’s good.

What will be your focus as you leap out of the gate to become a thoroughbred thinker and achiever in 2011? There are three attitudinal aspirations that will keep you focused on efficiency of action. This trifecta provides you with timeless wisdom for timely productivity. So, run your 2011 race with I Am! I Can! I Will!

I Am! You have a unique God-given skill set designed for creative, extraordinary and positive outcomes. Your I Am skill set is a focused mind and emotions equipped for problem solving.

I Can! Your mind and emotions act in cooperative I Can relationships. Your 2011 relationship mantra is simple, but challenging to execute: Every professional relationship is a test for your best. Your commitment to call forth excellence will bring unexpected people and opportunities to you.

I Will! When it’s going good and when it’s not, you will make your choice to be grateful. Your I Will gratitude shall become a constant source for energy renewal while you run as a thoroughbred – going the distance with enthusiasm.

Mission Integrity Action

I run as a thoroughbred in 2011 with I Am skills; I Can best effort; and I Will gratitude.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

We hold the mould

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 14:20:00 GMT

“The mould of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.”
— Francis Bacon

Sir Francis Bacon, a 16th century Renaissance thinker, was a show-me-the-evidence empiricist. His philosophic and scientific explorations shaped the foundation of modern-day inductive reasoning.

Bacon’s quote on a man’s fortune is an insightful statement that connects his scientific and intuitive mind. He believed that we are each the capable craftsman of our life mould. Our hands – the daily laboring of thought and action – continually define how our mould will shape our experiences as well as how we are observed by others. Clearly, Bacon knew that every person’s mould revealed the evidence of the moulder. Penetrating the unstated message of his words, Bacon informed us of timeless wisdom; namely, every individual who understands the purposeful power of their choice making has the potential of exercising immense influence for good.

Four-hundred years down the road of human history, we see a different world than Bacon’s. In the 21st century we are empiricists bombarded with information coming at us 24-7. Our filter for positive choice making often seems blurred, gray or nonexistent. We wonder who holds the choices that influences our daily lives. Are my choice-making hands clearly in charge of shaping the mould of my daily living? Are there other hands grabbing hold instead – the government, luck, ethnicity, parental upbringing, entitlements that seemingly steal away the belief in the power of the choice-making hands? Do we succumb to the deadening belief that we are inconsequential, inadequate, unprepared and worse case, victimized, afraid to take on the noble task of shaping a positive future?

Did you read the previous paragraph of prose thinking: "Well, that’s not me, so no need to read further!" Yes, be momentarily grateful that your choice-making hands remain firmly on your mould. But, don’t be smug with your gratitude. Rather, assume that you have some important influence work to do for our society – at home, at your work or in your community. Know that you have the mentoring influence to remind someone: Place your hands on the mould.

Mission Integrity Action

Be the engaged empiricist who becomes the keen, clear voice of encouragement to someone in your sphere of influence who you see, feel or know does not have his or her hands on the mould. Your voice matters to that someone, who is among millions of American adults, with or without a job, who think with the diminished belief that circumstances control them. Your mentoring voice of encouragement will be a timely and valued experience to someone this week.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Where do our choices lead us?

Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:20:00 GMT

“We need a new bottom line that defines productivity and creativity where corporations, governments, schools, public institutions and social practices are judged as efficient, rational and productive not only to the extent they maximize money and power, but to the extent they maximize love and caring, ethical sensitivity.” — Michael Lerner

Daily, we march with attention to what is right in front of us! But what about the big-picture landscape of where our choices lead us over days, weeks, months and years? Let’s explore that question and the insight to be discovered from the Native American tale, "The Two Wolves."

One evening, a Cherokee elder sat with his grandson at the fire to tell him about the battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is the Evil Wolf. He speaks inside of us with anger, jealousy, greed, arrogance, selfishness, guilt, resentment, inferiority and ego."

“And what is the other wolf, grandfather?”

“The other is the Good Wolf. He speaks to us with love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness and caring, respect for self and others, generosity, truth and trust.”

“But grandfather,” the grandson asked, “Which wolf wins?”

The wise Cherokee elder looked into his grandson’s eyes and replied, “The one you feed.”

This wisdom tale reveals the priceless message of how thought defines behavior. Our daily professional encounters with management meetings, conference calls, sales presentations, planning, and interactions with colleagues and staff are exercises for the mental activity of our two wolves. They compete for our attention. There are days when we ask whether we have any choice of which wolf shall speak or whether we have a choice of which wolf we will listen to. But, over time we have the opportunity to discover a powerful life axiom as these two wolves growl for our attention: We become what we think about all day long!

Mission Integrity Action

I pursue my professional week and my relationships with family and friends remembering that what’s happening on the inside shows up on the outside. I focus less on perfect outcomes and more on conscious thoughts and actions, as my reactive mind settles down so that I can become the observer of my mind’s conversation with itself. As I do, I solve problems with the Good Wolf focusing my behavior on trust, caring and ethically sensitive relationships.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

'Twas the night before Christmas'

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 10:26:00 GMT

A tale of our influence for good

“Our ideals resemble the stars, which illuminate the night. No one will ever be able to touch them. But the men who, like the sailors on the ocean, take them for guides, will undoubtedly reach their goal.”

— Carl Schurz

’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land;
The moment was stirring; the time was at hand.
For 40-plus years, our society had lost,
Some common-sense virtue at oh, such a cost!
We had drifted so steadily for many a year,
Replacing ideas that once were so dear:
On Honesty! Respect! Trustworthiness, too!
How ’bout responsibility, to name just a few.
What we once knew as perfectly clear,
Was slowly diminished, outdated, I fear.
And now? Why, how interesting. Our life, we can tweet,
And others will follow our feelings so sweet …
“I can’t! I’m a victim! Just why don’t you see?
I deserve to be happy! Entitlement’s for me!”
A lesson forgotten? Remember? I’ve a hunch:
Friedman said it well, "There ain’t no free lunch."
A price to be paid? To remember? Pursue?
It’s reclaiming the old and declaring it new.
Our calling, you ask? Why we’re craftsmen of choice;
With integrity tools we can use to rejoice:
"Influencers for Good," yes, of course, we do know.
A powerful idea we all can help grow …
At home and at work, in this land of great light.
It’s our time ... let us choose ... to transform the night!

Merry Christmas!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Is it chance or choice?

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:09:00 GMT

“First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
— Epictus

Is it chance or is it choice? Is it circumstance or is it calling? What governs the grand brushstrokes with which an individual paints on their life canvas, personally and professionally?

Addressing the fundamental question of causation is not simply the reflection of philosophers. Rather, it is the pulse that determines the daily rhythmic beating of every individual pursuing his or her influence at home, at work and in the community.

Let’s explore the question of causation with recent economic forecasting for our nation in 2011. We are now hearing a thematic outcome of the Great Recession being described as the jobless recovery. Whether this prediction actually becomes the national basis upon which our recovery rests, we do know that millions and millions of business and professional leaders must pick up their brushes and paint for productivity on this potentially stark landscape.

My dad was a young college graduate in the mid-1930s during the Great Depression. He experienced and witnessed the anguish of a struggling American nation. In those economically bleak times, he decided to do something dramatic. He penned a letter to hundreds of CEOs at large U.S. companies. In his letter he told the CEOs that he was a new graduate and he wanted the opportunity to spend an hour learning about how these business leaders were creatively addressing their professional leadership in the toughest of economic conditions.

Twenty-five-plus years later, after building a successful business career following World War II, my dad told me that his long-ago conversations revealed one startling, common insight: Tough, troublesome circumstances did not define these leaders. Positive choice making did.

We all do have a paintbrush for daily choosing. The colors we choose from our palette must be placed on a number of circumstances, conditions and events that are both encouraging and discouraging. Whether we are willing to admit it or not, the paintbrush of choice making is in our hand. We decide what colors will be carried from our brush to our life canvas.

Mission Integrity Action

This week I see my actions as a professional artisan painting decisions on a canvas colored by my conversations of ethical influence. The vision I hold for my actions is clear: I produce positive outcomes built on mutual respect and shared purpose.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Will you choose a V.I.P. life?

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:00:00 GMT

“It is good to have an End to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
— Ursula K. LeGuin

Years ago in a "Peanuts" cartoon, Lucy asked Charlie Brown, “Chuck, do you have any good rules for living?" Charlie responded, “Yes, Lucy. Keep the ball low. Get your first serve in. Dental floss daily.” Lucy then curiously responded, “But Charlie, will that get me a successful life?”

Are there good rules for a successful life? That question is both timelessly philosophical and imminently practical. There are those who intentionally journey daily with good rules on life’s Ethical Edge. They do so with chopping-wood-carrying-water activities at home with their family, at work with their colleagues and in the communities of their passions and interests.

What are the rules? Bluntly stated, they are yours to discover, yours to practice and yours to own. Philosophical teachings point to the rules as perennial wisdom; religious dogma pronounces the rules as tenets of faith; psychological voices, like Abraham Maslow, say the rules will be uncovered by observing the pursuit of excellence. I love what John Wooden said about the purpose of the rules you employ: to make your life a masterpiece.

It’s been more than five years since I had a memorable exchange with a group of high school students when I asked two questions: Would you like to live on the Ethical Edge? If so, will you choose a V.I.P. life? They wanted to know more. Here is what I told them:

V stands for Vision. Living with vision invites your constant exploration of a primary question, “Where am I going?" Journeying intentionally with this question leads to the discovery of the noblest ethical vision: Making contributions to the good of others.

I stands for Intent. Living with intention invites the second big question: What behaviors do I need to produce consistently? Behavior defines one’s integrity. Integrity-seeking individuals discover that ethical intent is experienced in demonstrating relationships of responsibility, respect, caring and trustworthiness.

P stands for Plan. Living with a plan uncovers integrity’s V.I.P. big discovery: The pursuit is not to win a prize; it is a process of missteps and stepping stones; of pitfalls and purposeful prodding; of crushing failure and exhilarating triumph; of a mind emptied of entitlement and liberated into self-governance.

Mission Integrity Action

Today, I renew my calling as an INTEGRITY V.I.P. as I energize my Ethical Edge journey of vision, intention and plan.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Find significance in stopping

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 09:59:00 GMT

“But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep.”
— Robert Frost

Seventy-plus years ago in the mid-1930s my father spent an evening with a group of young people in the home of Robert Frost. Periodically, Dad would recall his once-in-a-lifetime encounter with arguably America’s most-beloved poet.

I have always appreciated Frost’s work, particularly his American classic, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." If you are a Frost fan, you’ll likely recall those famous last four lines of his poem:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep."

Frost’s elegantly crafted summary pinpoints a precise message for every person in every professional walk of life. Stopping, pausing, reflecting, preparing, steadying – these moments, when captured, acknowledged and digested, can guide one to: observe before taking the next big step; explore all alternatives before pursuing the new uncharted adventure; and resolve to be accountable to the choices of his or her action.

