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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Change your thinking about Integrity & Improve your ability to Influence others

by Rick Baker
On Sep 10, 2013

If you embrace a better definition of Integrity, you will improve your ability to Influence people.

Due to the amazing nuances of our English language you have choices about Integrity. You can choose Integrity to contain moral judgment; you can choose Integrity to mean unimpaired and sound; you can choose Integrity to mean complete. And, you can choose Integrity to mean combinations of these concepts.

Critical here is: you do not have to lace Integrity with moral judgment.

And, if you choose to remove moral judgment from your Integrity-thinking you open your mind and you simplify your thinking. You open your mind by making Integrity an external thing…not about you…about other things. Not about right and wrong. You simplify your thinking by linking Integrity with non-judgmental concepts – ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’…the pieces fit together…the pieces tie together…