Frost’s words penetrate the essence of living with intentionality. His imagery focuses on the essential rhythm of choosing our significance. Stopping to observe and placing the candid camera on your shoulder to catch yourself in the act of being you is the creative power point that propels one continually toward a life of significance.

Frost was once quoted, saying, “I’m against a homogenized society because I want the cream to rise.”

The cream of life is discovered as our personal storyline, and it weaves together two themes: intentionality and significance.

Mission Integrity Action

America’s ethical leaders pursue personal and professional character-shaping influence at home, at work and in the community. They take the time to stop and ask: Where am I intentionally moving with my words, my behavior and my relationships in service to others? How does this clear-seeing moment shape the road I take as a significant voice of integrity?

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

I was wrong

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 09:41:00 GMT

“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.”
— John Kenneth Galbraith

There is one three-word sentence that most adults fail to utter. As a matter of fact, rather than using these three words to exercise creative problem solving, individuals and organizational leaders repeatedly will choose instead to blame, deny, lie or play the victim. Fear, greed, power and control are the foundations upon which the three important words fail to be uttered in critical decision-making times. What are the three words? “I was wrong.”

When exercised, these three words become the tool for reframing ethical decision making. They serve as the pause that precedes the pursuit of a new direction. These words powerfully and meaningfully interrupt selfish behavioral patterns that cause pain in families, communities, businesses and the discourse of nations. On the national and international stage, had President Richard Nixon used these words in the early 1970s, he would have reframed the angst surrounding the Watergate fiasco and would very likely have saved his presidency.

Clearly, human nature seeks to defend and protect while the ethical calling seeks the good of others. Declaring, "I was wrong" is the fulcrum that tips the moral and ethical teeter-totter from me to we.

Is it tough to utter I was wrong? You bet it is. Angelo Mozilo, Countrywide’s former CEO, recently negotiated a $67.5 million settlement agreement with the SEC surrounding the national mortgage debacle without ever uttering those words. But, this high-profile story of human nature’s defense trumping one’s ethical calling is simply a tiny morsel from the banquet table of the difficult decision making that professionals of goodwill face daily when a bad decision made yesterday gets framed in today’s stonewalling of defense.

I was wrong is offense, not defense. Its utterance is authentic. It is reasonable and reliable. It is purposeful and pragmatic. It communicates clearly that trust’s constant consideration is always built on the bond of caring professional relationships.

Mission Integrity Action

If I face a moment this week when I know I made a wrong decision, will I exercise the moral courage to take action with an I was wrong declaration? Do I move through the creative tension of defensive decision making into the open field of ethical play making? If I do, I discover I have new, innovative alternatives. Closing the door on a bad decision will simultaneously open another door of clarity and decisiveness that communicates to others that my integrity compass is positioned in the direction of true north.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Who are your LifeLighters?

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:41:00 GMT

“At times our own light is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
— Albert Schweitzer

There is a fullness, a reaching deeper, a purposeful clarity, an abiding regard that Thanksgiving brings to me. Surely, the vibrant, intensely mature colors capture my aesthetic eye, but it is more than nature’s bountiful landscapes that lure me inward – appreciatively and eagerly so.

Clearly, Schweitzer’s words point us – you and me – in the direction of understanding the subtle lure of this season of gratitude. Fall’s palette reminds us, again, of those who have come our way to light the flame within us.

Only a handful of you know one or more of the individuals identified below. Most readers will only see a string of names with no back-story connection. Thus, it would be easy to let your eyes quickly pass beyond the names to read on. I encourage you to resist that inclination, and instead, read each name, maybe even aloud, to give yourself time to recall significant voices from your life who have passed or are passing your way with their gift of influence, so that you can add their names to the list below. In doing so, you will connect your mind and heart to the timeless story of LifeLighters:

Penny, Ed, Ethel, Chester, Bob H., Frieda, Glenn, John D., Jimmy, Martha, Virginia, Eknath, Don, Judy, John H., Frank, Danaan, Doug, Bob J., Jeanne, Howard, Alicia, Robert, Callie, Marianne, Leo, Elizabeth, Joseph, Roberta, Renee, Al, Muktananda, Olga, Norman, Joanna, Marcus, Shirley, Phil, Flower, Jim, Elizabeth, Gladys, Margaret, Peggy, Bill, Betty, Jill, Wayne, Pauline, plus your names …

These are LifeLighters – mine and yours. Their storylines are the threads that help define the colors of our life tapestries. They come as influencers and wear different masks – parent, coach-mentor-teacher, spiritual guide, friend, student, casual acquaintance, professional peer. Their significant presence appears at home, at work and in the community to serve the good.

Mission Integrity Action

Approaching Thanksgiving, we notice that LifeLighters communicate two essential messages: Every individual holds worth and dignity, and we are called to live our discovered dignity and worth as LifeLighters to others. Purposefully take action in this next week to make a handful of LifeLighter connections at work, appreciating the special contributions that others are bringing to you in your life.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

I choose to ...

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 11:34:00 GMT

“Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them … and then, the opportunity to choose.”
— C. Wright Mills

At a recent small-group gathering of executives, one individual commented, “There is one word that guides my thinking right now. ... That word is perspective.”

His comment caused me to dig down into the bedrock of personal choice making and comment on its fundamentals: I Have To or I Choose To. Integrity always acts from the foundation of I choose to. In contrast, integrity is compromised on the quicksand of I have to.

It was June 1944. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower gathered his generals to make the decision to launch the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The meeting was filled with diverse viewpoints, for and against the brief weather window of time to act. After listening, he informed his team it was a go for June 6. He adjourned the meeting. History reveals he immediately penned a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt informing him of his decision and that he took full responsibility for its success or failure.

I choose to: Unequivocal. Rock solid. It’s mine. I have reviewed the alternatives. This is the choice. No coercion; no scapegoat. No nuance. This is my decision. It is mine to live with – good or bad.

I have to: Posturing. Finger-pointing. I can’t help it. I am the victim of circumstance. I am not to blame.

If you want to find the source of every ethical bedrock moment in our professional walk of life, it comes down to what we might call the Eisenhower moment: I choose to. If we aren’t acting from that foundation, then we are back in grade school. Do you remember those moments on the playground or in your classroom when you said to your teacher, "I have to. S/he made me do it?" Foolish, false and failed actions always come from the blinded I have to choice.

Mission Integrity Action

Perspective – a fabulous word to understand the I have to, I choose to paradigm. Seeing your choice-making world as a Leader of Integrity is a constant invitation to ask a question: Am I living in grade school as an I Have To Decision Maker or am I pursuing Ph.D. choice making as an I Choose To Decision Maker? The words that come off your lips this week in conversations with colleagues will inform you. Dig deep. Hit the bedrock of I choose to.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Find the answer to your 'why'

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 10:23:00 GMT

“The best way out is always through.”
— Robert Frost

Recently, I sat at the feet (I was in the front row!) of world-renowned business leader and author Ken Blanchard as he addressed a group of professionals in San Diego at an event hosted by the Center for Wealth & Legacy. Blanchard stoked my inner fire as he focused on one question: WHY?

Blanchard's comments came on the heels of a super presentation by Randy Ataide, executive director of the Fermanian Business & Economics Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University. Ataide had a bundle of powerful ideas to share, two of which unknowingly set the stage for Blanchard to take everyone present on a fast-track lap with his inspirational mind. Ataide commented that working harder will not necessarily keep you in business. What will keep you in business is knowing your WHY. Why are you doing what you do? Not what, not how. Ataide urged his audience to diligently pursue the WHY question into 2011.

Then came Blanchard! He loved what he had heard from Ataide. He was ready to accelerate a finely tuned engine for a fast lap around the track as he put his foot to the floor addressing: What is your WHY?
Blanchard talked about his extensive work with Southwest Airlines, and he described how this company has continued to experience extraordinary growth in a brutally tough market. And the reason? Southwest knows its WHY! The WHY of Southwest is not defined by running airplanes here, there and everywhere. Southwest knows its WHY by being in the relationship business, helping family and friends afford to make loving touches and memories together in the special times of their lives. And, yes, Southwest accomplishes its WHY with a fleet of planes, which is the HOW of Southwest. Blanchard said that if you ask Southwest employees about what they are doing, the vast majority will tell you that they’re in the business of providing happiness and love. And doing so while having fun at work and a smile on their face!

Blanchard spent the rest of his time driving home the basic lesson of all business life: It’s about relationship. Being financially successful is the result of relationships, and all businesses need to know that at the center of their WHY is the story of relationship building.

Nothing new, right! But as the audience listened to Blanchard, they experienced his conviction, passion and clarity of thought that the WHY of relationship building in business was far greater than sweet sentiment.

Mission Integrity Action

What is your WHY? Let the question simmer this week as you enter in and out of conversations with family, friends, community partners and professional associates. Get inspired by and connected to the WHY of your everyday activity and productivity. Your WHY is your fire!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Use the superstar's secret

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 12:07:00 GMT

“I believe that you will get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
— Zig Ziglar

I have met a handful of superstars in my lifetime. No doubt you have, too. Such individuals become an ethical, values-focused compass by which we learn to guide and manage our own lives. Superstars carry a common relational DNA: They hold a genuine interest in helping us succeed. What is the result of such generosity of thought and action? Ziglar’s statement makes it clear: Our life positively expands to the degree we connect with and serve others. Yes, as we encourage the well-being of others, we attract good to ourselves.

This life principle often runs counterintuitive to the rough and tumble world of our business and professional lives where we easily can become numb to the belief that beating the competition demands us versus them daily armoring.

Bob, a superstar in my life, is professional proof that debunks the armoring myth. He is an extraordinarily successful businessman who has lived a remarkable professional life by giving himself away to others with support, encouragement and leadership. Over his lifetime, Bob has helped hundreds of men and women grow their personal confidence and professional competence. He has done so with the tools of affirmation and structured guidance.

After more than 30 years of friendship with Bob, I see that his acumen in building and rebuilding successful businesses has been shaped by his commitment to come alongside others to help them succeed. His guidance is direct, discerning and disciplined. He knows that results, not hopeful intentions, define success. He leads with thoughtful clarity that calls forth the best behavior in others.

Mission Integrity Action

This thumbnail description of Bob serves as a template for every superstar. Take a moment to reflect upon an individual you have come to respect professionally. Notice that the reason you see this person as a superstar is that he or she took the time to get you on his or her radar screen and guided you to become a giver rather than a taker. That is the genius mentality of superstars! They don’t teach how to find a handout. They don’t inform you that you are entitled to anything! Rather, they push and prod you to become the hand that helps another step up into their own values-driven choice-making. We love the superstars who come our way because they shape our belief that we can be one, too!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Fail into success

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:12:00 GMT

“There is no victory at bargain-basement prices.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower

I love the yarn about the young, up-and-coming CEO appointed bank president. He approached the venerable chairman of the board seeking counsel on how to pursue success in his new role. “Right decisions!”

Replying, the newly minted president said, “Can you be more specific? How do I make right decisions?”

The wise old man simply replied, “Experience!”

The young CEO retorted, “That’s just the point. I don’t have all of the experience. How do I get it?”

The terse reply came, “Wrong decisions!”

Recently, I committed to join a small group of business leaders who agreed to meet monthly to explore their leadership challenges in their professional life. It became clear – very quickly – that authenticity and vulnerability were the keys to meaningful discussion. Said differently, we were together to talk about how we were learning to fail into success! These are my words, of course, to characterize the fundamental dynamic of personal and professional growth in whatever form it is packaged. Our greatest growth occurs when we wrestle with failure. It is the irritant, the grain of sand, that shapes the pearl of great price!

That doesn’t mean to "bring on the bad news,” but when bad news arrives, ethically centered leaders ask, “What do I/we do with this problem? How is it here to teach me/us?"

Those questions imply transparency in problem solving. BP and Toyota leadership shared a common breakdown with their high-profile failures. Their leadership responses to bad news were not premised on simply technological incompetence. Instead, both organizations buried their heads in communicating their corporate clarity to exercise the ethical principle of Doing The Right Thing. As a result, both organizations paid a bigger price for their corporate failures.

Individuals and organizations pursue success as they wrestle with tough experiences. Wisdom welcomes trouble with the armor of transparency. Ignorance confronts bad news with the sword of blame, to deflect ownership of responsibility for a problem. Transparency or blame: Which tool do we choose to use? Only one strategy, personally and professionally, will follow a path that ultimately leads to understanding the principle that we can fail into success.

Mission Integrity Action

I explore the Failing into Success principle knowing that professional peril is always met, instinctively, with the armor of protection. When a professionally perilous moment occurs this week, I stop and ask myself: Now that this problem has happened, what is my protection? I have two choices of protection: blame or transparency. Which choice guides me to fail into success?

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

How do you think about ethical action?

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:46:00 GMT

“There is no pillow as soft as a clear conscience.”
— John Wooden

In his book, "The Heart of a Leader," published in 1999, Ken Blanchard writes: “In today’s competitive environment, some leaders are tempted to abandon ethical considerations. These leaders are jeopardizing far more than they imagine.”

Eleven years down the road, Blanchard’s words could be labeled prophetic!

The battle cry for ethical leadership in business has gone big time! I believe it will continue for years to come. A basic organizational ethics question is now in play on Main Street and Wall Street: Do business leaders think about ethical action as a function of compliance or a calling for cultural change? In organizations where ethics leadership pursues only compliance, corporate officers and structures are put in place that detail programs and inform employees about What Not to Do. In contrast, where ethics leadership explores culture, leaders focus on investing in education, initiatives and organizational structures that inspire employees – bottom up and top down – to understand the internal motivation of ethical actions with the call for clarity on What To Do to bring positive, sustained change to organizational brand trust.

The fact is, creating business climates that inform all stakeholders on what not to do and what to do are both important. But, only culture change moves an organization and those who serve it to embrace the big ethical vision expressed in Wooden’s sage consideration on a clear conscience.

The "soft pillow of a clear conscience" provides clarity for understanding what constitutes the ethical life stories of individuals and organizations. An organization’s ethical focus always moves on the conscience pulse of the choice making of the one multiplied. Organizations that pursue the story of positive culture celebrate ongoing ethical discovery! For such organizations, ethics is not defined simply as governance but is experienced as continual learning, growth and mastery shaped on the anvil of failure. Thriving ethical business cultures are driven less by words and more by shared beliefs and behavior that creatively give life to the vision of an organization’s influence for good.

Mission Integrity Action

Three evenings this coming week when your head hits the pillow, let your candid camera of integrity observation come alive with an exercise using Wooden’s quote. Let your thoughts rest on a question: How did my behavior promote, empower and educate today’s story of ethical excellence in my relationships at work and in the community? Allow your day’s review to reveal where you were an influence for ethical excellence. Also, observe how other colleagues and associates were or were not pursuing clear conscience actions.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

'It's not just opportunity'

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:10:00 GMT

“It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.”
— Albert Einstein

Recently, in two separate meetings within a 24-hour time period, I had the good fortune of being educated by two Orange County executives from diverse professions, exploring insights into their larger calling as leaders. Cristi Cristich, CEO of Cristek Interconnects Inc., provided the principle, and Tony Alessandra, president of Insurance Solutions, offered the rubber-meets-the-road practice.

Asking Cristich about the opportunities she saw to renew the culture of trust in her business setting, she said, “It’s not just opportunity; it’s obligation.” I inquired what she meant. She commented that after 25 years of business leadership, she now appreciates that there are two kinds of responsibilities: explicit and implicit. Explicit focuses on basic expectations and agreements that employees anticipate in the leadership and management of organizations. Implicit, in contrast, is the spirit of leadership that influences by personal example and is motivated to explore new avenues for defining business culture based on the leadership obligation to pursue the good of others.

Then came Alessandra! Out of his sense of personal obligation, he is pursuing the story of implicit leadership in his organization. Nearly a year ago, Alessandra began to learn about the significant work of Boys Town California and its expanding reach in Orange County to serve children and youth who are under the protective care of Social Services or the courts. As a devoted family man, Alessandra heard the need to act, not simply for himself, but began to engage his company by asking: "How can we get involved?" The outcome? Insurance Solutions has become the lead Orange County corporate partner for Boys Town California and, in doing so, has energized its employees, vendors and clients to support the good work of this valued nonprofit. Take a look at what’s happening Oct 9 to capture how one O.C. company has moved quickly from opportunity to obligation as an influence for good and, in doing so, has enhanced the story of meaning in the workplace.

Click here for more information.

Mission Integrity Action

Where do I focus the eye of my leadership? Are there new opportunities for implicit leadership to influence the greater good this week in my actions with a customer, client or professional associate? Do my conversations deepen the story of trust that will attract the respect of others? What one new idea or conversation will I experience this week that challenges me to think beyond the moment to pursue new obligations of service to others?

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Heating up in the fire

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 11:07:00 GMT

“The world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks which we endure help us in our marching onward.”
— Henry Ford

America’s first talk-show host, Arthur Godfrey, loved to tell the story of visiting the village smitty as a youngster in his rural hometown. He watched the smitty pick up pieces of iron, only to examine quickly and toss them in a junk pile. Then he’d pick up another piece, put it into the fire and begin shaping it into a horseshoe. Young Godfrey asked the smitty, “Why do some pieces go on the pile while others are heated up in the fire?” The smitty replied, “Some iron can’t take the heat of the fire.”

An imposing question for business professionals throughout America can be found in the character lesson that Godfrey exposes in his folksy remembrance. Can we take the heat of a dynamically challenging business environment for shaping a useful purpose? Can trouble produce renewed triumph? The answer may be found in experiencing difficulty for a yet-to-be-discovered good.

At a recent meeting of business executives, the moderator asked the attendees to stand up and comment on three open-ended questions: "What do you believe? What do you want? How do you intend to achieve what you want?" What came forth was pure gold. The answers showed unusual authenticity of thought embedded in the mutual belief held by all that economic tough times are not a deathbed; they are a place for digging deeper into the journey of relationship building as the master key to personal and professional success.

What is the digging-deeper story of relationship building now in play as both a source of conflict and growth? A paradigm shift is occurring in business relationship building. The movement is from a transactional paradigm to a trust paradigm. The fulcrum that balances and connects the old and new paradigms is found in the exploration of values.

There is a growing realization among thoughtful professionals that doing good business is more than money. Making money fires all commerce; making meaning shapes good commerce. Our personal and corporate values need to get heated up and tested in the fire to produce results that have purposeful outcomes. Making a buck with integrity is about finding the risk to test out the message of shared values that can produce bottom-line profitability and sustainable goodwill.

As I listened to the voices in the room, I observed we were digging in the gold vein of good business: Get engaged in the heat of the values conversation of meaning and money or anticipate that your product or service will soon land on the junk pile.

Mission Integrity Action

Are you throwing yourself on the junk pile or heating up in the fire? It’s a dialogue worth observing in your personal and professional conversations this week. When you are moving toward the junk pile, your conversations will focus on what you can get. When you are experiencing the heat, you will be genuinely focused on what can you give. Both are paradigms of your thinking.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

The choice is mine

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:08:00 GMT

“One ship sails east, and another west,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails and not the gales,
That tells the way we go.”
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Is there one mental distraction that blurs the integrity thinking of executives on Wall Street, entrepreneurs on Main Street and every professional working in the public or private sector? What do integrity thinkers conclude about choice?

Wilcox captures the dilemma. Do circumstances define our way or do we choose how we set our sails to move in the direction we chart? This is a tough lesson to learn as circumstances swirl with turbulent undercurrents.

Those who pursue the personal and professional mission of becoming a person of integrity discover that they are not victims of circumstances; they are creators with circumstances. This benchmark defines the pursuit of ethical excellence.

W. Clement Stone was one of America’s great 20th century businessmen. He once commented on the strategies of integrity thinking by stating three imperatives: “Have the courage to say ‘no.’ Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magical keys to living your life with integrity.”

So, what is demanded to exercise choice making with these three keys?

The courage to say no: We are confronted daily with small yes or no issues. Do I choose to serve the sustainable good or compromise the good for short-term gain? The choice is mine.

The courage to face the truth: The opinions of others as well as the feelings I hold are not the measurement for seeking the truth. These are the great deceivers! Taking the step into truth may require stepping back, reflecting and acknowledging: “I had it wrong on this one.” The choice is mine.

The courage to do the right thing: Integrity thinking is not synonymous with self interest. Pursuing the right thing always takes me beyond my own needs and wants. The choice is mine.

Mission Integrity Action

This week I use a Beginner’s Mind as I place fresh eyes and renewed awareness that I am Integrity’s Choice Maker. The problem solving I handle this week uses the three integrity keys: the courage to say no; to face the truth; and to do the right thing. I practice the keys to set my sails clearly as an influencer for good at home, at work and in the community.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Toil upward in the night

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:28:00 GMT

“The heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.”
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In my life storybook, he is a Most Unforgettable Character. His name was Jimmy Adamson, a proud Scot, family man, pastor, life coach and teacher. Most of all, Jimmy was a friend and mentor on integrity.

My memorable encounter with Jimmy came during a lunch meeting in 1986 – at a pivotal moment in my life. I was ready to chart a new professional direction to take on a new challenge. My mission was in motion. My wife and young family of four kids were at my side. I was ready to leave the safe harbor of the known. I was anxious.

After Jimmy listened to my impending hero’s journey into uncharted waters, he said, “Russ, have you ever heard of prevenient grace?”

“Can’t say I have, Jimmy,” I responded, not knowing where he was leading me.

“Well, my friend, it’s a good term for you to be thinking about as you go forth into uncharted territory. Prevenient means anticipatory … the Good that goes before you to prepare a way for you.”

It’s been nearly 25 years since My Jimmy Conversation. I am a better man for having experienced it. Its message of anticipatory Good has been a lighthouse of understanding for the constant mapping and maneuvering we all experience in the turbulent waters of This Thing Called Life.

Fast-forward now to 2010. For the past two years, I have been both a witness and participant to countless conversations with many professionals who have shared their personal risk-taking in our nation’s economic uncertainty. For millions of Americans – you may be one of them – it has been a stormy season for toiling upward in the night!

Mission Integrity Action

If belief is the rudder for renewal, recovery and hope, both in the activity of individuals and the affairs of our nation, I value holding fast to the belief in prevenient grace. The pursuit of the good is the spark within that says, I choose to walk on the path of the Good that stands before me. I will be the Influencer for the Good; I will be the evidence of the Good; I will see the Good in others; I will persevere in the knowledge that the Good goes before me as I bring positive influence at home, at work and in the communities to which I am connected.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

'Choose the Right Yardstick'

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:15:00 GMT

“Life is relationships; the rest is just details.” — Gary Smalley

Dr. Clayton Christensen – a renowned academic, consultant, multiple author of best-sellers on business leadership and a man of religious faith – was invited to speak to the Harvard Business School’s class of 2010. It was a mountain-top presentation as he masterfully wed business-leadership principles to life-management skills.

Christensen’s sixth and final bullet of wisdom, "Choose The Right Yardstick," was his pearl of great price.

“The past year I was diagnosed with cancer and faced the possibility that my life would end sooner than I planned," he said. "Thankfully, it looks as if I’ll be spared.

“The experience has given me important insight into my life. … I’ve concluded that the metric by which God will assess my life isn’t dollars but the individual people whose lives I’ve touched. I think that’s the way it works for all of us. Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. That is my final recommendation.”

Framing personal and professional success is focused far more on the relationship skills of standing with others than standing above others. This subtle insight reveals the bedrock need of every individual to make significant connections with others while discovering and exploring their bond with God.

The business-leadership platform that provides compelling opportunities for learning and living this insight is found in the Servant Leadership Model. Recently, it was my good fortune to interview such a leader, Dan Rogers, president and CEO of Goodwill of Orange County. Rogers is the example of the leader who walks beside others not only to be an encourager in another’s challenges but a mentor who inspires others to give life to their dreams. As Rogers shared, servant leadership is not about positional authority within an organization; potentially, it is present everywhere and with everyone.

Mission Integrity Action

Leadership voices like Rogers and Christensen understand their life mission: Use the right yardstick to build relationships that inspire the pursuit of excellence in the lives of others.

On this week’s journey of integrity, be ready and alert for those moments of connections when you put the yardstick of connectivity to work as you guide, partner, laugh, teach, listen, challenge and learn from others.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Find the new business model of leadership

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 12:37:00 GMT

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
— Galileo

In his recent article appearing in Forbes, Bill George, a Harvard Business School professor and former health-care CEO, commented on the seismic shift of leadership consciousness now emerging:

“I think we are going through a massive generational change in leadership. The great corporations in the 1950s and '60s were command-and-control organizations. With this new century that concept … has totally gone out because employees today are knowledge workers, they have options and they don’t stick around. Most importantly, they’re looking for meaning, not just money. I think today’s great leaders will know how to empower people … to step up and lead … aligning people to mission and values and … getting them to recognize that their job is to serve a certain customer first and not the shareholder.”

Let’s describe the leadership shift by contrasting two distinct paradigms. The old leadership paradigm operates with the fulcrum of short-term gain driven by profits. The new leadership paradigm’s fulcrum is sustainability driven by marketplace meaning. What’s the difference in the two? Each produces dynamic products and services benefiting customers and shareholders. But the new leadership model puts tremendous importance on the psychic income that today’s knowledge workers must experience in order to have skin in the game! And the skin is meaning!

Said differently, the old business model of leadership is Newtonian cause and effect; the new business model of leadership is Quantum cause and effect. The old organizational action is mechanical and functional; the new action is interconnective and relational. The old model is one where the mind of organizational leadership is limited to the few; the new organizational mind knows that leadership is held by the many.

Mission Integrity Action

Can today’s Boomers and Gen-X and Gen-Y leaders learn from each other about the new cause-and-effect business paradigm where money follows meaning? The Boomers have the most to learn, which makes them vulnerable simply because of the challenge of questioning what has always worked in the past! Therefore, the answer to the question suggests that no matter what generation your heritage is from in the 20th century, the 21st century organizational leader will place tremendous focus on sustainability through shared values and meaning. Where such conversations are absent in organizations, leaders beware of the peril of dinosaurs!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Shape and sustain leadership

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:00:00 GMT

“The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.”
— Warren Bennis

In her recent article in Business Ethics magazine, Gael O’Brien, an O.C. resident, author and national consultant to businesses, asked this question: “Will CEO commitment to sustainability have the enduring motivation to do the hard work of building ethical and responsible corporate policies and practices?”

Basically, O’Brien was probing the backwaters of whether the current explosion of pursuit of ethical corporate cultures shaped by trust will have lasting traction in American business on the other side of our economic tough times. O’Brien offers a CEO commitment game plan in her "Stepping Stones to Ethical Leadership." These 10 action items are keys to shaping and sustaining leadership and organizational credibility. These actions are especially important for leaders facing ethical challenges:

Own what the organization stands for, its mission, vision and values. Listen to what is alleged.

Resist the reflex to defend, explain or justify. Make it safe for people to talk to you.

Seek out facts through unbiased, independent channels. Convene smart people with relevant expertise to discuss and disagree.

Focus on whether the right questions are being asked. Ensure a credible process for arriving at decisions with the will to withstand public scrutiny.

Believe in and utilize the value of two-way, transparent communication. Understand that employees watch and trust a leader’s actions more than a leader’s words.

These 10 items provide a pathway for business leaders to walk with clarity of commitment in building ethical practices that create the culture of trust.

Mission Integrity Action

No organization is immune to ethical challenges. The question of sustainability of organizations facing such challenge rests on the shoulders of leaders who choose either to build a wall or build a path. As a leader of integrity, the choice to build a path of managing ethical turbulence can shape trusted organizations. Trust-driven firms and their Leaders of Integrity can find sustained value by institutionalizing the placement of these stable stepping stones!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Promote value in your business

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 11:01:00 GMT

“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
— Marie Currie

Greg Arbues is founder of Client Advocate Network. He is a professional leader who champions the messages of trust and integrity with the many companies that creatively collaborate in the O.C. business community. Recently, Arbues sent me a thought-provoking article on the value of values in organizations. The article underscored the fact that there is much to be done in American business to take the values statements that hang on boardroom walls and integrate them into the widespread organizational dialogue that enhances accountability, collaboration, initiative and profitability.

Among the 10 essentials for getting value from values, here are six that stood out to me about how organizations discover that money follows meaning:

• Organizational values find meaning through work force conversations.
• Values are aspirational. ... They signal long-term intention.
• Principles and statements about why we do our work invoke a higher purpose. In turn, this purpose can become part of the company’s brand and source of competitive differentiation.
• Values guide leadership choice and decisions.
• Values that are constantly discussed with storytelling promote consistent, high standards.

“In short, it’s not the words that make a difference; it’s the conversation. People can be more readily relied on to do the right thing and to guide their colleagues to do the same as an organization becomes a community united by shared purpose.”

Who drives the values conversation? You know the answer: Leaders of Integrity pursuing their influence for good!

Mission Integrity Action
Your work as a business leader is to both understand and articulate to those you influence that money follows meaning. The pursuit of meaning is grounded in the constant exploration of how values find life in the products and services we sell. As a leader of influence this week, be aware that with every occasion you bring the values story into the conversations of your work and you elevate the meaning of work – with yourself and those you lead. It’s a task that always remains incomplete and in need of your attention with daily focus and inspired action.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Become a Hero of Integrity in the making

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:27:00 GMT

“Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”

— Aristotle

Who becomes the face and voice of integrity at home, at work and in the community? Courageous ones do. They are everyday heroes who face conflicts yet triumph with choices and actions that are viewed by others as serving a greater good.

Integrity, as defined in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values (incorruptibility); an unimpaired condition (soundness); and the quality or state of being complete or undivided (completeness).

Heroes of Integrity seek to become sound of thought and incorruptible in behavior. These individuals know that the disposition of their minds and hearts is constantly being pulled in two distinct directions: selfish good or selfless good. Rarely does an individual attain the ability to continuously act for the selfless good of others. Yet, the reality is that one’s moral and ethical pulse can be measured by how often the actions of an individual move with the purpose of serving the selfless good that distinguishes the life of a Hero of Integrity.

Heroes of Integrity are moral and ethical leaders. They lead by example as they act as exemplars of selfless good. Not a day goes by in my life that I do not notice a Hero of Integrity in the making. These individuals take charge of difficult situations where conflict does not erupt because disrespect is not shown. When I see the Hero of Integrity courageously building this life story, I am inspired to pursue doing the same in mine. I become influenced by a Hero of Integrity in the making.

I find Heroes of Integrity in the making at the bank, the market and the mall. Often, I observe them as hourly waged, part-time employees. Their employers expect them to be courteous to their customers. What I observe is not employer expectation. I see the effort of a Hero of Integrity in the making, one who is learning the art of serving the selfless good. He or she, as Aristotle said, is acquiring a noble character quality by constantly acting in a certain way.

Mission Integrity Action

This week as a Hero of Integrity in the making, I manage conflict by not showing disrespect to another. I do so understanding that integrity’s work requires me to pursue the selfless good that distinguishes me as one who is willing to courageously maneuver with the integrity asset of managing conflict.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

What do I honor?

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 12:08:00 GMT

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”
— William James

The moral and ethical life of an individual is like a two-sided coin. The moral life asks one question by looking within oneself, while the ethical life asks the same question looking to the world of relationships.

The edge of the coin symbolically holds the common question: What do I honor? Ultimately, there are two distinct ways that this question can be answered: Do I honor feelings or do I honor behavior? How an individual answers that question determines the nature of his or her values and the way one connects to his or her world.

Yes, moral and ethical predictability follows in the wake of the question: What do I honor? Said differently, individuals and organizations define themselves by this fundamental question. How so? The Ethical Edge mission of inspiring ethical excellence is premised on the message that moral and ethical discovery is pursued by individuals who courageously explore the question of honor in relationships with others. All wisdom literature, both secular and religious, confirms this fact.

So, let’s explore the premise that no man is an island. Said, differently, we live in relationship to self and others. If our personal feelings define the measurement of relating to ourselves and others, we will always behave seeking to make ourselves feel good. Consequently, behavior will always be premised on what I am getting from someone in order to feel good. In contrast, if my Good is found in relationship, then I will discover that seeking my Good is fulfilled in what I am giving to enhance the good of others. Feeling good for myself alone is subjective; expressing good for myself and others is objective.

In business the subjective storyline of what do you honor plays out as organizations pursue feeling good about profits independent of the means of producing them. Business has a name for this kind of good feeling: greed. What if sustainable profitability can only be objectified by honoring our professional relationships with others? Often, the moral and ethical fog of businesses and professional leaders is seen in the failed regard to respect the human capital that produces corporate profitability.

Mission Integrity Action

What do you honor this week as you go about your relationship-building at home, at work and in the community? Put yourself to the test by asking yourself: What do I honor, my feelings or my behavior? Explore this fundamental question of the moral and ethical life.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Be a 'Character Closer'

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:46:00 GMT

“You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.” — Marian Wright Edelman

For many baseball fans Mariano Rivera is considered the all-time best relief pitcher in baseball history. Give him the ball with a big game on the line in the 9th inning and he does his best – like no other "closer" in the game. This is what Rivera says about himself when he fails to get the win or save:

“It doesn't matter what the results are in the game. You win or lose, you have to forget about it. Right on the spot. Because you have to play tomorrow, and the game that you're going to play tomorrow is not going to be the same game that you just played.”

Rivera’s mental toughness speaks volumes about why he has been in the Bigs for 21 seasons. But how do his words apply to the daily challenge of men and women getting back into their professional game of life when they have produced a day of ethical ground outs? The fact is: The ground outs are the occupational hazards of good individuals who are committed to doggedly pursuing the Fail into Success Strategy that characterizes every person’s journey of integrity. How so?

In his article, "Integrity at Work, How Do You Stack Up?" Peter Vajda, Ph. D., asked: "On a scale of one (low) to 10 (high), how would you rate yourself in the following workplace behaviors? (a) gossiping (b) making excuse (c) stealing workplace time for personal interests (d) taking responsibility for your piece of the team’s project (e) respecting others (f) taking workplace property (g) being direct, open and honest in your communications."

If you score yourself high on those integrity litmus-test questions, Dr. Vajda suggested you look at more probing ones: "Who or what stops you from acting with integrity? When your personal integrity has regressed, what is the self talk you have engaged in? Do your needs for control, recognition and security stop you from acting with integrity?"

These questions are not meant to tear down an individual who pursues a life as a Character Closer. Rather the questions creatively confront our understanding of the daily challenges of ethically compromised decision making, harmful words, or inappropriate actions that cause us to take a loss as a Character Closer today but not get us thrown out of tomorrow’s game of integrity.

Mission Integrity Action

I choose to be the Character Closer. If I failed yesterday, I move forward today, allowing the ethical failures of yesterday to pass away into today’s new challenges.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

If you're leading, who is following?

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:47:00 GMT

“Integrity is the key element in leadership. If a person is not honest in the workplace, fair to people, abusive of privileges or speaks to be liked rather than to be true, these are demonstrative of the person’s integrity. People are watching and will make a determination on the degree of integrity a leader has.”
— David Kramer

We all have experienced men and women in leadership roles who lack the integrity to inspire our commitment to be a loyal follower. These are the do as I say, not as I do leaders. What does their behavior inspire?

Such leadership inspires tepid ambivalence.

My first encounter with integrity leadership versus ambivalence leadership occurred in high school. I had two Coach Bobs. Bob-in-the-Fall coached cross country. He used team sports as a character-building tool. He saw dignity in every kid regardless of his or her skills. Bob-in-the-Spring was the track coach. He used coaching to show he was a better athlete than any kid he trained. He tore kids down to build himself up. What were the leadership coaching legacies of these two professionals? Bob-in-the-Fall had perennial winning cross-country teams year after year. Bob-in-the-Spring lasted for a couple of years and was gone, producing teams of mediocrity with some fine athletes.

Coach Bob-in-the-Fall communicated the themes of personal discipline and teamwork. Coach Bob-in-the-Spring believed you were only of value if you were a top-performing athlete – and even if you were, you were never as good an athlete as he.

Wherever practiced, in whatever walk of life, personal and professional integrity leadership inspires trust. It fosters the belief of self and the willingness to work together to achieve common goals. Do leaders of integrity carry a resolute knowing that their character sets an inspirational example for others to follow? Yes, absolutely! I only need to remember two high school coaches to know that Bob-in-the-Fall has been a life inspiration for 50 years. That’s integrity leadership at its finest!

Mission Integrity Action

I pursue integrity leadership this week. In my actions and interactions I remember that what I do with colleagues, clients and collaborators reveals more about me than any words coming from my lips. I am known as a leader of integrity by behavior that lifts others up.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Gravity is the most predictable force

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:47:00 GMT

“Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit."
— Aristotle

Gravity is the most predictable force of nature. Humans need only to jump straight up, ride a teeter-totter or throw a ball in the air to understand gravity’s exacting work. So, too, our tiny solar system functions with gravitational precision within a small galaxy, the Milky Way. What about the gravitational force in the vast universe? Physicists now know that black holes hold the ultimate answer to gravitation’s grip that controls the heavens.

While this universal primal force is constantly in motion, exercising its predictability everywhere, Aristotle’s axiom on moral excellence points us to a parallel universe of precise cause and effect. Aristotle is being as exact with the movement of moral excellence as Stephen Hawking might be with the law of gravity. He is saying moral excellence is the predictable result of habitual moral action. It is cause-and-effect moral play on the game field of relationships – individual to individual.

In his inspiring book, "The Spirit of Leadership," Robert J. Spitzer, former president of Gonzaga University, identifies five moral commitments that an individual can make to others at home, at work and in the community to practice the habitual opportunity for living with personal integrity which, for me, defines moral excellence. Spitzer states very simply and forthrightly: "I commit that I will …"

Look for contribution to you and to our common cause before I make comparisons.

Look for the good news in you even if I should see the bad news.

Connect with you as a whole person before looking at your skill set and utility function.

Look for the "win-win" before settling for the "win-lose."

Trust you until you give me ample reason to do otherwise and I will "cut you plenty of slack" because I realize that, like me, you are not perfect.

Mission Integrity Action

This week, I pursue habits of moral excellence as I commit to see the good in others. I explore Spitzer’s five commitments knowing they can become my personal habits that I experience with business professionals at work, as well as with family and friends.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Achieve the big goal through noble means

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:55:00 GMT

“Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” — J.C. Penney

He is one of America’s all-time businessman-entrepreneur success stories of the 20th century: J. C. Penney created a retail empire guided by sound management and fiscal discipline. Today, his family foundation’s legacy continues, nearly 40 years after his passing in 1971. Perhaps his most curious influence on 21st century retail is found in the fact that he personally trained a young Sam Walton how to wrap packages with a minimum amount of ribbon!

Shaping a company’s growth demands leadership’s one-pointed attention of engaging others in the goal-seeking process. For example, John W. Gardner, founder of Common Cause and author of "On Leadership," once stated: “Leaders constantly conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best efforts.”

Penney and Gardner were two 20th century leaders who carried the common DNA of leadership: the capacity to lead toward a focused outcome! These men demonstrated leadership skills to involve others in positive results. However, the capacity to lead cuts two ways: either toward ethical outcomes serving the good of self and others or unethical outcomes that violate trust with others.

Having a worthy goal is at the center of ethical business. A business leader who inspires his organization to achieve a goal using whatever means available is a leader who will create a product or service that is ethically corrupt. In contrast, ethical business leaders know that every goal is always produced with trust values that serve the needs of all. The trust values are consistency, competency, concern, sincerity and identification. Thus, an organizational goal is only good if the means of its accomplishment are defined by actions that harness the trust values – underscoring actions, not simply sweet, but empty, words.

Mission Integrity Action

Goal clarity and ethical actions are the leadership focus of this week. I mobilize others knowing that means and ends are collaborative partners as I practice my role as a leader of integrity. I keep my ethical compass on True North as I inspire others to focus on the big goal and the noble means. Doing so ensures that my organization’s goals are worthy of trust – everywhere present.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

What is the calling of work?

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:05:00 GMT

“The human race may be compared to a writer. At the outset a writer has often only a vague general notion of the plan of his work, and of the thought he intends to elaborate. As he proceeds, penetrating his material, laboring to express himself fit, he lays a firmer grasp of thought; he finds himself. So the human race is writing its story, finding itself, discovering its own underlying purpose.”
—Felix Adler

Our professional work is a powerful place for the discovery of noble purpose. Commerce is more than product, service and competitive edge. Commerce is the place for the expression of meaning. Values that are pragmatically exercised shape the contour and color that bring tone to meaning fulfillment at work. What is the calling of work? It is writing the story of meaning: managing your purpose as an influencer for good!

Those who have careers in the auto industry have experienced a roller-coaster ride of challenge in this Great Recession. In the midst of an earthquake-like restructuring and realignment, many local auto dealers have scratched to survive. And yet, there are those who used survival as a time to pursue their noble purpose.

Mark, a good friend of mine, has accomplished just that as an automotive owner/dealer. Faced with a severe business survival test, Mark had to demonstrate that his dealership was best positioned to service Orange County customers as GM dramatically shut down dealerships throughout the U.S. and more specifically in the Western states.

Taking on the challenge of survival became Mark’s challenge. He envisioned his dealership as clearly prepared and equipped to serve the short- and long-term needs of his customers, employees, suppliers, banks and O.C. municipalities. He focused his energies on demonstrating trust skills of competence, consistency and care for others as he crafted a proposal for GM. Through an exhaustive, difficult process, he envisioned his purpose of service based on his personal character. He succeeded! He has accomplished his agency’s survival in O.C.; he now stands prepared to have his dealership continue to write its new chapters in a purpose story crafted on the foundation of integrity.

Mission Integrity Action

Purpose seeking is on the radar screen of my professional calling this week. I focus on serving others with my personal and my company’s values being transparently present in conversations, negotiations and agreements. What is significant in writing the meaning story is that the values I live by are guiding my personal and professional actions as an influencer for good.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Discomfort is a powerful teacher

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 12:12:00 GMT

Tommy Hopkins, a motivational speaker and salesman extraordinaire, tells the story of when he was at a career low-point meeting a monthly sales quota. His boss came into his office and said, “Let me take you out for a drive … freshen things up a bit.”

Two miles out from the office, the boss pulled his car over to the shoulder of the road. He said to Hopkins, “Get out. As you walk back to the office, make cold calls on 10 new companies that are on your path.”

Stunned, but up to the challenge, Hopkins did just that! Late that afternoon he returned to the office energized with new business possibilities he could not have imagined.

There is a life-skills principle that can be applied to our professional world when we must manage the discomfort of perceived or real failure. The principle is: Use troublesome, negative feelings to move you to positive, constructive action. Discomfort is a powerful teacher. It comes to us first as emotion. But the purpose of discomfort’s unsettling emotion is that it can be used to elevate thought processes and decision-making to take on positive, productive action.

Recently, Toyota faced a new challenge with its Lexus recall. The effective handling of this product failure, in contrast to corporate bumbling of its earlier recall, is an example of how leadership teams can collectively use organizational discomfort to retool decision-making processes to effectively manage a product failure that communicates a constructive result to customers.

Handling conflicting emotions for positive outcomes is difficult, individually and in a group. But there is a simple prescription: Take each and every sour-lemon event as an opportunity to turn it into sweet-lemonade moment by transforming negative feelings into ethical actions that create results showing that transparent, ethical values were in play to influence for good.

Mission Integrity Action

Discouragement arrives as a useful teacher this week. When I find myself or an associate facing the conflict of perceived or real failure, I use the lesson of discouragement to reveal that clarity of action can be practiced. I will not use discouragement to bring pain or ill will to others. My ethical clarity guides me to make lemonade out of lemons as I use discouragement to guide me and others to pursue the better way.

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Howdy Doody management kills productivity

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:57:00 GMT

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” —Winston Churchill

I am giving away my age to my reader with this question, but I’ll ask it anyway: Do you know who Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody are? If not, let me tell you.

The "Howdy Doody Show" was one of the first children’s TV programs in the 1950s. Buffalo Bob was the program host. He was a ventriloquist. His wooden puppet was Howdy Doody, a cowboy dummy. Buffalo Bob controlled every word and action of his dummy. Howdy Doody knew nothing about personal responsibility. He lacked all self-governance.

Let’s translate the Buffalo Bob-Howdy Doody paradigm as a management model for small, medium-sized and large businesses, or wherever you may find yourself in your professional world. The research on management theory supports one clear fact: Using a Howdy Doody management style kills creativity, productivity and collaboration. Why? It thwarts an individual’s use of their fundamental ethical asset, personal responsibility. What does the research say?

Here are four management morsels to chew on:

Hagberg Model of Personal Power/Hapberg: Management supporting internally motivated actions is guided by empowering and serving others.

Eight Attributes of Management Excellence/Peters & Waterman: Fostering autonomy and entrepreneurship are key management skills.

Four Dimensions of Relational Work/Butler & Waldroop: Personal influence is derived as professionals develop and extend their sphere of interpersonal influence.

Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse/Jennings: Fear and silence of employees to speak up is the No. 2 sign in cultures of ethical failures.

Wherever controlling Howdy Doody management becomes the operational model in an organization, personal responsibility goes into checkmate as the corporate culture communicates that decision-making and accountability are in the hands of a few – and the rest? Well, let’s just metaphorically say they are simply dummies!

Mission Integrity Action

I watch myself to see if I employ a Howdy Doody management style this week. If and when I do, I ask two questions: Why did I choose to exercise control? Was there a favorable result with those I controlled?

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

A Tribute to John Wooden

Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:03:00 GMT

“I sing a song for the Saints of God, loyal and brave and true.”
—Anglican Hymnal

THE SAINTS OF GOD
A Tribute To John Wooden
1910-2010

Every so often they come our way. In doing so, they remind us of the possibilities of a noble life.

The noble ones understand and practice the fundamentals of virtues-driven living.

Their words and deeds are elegant and elevating.

Their life is art, painted on a canvas filled with the vibrant, life-affirming colors of perennial values that have guided the human experience through the ages.

The noble voices of humanity are both students and teachers.
They learn through humility and openness. They never seek attention for themselves.

They teach with compassion and clarity, continually offering hope to those who struggle.

These noble citizens of character are Wisdom Keepers. They have discovered that their life is not theirs alone; they are vessels through which God finds form and function to offer grace in service to others.

JOHN WOODEN

This man was a noble one.
He carried the mind and heart of the Saints of God.

As master of the hardboards, he had no peer. Yet his gifts were not confined to teaching hoop skills as the Wizard of Westwood. He pursued greater work than winning National Championships.

He was a 21th century highly skilled spiritual craftsman ... self-effacing … humble in heart … purposefully precise in connecting good intent into godly action. Like all Saints of God who take their brief sojourn here on earth, this nobleman communicated and lived the timeless message that measures human achievement: Live your life from the inside out with values that serve the good.

He was a pay-it-forward noble man, who acted with simple and conscientious devotion … directed with loving affection to his wife and his family; nurtured as caring and mentoring influence to a large circle of talented athletes; gifted as life-skills guidance to millions of children, youth and adults.

In 2006 I had the opportunity to shake his hand, chat with him, listen to his words and honor his achievements as a national treasure.

I am grateful.

With new immortal eyes this good and noble man, America’s Coach, now knows with joyous certainty that his 100-year journey of devotion had its source in God.

I sing this song for John Wooden … a Saint of God … who was loyal and brave and true.

Lord, help me to be one, too.

Russell Williams

Discouragement is an occupational hazard

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:21:00 GMT

“What we do not see, what most of us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible power which comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement.” — Napoleon Hill

Discouragement is the occupational hazard of competent, successful, goal-achieving people, organizations and nations. As a Baby-Boomer teen in 1961, I was a witness to history when John F. Kennedy mobilized the resources of a nation to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. That huge, multiyear national project succeeded on the foundation of dogged persistence that pushed over, under, around and through a mountain of failure. And yet, on a July evening in 1969, the world listened and watched as the Eagle landed!

Triumph is the piercing arrow in the quiver of individuals who choose to persevere through discouragement. Calvin Coolidge stated, “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Genius will not; education will not. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

Business leaders are doing heavy lifting right now as they creatively work to get a sputtering economy back on track. However, some of the biggest lifting is being done by competent, talented and ready-to-work seasoned professionals who are treading treacherous unemployment waters while seeking that next right job. It is tough times for far too many folks, locally and nationally.

One significant professional in my sphere of influence is inspiring me by his example of not allowing unemployment to destroy his positive attitude and powerful persistence. Daily, his tenacious keep-on, keeping-on actions get him linked in to his expanding network. He makes the cold calls and the follow-up calls. He attends job fairs and business-networking organizations to lend counsel to others while being supported.

My friend’s persevering clarity to face down discouragement reminds me of the words spoken by the founder of Wycliffe Bible Translators, Cameron Townshend, in his recorded moment of discouragement over 100 years ago: “Faith, mighty faith, the object sees and looks to God alone; laughs at impossibility and says it shall be done!”

Mission Integrity Action

I move persistently in the direction of today’s goals and objectives. When discouragement rears its head, I reach out to encourage someone and, in doing so, I kick discouragement to the sidelines. Today, I move courageously forward, even if, at first, I stumble, side-step or miss-step.

Focus on relationship innovation

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:01:00 GMT

“We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from the others’ activities.” —Tenzin Gyatso 14th dalai lama

Relationship innovation is at center stage now as we slowly build the new economy locally, nationally and internationally. Uncertainty and instability are driving innovative exploration to do things differently.

Recently, a seasoned, successful business-training executive put it this way to me in a conversation: “I am coaching my people to face their financial fears of not producing by concentrating on the needs of their clients.”

He believes that doing things differently is about innovation in the way we think about our professional relationships. How does that look inside an organization? To answer the question, let’s look back.

It’s been nearly 50 years since Tom Burns and G.M. Stalker provided groundbreaking insight into how organizations can best handle instability and change. Their highly influential work, "The Management of Innovation," sheds a bright light of organizational wisdom for the topsy-turvy beginnings of this second decade of the 21st century. Here are five timely nuggets of creative organizational relationship-building premised on surviving in dependence on one another:

Mission: Plan and manage for change, not stability.

Governance of operations and work behavior: Information and advice is shared rather than instructions and decisions given.

Locating problem-solving knowledge: It is everywhere in the organization; it is not defined by management hierarchy.

Structure of communication: Networking and collaborating energetically pursues shared commitment by the community of concern.

Tasking: Responsibility as a limited field of rights and obligation is replaced with continual redefinition of tasking through interaction with others in the community, the project group and the staff team.

Mission Integrity Action

I discover my professional interdependence to be demanding, engaging and fulfilling this week. My circle of concern finds laserlike focus as I listen and act to meet the needs of clients, customers and co-workers.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Walk with, not over others

Tue, 18 May 2010 12:58:00 GMT

“No kind action ever stops with itself. The kind action leads to another. Good examples follow. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.” —Amelia Earhart

Are you observing a more generous spirit emerging in your business and professional connections? Are you noticing conversations that are salt and peppered with the seasoning of thoughtful regard for colleagues and friends, and the challenges they face? Is there a growing understanding in the ever-present silent monologue you have daily with yourself that recognizes a deepening conviction you desire to pay closer attention to the issues, needs, concerns ... the lives of clients, partners, co-workers and business associates?

The Values Institute at DGWB provides clarifying research data showing concern as the No. 1 correlation shaping relationships and brand trust.

My friend, Dave Elliott, is a relationship specialist serving many professionals throughout Southern California. His business card reads, "Relationship Builder and Connector of People." Elliott presents insights into the art of business relationships in his two-part workshop, Building a Meaningful Relationship Network. He describes the intentionality of relationship networking that is focused on four pillars: common values, high trust, sustained caring and advocacy for another.

Dave lives and breathes cause and effect clarity as he models taking the time to build relationships moved by actions of kindness and regard for others that produce the foundation for trustful business collaboration.

India’s 20th century emancipating leader, Mohandas Gandhi, wrote, “Leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

Interpreting his words in a 2010 global community, they show leadership to be strongest when pursued with relationship building that walks with others.

Leadership that produces best results is moving toward being framed in the consciousness of “We” rather than “I.”

Mission Integrity Action

In conversations this week I observe how connection moves to possible collaboration as I build deepening relationships. I take a genuine interest in the contributions and value of others as I move forward pursuing projects and deadlines. I remind myself that walking with, not over others is the better game plan for today’s fragile trust-seeking professional climate.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

I stand in the center of influence

Tue, 11 May 2010 11:28:00 GMT

“If I were required to guess off-hand … what is the bottom cause of the amazing material and intellectual advancement of the last 50 years, I should guess that it was the modern-born and previously nonexistent disposition on the part of men to believe that a new idea can have value.” —Mark Twain

The great 19th century American humorist and political-social commentator Mark Twain unearthed the hidden jewel that moves the human spirit – the belief that my new idea has value.

In the early 20th century, Henry Ford believed in a new idea, the division of labor. With it he mobilized a worldwide industrial revolution. Another innovator, Walt Disney, tinkered with a new idea, animation, transforming the film world. These two men unleashed the same energy that drives the movement of all entrepreneurial activity in every professional walk of life: belief in a new idea that propels us to action.

One big, bold, duplicable idea in today’s marketplace is now providing endless opportunity for creative expression, professional fulfillment and bottom-line results for men and women engaged in business startups, as well as Fortune 500 companies. The idea? I stand in the center of influence!

Tom Peters and Bob Waterman capture this big idea in their watershed book, "In Search of Excellence." They write about the eight principles of organizational excellence. The eighth principle, "Simultaneous, Loose-Tight Properties," states that organizations pursuing excellence are defined by rigid control while simultaneously insisting on autonomy, entrepreneurship and innovation from the rank and file.

More recently in their bestseller, "The Starfish and The Spider," Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom argue that organizations fall into two categories: traditional "spiders," which have rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary "starfish," which rely on the power of peer relationships where influence is everywhere present because the organizational mind resides in the actions of personal influence.

Mission Integrity Action

This week gives new focus and renewed energy to the big, bold idea: I stand in the center of influence! I exercise the ethical asset of clarity as I encourage, engage and build relationships that create cooperative, productive results. I recognize and encourage others to pursue the power of their positive influence, appreciating everyone’s talents and abilities at work for good.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Is there meaning entering the deal?

Tue, 04 May 2010 12:15:00 GMT

“What man actually needs … is the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.” — Viktor Frankl

The deal. It’s challenging. It’s competitive. It’s creative. It’s fun. Is there meaning entering the deal? Is there meaning negotiating the deal? Is there meaning closing the deal? Is there meaning moving to the next deal?

Meaning is far more than periodic, inspirational reflection. It’s Monday motivation, Wednesday grinding and Friday wind-down. Meaning is the can-be, needs-to-be Energizer Bunny of the Integrity Influencer.

A meaning question: Are my/our values being expressed in the deal? My dad was a successful business leader in financial and estate planning. When he met with a new client, he would ask, “Do you know the story of Johnny Appleseed?”

Always the answer was, "Yes!" Then, he would pose a second question that never had an answer: "Why do you think Johnny cast those seeds? What was the meaning and motivation for doing so?"

Dad would deliver the answer and a challenge to his client, posing two questions: "Do you suppose Johnny cast those seeds to plant trees under the shade of which he would never sit? Are you here so I can help you strategize your life-planning to bring benefit to those you love and care about?"

Dad purposefully found meaning in every deal!

The values that cause us to live larger than the deal are framed by the intention of contributing to the well-being of others. That is the hubris of meaning fulfillment.

Professionals can take any situation and translate this week’s deal into meaning by asking a simple question: Are the values that bring joy to me and good to others at work in this deal? When positive life values are present, we stay alert and connected to people and their needs. When life-affirming values are missing or go dormant, the deal becomes the end-all with the means-justifying-the-end guiding our actions. Often, the results are detrimental to yourself and others.

Mission Integrity Action

The ethical asset of managing calling offers a mission of meaning this week. I collaborate to achieve pragmatic goals that have a bigger reward than financial gain. Pursuing meaning creates psychic income that fuels my personal calling. As an Integrity Influencer I see every deal creating opportunity to grow long-term significance as I plant trees under the shade of which I shall never sit.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

'Trust is the new currency'

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 11:33:00 GMT

“Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind … which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. Only an ethical movement can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.” —Albert Schweitzer

Oliver Wendell Holmes was riding the Pennsylvania Railroad in his 80s. When the conductor came by to ask the associate justice for his ticket, Holmes could not find it.

Sympathetic to his plight, the conductor said, “Don’t worry, sir. Once you reach your destination, you will find your ticket. You can mail it.”

Holmes replied, “My dear man, my problem is not my ticket. My real problem is, where am I going?”

In this second decade of the 21st century, will the birth pains of a newly emerging global economy be met with an ethical movement that rescues us from the barbarism of greed and takes us where we need to go – toward creative collaboration grounded in the fundamentals of trust?

Such a movement by individual integrity influencers holds infinite possibility. In the world of commerce, Stephen Covey, author of "Speed of Trust," describes the new tone as trust.

“Trust is the new currency in today’s global economy," he writes. "Trust is the critical skill governing personal growth, collaborative success and competitive advantage.”

In Santa Ana, the newly birthed Values Institute at DGWB, under the leadership of Michael Weisman and Chesley Beaver, have defined "The Process for Measuring Trust" based upon a review of social science research on the theme dating back to World War II. The research reveals five trust variables: ability, sincerity, consistency, concern and identification.

Concern is the significant variable of the new trust currency, holding the highest correlation, strength and ability to influence trust. Concern measures a relationship’s emotional factors in shaping trust that include feelings of caring, empathy, tolerance and safety.

Concern is the golden ticket to be carried by every integrity influencer in our emerging global economy.

Mission Integrity Action

Where do I go this week as integrity’s influencer? I travel with a treasured ticket called concern. It is my gold standard for collaborative involvement and problem solving. It is the tone of civility – in mind and heart – with which I connect to family, friends and co-workers.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

If it’s to be, it’s up to me

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:52:00 GMT

“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.” —Booker T. Washington

Personal responsibility is the great mobilizer of noble living! As a youngster, I was fortunate to have character mentors who helped me understand the first action of ethical inquiry: personal responsibility. Its daily use is the priceless human freedom that allows us to choose and re-choose a fundamental viewpoint for positive influence: If it’s to be, it’s up to me!

Personal responsibility is a verb, not a noun. Said differently, it is doing, not naming. The first action of personal responsibility is offense, not defense. Clearly and unfortunately, American society drifts rapidly toward living with a defensive, I-am-not-responsible collective psyche.

Defense is finger-pointing, finding blame, making excuses and condemning the actions of others. Defense is Toyota squandering enormous trust equity with consumers as it concealed self-interest at the expense of the questioned reliability of its cars and the protection of drivers.

Personal responsibility on offense is trust in action. It is concern, expressed outwardly, known in such behaviors as caring, empathy, tolerance and safety. Such actions do not see the significant other as an object to be deceived, manipulated, thwarted, threatened or diminished. Personal responsibility owns its problems; it does not hide or run from them.

Captured most poignantly by AT&T’s Robert Greenleaf in his 1970 essay, "The Servant as Leader," personal responsibility embodies the transformational intention of the individual to create positive change. Servant leadership thinking, birthed in the clear waters of personal responsibility, acts to bring good to others. Responsibility is not a burden, nor a debt to be paid. It chooses to stand at the center of thoughts and feelings with a purpose of taking action to help, not harm.

Mission Integrity Action

Personal responsibility behaves with accountability to a significant other. Who are the significant others you choose to serve this week at home, at work and in the community? What servant actions do you take as you use the performance character asset of managing choice? Will you be accountable for the responsibility axiom: If it is to be, it is up to me?

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Stay focused when faced with change

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:50:00 GMT

“Sweet are the uses of adversity; which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” — William Shakespeare

Do individuals and organizations become more competent when the toad of adversity hops onto the road? Does excelling constantly demand a vigilant eye focused on the desired result while maneuvering through ever-changing, often treacherous conditions? The answers? YES!

Rich DeVos, one of the 20th century’s great entrepreneurs, was an avid sailor. DeVos used his sea experience to shape an inspirational message about staying focused on our goals regardless of changing circumstances. He described the changing circumstances in his classic message, the Four Winds. What are they?

The Northerlys are tough and harsh. They come up unexpectedly. They blast. They suddenly attack. They wreak havoc. Watch out when these ferocious conditions hit an organization or individual. They can spell disaster.

The Easterlys are relentless, powerful, filled with constant challenges. They can cause character failures as we give in to the path of least resistance, which ends in compromising our integrity.

The Southerlys? They are lulling, soothing, hidden, unnoticed and sporadic. These life winds bring complacency and forgetfulness to pay attention to the skills that got us out on the open seas of competition.

The Westerlys are the winds we want in our sails – always! These are the steady winds of encouragement, good times, smooth sailing. These winds nurture, renew our energies and give us the freedom to think about new directions.

The Four Winds metaphor finds meaning in 30 years of research related to Organizational Learning, or OL. The OL writings of Amgyris & Schon (’78); Fiol and Lyles (’85); and Dodgson (’93) underscore significant themes revealing that thriving organizations: adapt to change; detect and correct error; let go of the past; and improve their actions through better knowledge and understanding.

Mission Integrity Action

Understanding what winds are in my sails this week will help me maneuver to my goal. Do I need to use the leadership navigation skill of listening as I work effectively and empathetically with others? Am I pursuing actions that shape long-term, trust-driven relationships?

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

'What are you doing for others?'

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:08:00 GMT

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” – Henry Ford

Cooperation is life’s fundamental motivator. Cooperation is the creative, results-producing principle that drives the progress of individuals, organizations, communities and nations. Cooperation rests on the bedrock realization: We are connected.

Zig Ziglar, America’s No. 1 business and motivational speaker, unlocks the secret of how to continuously pursue integrity’s ethical asset of managing cooperation.

“I believe that you will get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want,” he writes.

Hidden behind Ziglar’s statement is a challenge to the narcissistic self-absorbed entitlement thinking that permeates 21st century American life. His words point leaders and their organizations to pursue a path that does not deny getting. But, the path will prove fulfilling as we focus on helping others achieve their goals!

David Cooperrider’s research, "Appreciative Inquiry," offers insights into why a cooperative model moves the mission of organizations.

The Positive Principle is the fourth of five cooperation concepts in Cooperrider’s work. It identifies that “to build and sustain change momentum, large amounts of positive affect and social bonding are necessary. … Things like hope, excitement, inspiration, caring, camaraderie, sense of urgent purpose and sheer joy in creating something meaningful together. The more positive the questions we ask in our work, the more long lasting and successful the change effort is.”

What is the most urgent question for the practitioner of the integrity asset of managing cooperation? Martin Luther King penned the answer: “What are you doing for others?” That question produces powerful, positive, practical connections at home, at work and in the community.

Mission Integrity Action

Give yourself away today with energized conversations that focus on how providing support, help, guidance and encouragement. Allow appointments, meetings, strategy sessions and discussions to be seasoned with comments of appreciation for the contribution that others are making to the movement of projects and programs. Connect cooperatively knowing that doing good for others produces positive results.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Are there two ethical worlds?

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:50:00 GMT

“Everything you want in life has a price to it. There is a price to pay if you want to make things better, a price to pay for leaving things as they are, a price for everything.” – Harry Browne

Will America’s professional and business leaders act upon the clarion call for transparent, ethical leadership in Washington, on Wall Street and down Main Street? The answer will not be found in mission statements, human resource compliance or governmental regulation. The answer can be found in a straightforward statement from Dwight Eisenhower, our 34th president: “There is no victory at bargain basement prices.”

Managing cause and effect operates with an exact equation: To achieve the more, release the lesser. In 2002 my friend, Brian Marcotte, gave a major address, "Managing in an Unmanageable World," to the Indonesia Petroleum Association while serving as president of the Unocal Indonesia Co. He began his address stating, “I don’t think you can talk about business ethics as something apart from personal ethics.”

Marcotte nailed a big ethical issue. Are there two ethical worlds? Is there the ethical world of what we do personally and another world of what we do professionally? Is one ethical world guided by the spirit of the law while another ethical world is governed by the letter of the law?

The call for the ethical clarity that reframes trust in the corridors of Congress, the culture of organizations, corporate boardrooms and in the ink of a good deal rests in the ethical mind of leadership that knows integrity has its exacting price. It is the gold standard that places a premium on the value of trust. When it is present, it makes things work; whenever integrity is breeched, harm is caused.

Integrity’s competitive asset of managing cause and effect is a powerful tool for business professionals. It is our integrity barometer that constantly measures our integrity journey moment by moment, decision by decision and relationship by relationship.

Mission Integrity Action

Watch the decisions you make and actions you take at work this week using your personal integrity barometer. Ask yourself: Did this decision harm or help? Did this action get me closer or further from my goals in working collaboratively? Observe how the cause and effect measurement offers guidance to your ethical mind’s work as an influencer for good.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Planning helps achieve outcomes

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:07:00 GMT

“Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreamings meet.” – Victor Hugo

Are there two different realities for individuals? Hugo’s words suggest yes, one reality for those who plan and another for those who don’t! Planning is the driver that achieves an intended outcome. Lack of planning produces a wasteland of mediocrity.

Managing clarity is the competitive ethical self-governance asset that recognizes well-executed plans lead to endless accomplishments.

How does a leadership mind think when rooted in a meaningful plan of action? The Jefferson Center’s work on human achievement has identified five elements of managing clarity with a plan that asks these questions:

Is my goal, mission, idea, hunch ...

Desirable: Do I want it?
Challenging: Do I have to work to achieve it?
Controllable: Do I have the ability, skill and support to pursue it?
Measurable: Can I see the tangible, sequential actions to attain it?
Achievable: Will I know when I have accomplished it?

Apply these managing clarity principles to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ Sixth Rule of Success: “Start small, think big. Don’t worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with and then progress to more complicated ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. Put a ding in the universe.”

Performance-character research explores a fundamental managing-clarity question: What are the underlying attributes that guide an individual to pursue mastery? The answer: Mastery is shaped by diligence, best effort, determination, a strong work ethic – the stuff of executing a plan.

Mission Integrity Action

Pursue a short-term project at work focusing on the managing clarity five facets. What is a timely goal this week that is desirable, challenging, controllable, measurable and achievable? Seize your small professional prize of self-governance while managing for clarity.

Goal achievement constantly demands that we walk in the direction of our dreams and desires.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Pursue goals with conviction

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:03:00 GMT

“Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose. And devote yourself unreservedly to it.” – James Allen

Allen’s words capture the big adventure for leaders and the organizations they serve. Individual and corporate self-governance are guided by three habitually used leadership qualities for purpose-seeking in the marketplace: Those qualities are:

The I CAN attitude. The I WILL motivation. The I CARE mission.

When drilling down into the essential unified message contained in the I CAN, I WILL, I CARE paradigm, we can discover the subtly present capstone of calling: contributing by being the influencer for good.

In his article on leadership, Nikos Mourkoglanis identified specific and sustained applications that are common in purpose-driven leaders and organizations. The organizational outcomes from constant attention to managing calling reveal a purpose framework that shapes cultures of trust and service. The applications?

1. Employee morale – grounded in mutual respect.

2. Innovation – fostered by sensitivity to market opportunity.

3. Unifying theme – engaging stakeholders in understanding the complex fit of an organization’s assets and its actions.

4. Aligning organizational strategy to moral purpose – how to pursue long-term gain with short-term competitive results.

The I CAN attitude, I WILL motivation and I CARE mission become the glue that brings leadership thinking and action to the pressing and dynamic playing field of competitive advantage and corporate calling to serve the good.

Mission Integrity Action

Leaders explore their personal and professional life with a vision of pursuing long-term gain using short-term strategies. Identify and write down one personal and one professional purpose goal you want to demonstrate by Dec. 20. Each goal moves on the belief of your personal influence for good. What strategic action must you act upon now to accomplish these two purpose goals? Purpose-seekers pursue their objectives with I CAN, I WILL, I CARE conviction.

This week, be alert and alive for big adventure leadership as you manage calling by practicing to serve others using your unique talents and abilities.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

The Ethical Mind seeks long-term gain.

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:40:00 GMT

Ethical Edge Letters on Integrity inspiring ethical excellence

INTEGRITY’S COMPETITIVE ASSET: MANAGING CONFLICT

“What kind of person, worker citizen do I want to be?” – Howard Gardner

In his seminal work, "Frames of Mind," written in 1983, Howard Gardner presented research into the theory of multiple intelligences. In the March 2007 issue of the Harvard Business Review, Gardner spoke about his continuing work, distinguishing five types of cognitive minds, the most refined of which Gardner described as the Ethical Mind.

The Ethical Mind thinks with the mission of long-term gain. Can the Ethical Mind have its central place in business, where short-term gain seemingly drives bottom-line decision-making? Gardner asks two compelling questions: (1) What if businesspeople were constrained (guided) by a code of professional ethics? (2) What if every executive and manager took the equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath, vowing to never do harm, to act for "the good" of customers and shareholders?

Managing conflict. This is the work of leaders of integrity as they maneuver in the challenging, oftentimes chaotic waters of "make the sale; close the deal" while seeking to be hold fast to long-term values-driven undercurrents.

Gardner poses his question and provides counsel to leaders who seek to apply Ethical Mind clarity to conflicted business thinking.

1. Take time to step back and reflect upon the nature of the work.

2. Undergo positive, periodic inoculations, focused on rethinking what are we doing and how are we doing it.

3. Use observation as a strategic action especially in difficult times.

Mission Integrity Action

As a business leader, you can use the tool of observation as an integrity catalyst. Be attentive this week with yourself and colleagues for telltale signs of conflicted organizational thinking identified by the George S. May Co. These five statements are integrity-breech indicators:

1. Nobody will care.

2. No one will know.

3. I don’t have the time.

4. That’s close enough.

5. It’s not my job.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Who is the choice-maker?

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:41:00 GMT

Ethical Edge Letters on Integrity inspiring ethical excellence

INTEGRITY’S COMPETITIVE ASSET: MANAGING CHOICE

“You always do what you want to do. This is true with every act. You may say that you had to do something or that you were forced to, but actually whatever you do, you do my choice. Only you have the power to choose for yourself.”
– W. Clement Stone

Who is the choice-maker? Stone, one of the 20th century’s most inspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders, answers that question: No matter where an individual is placed on an organizational flow chart – in the mailroom or the boardroom – each individual has the opportunity to become the choice-maker. This individual, managing his or her influence for good, keeps focused on a personal and professional mantra: I choose to stand in the center of my thoughts, feelings and actions.

In "Ethics 4 Everyone, The Handbook for Integrity Based Practices," Eric Harvey and Scott Airitam present 50 ways to walk integrity’s talk. Here are three nuggets from the handbook:

1. Honor your promises and commitments: Am I doing what I said I would do?

2. Set the example: Seize the opportunity to lead and mentor others by your personal actions.

3. Celebrate integrity: Look for every way possible to make a big deal about integrity choices.

These three nuggets highlight that integrity choice-makers are agents of virtues-driven leadership. Cathleen Sullivan, an ethics coach for business, wrote in an American Management Association article on becoming a model ethical decision-maker, “If you want people to know how serious you are about ethical conduct, adopt the old adage, 'show, don’t tell.'”

Mission Integrity Action

Every choice-maker adopts a common motto to put into practice the “show, don’t tell” adage. Here is the motto: Nothing ever happens to me. Everything always happens through me.

This week place at your desk a one-page, two-column T-Chart. Title column one: Happening to me. Title column two: Happening through me. As you face challenging situations, conversations, decisions, problems, decide where do you place the challenge: column one or two? Wait until week’s end to review. What integrity problem-solving thought patterns are evident?

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Integrity’s restoration renews trust

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:35:00 GMT

Ethical Edge Letters on Integrity inspiring ethical excellence

INTEGRITY’S RESTORATION: TRUST

“The buck stops here.” Harry Truman

When our 33rd president placed a sign on his Oval Office desk with these words, they became famous. For Truman, the words communicated to everyone that he knew one thing about his new job: He was America’s final and ultimate big decisions problem solver! He understood his fundamental professional responsibility.

"The buck stops here" offers strategic clarity that motivates and moves individuals to restore integrity in their personal and professional relationships. Integrity’s restoration outcome is always renewed trust.

Integrity’s renewal embraces positive action, not critique of the failings of others. When Bernard Madoff made off, we understandably judged and condemned, asking ourselves: Who can we trust? Competent, self-directed professionals do not simply stir the pot of cynicism. Rather, the bad behavior of others serves as the gateway for self-reflection. In turn, self-reflection always poses a question: What does this behavior, incident, problem that I am hearing, thinking, talking about have to do with me and my influence for good?

Self-reflection is a power point to mobilize integrity’s daily work. Self-reflection looks at what is concealed, hidden, below the surface. The Josephson Institute of Ethics, one of the nation's premier voices in ethics education, provides an annual opportunity for Americans to experience integrity’s restoration efforts with its Personal Integrity Assessment. The platform is an excellent self-reflection tool promoting personal and professional awareness on integrity action. The following are four questions from the 2009 survey. As you read each statement, observe how you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or disagree strongly:

1. One has to lie or cheat occasionally in order to succeed.

2. People who take ethical shortcuts are more likely to succeed than those who don’t.

3. I am satisfied with my own ethics and character.

4. I am more ethical that most people I know.

Mission Integrity Action

This week, use these four questions to stimulate integrity’s self-reflection power point. These questions are measurements of integrity’s restoration work you can use to shape self-trust and trustworthiness.

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org

Integrity moves on personal initiative

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:51:00 GMT

Ethical Edge Letters on Integrity inspiring ethical excellence

INTEGRITY’S COMPETITIVE ASSETS

"Integrity and firmness are all I can promise. These be the voyage, long and short, never shall forsake me.” George Washington

Washington’s words were compelling and relevant then. They remain so, today. It was early April 1789 when the 57-year-old president-elect wrote to his friend, John Knox, commenting about the task that was set before him as he assumed the presidency of a fragile republic. His mission? Integrity!

Few American professionals are called to national leadership, but all professionals are called to their own Integrity Mission at home, at work and in the community.

Integrity’s mission in America is timeless and timely. It moves on personal initiative. It functions as the compass of our performance character to indicate whether we resonate with True North clarity in our relationships with family, friends and co-workers.

Integrity’s mission is never complete. Some days, we fail. Other days, we soar. In the last 18 months, our national collective psyche has taken a deep breath as we have watched, listened and talked about the seismic tremors in our economy and society that are seemingly endlessly propelled by integrity’s vanishing act on Wall Street, Main Street and in the corridors of Congress.

Integrity’s personal influence for Good is the daily vitamin for the societal angst we feel. Influence is about an individual’s personal choice to act as the daily decision-maker who aspires to standards of performance character, based on a rock-solid foundation that knows: Whether I meet my personal standards, I continuously re-commit myself to get back up on my horse of integrity and ride!

The 2010 Letters of Integrity column will explore the seven performance character integrity assets that provide the standards, the framework, the structure for saddling up daily. The Integrity Assets focus on seven personal and professional self-management skills. Together, they serve as the compass we carry to ride with integrity daily, oftentimes succeeding, other times failing, but always pointed in the direction of self-trust and trustworthiness at home, at work and in our communities.

Mission Integrity Action

As I pursue a productive week, I hold an Integrity Mission question in the background of my awareness. I carry the Integrity Mission question everywhere I go. The question: Are the actions I take today moving me forward on my Integrity Mission or causing me to stumble?

Appreciating you on the ethical edge!

Russell Williams,
founder/president
Passkeys Foundation/Ethical Edge
ethicaledge.org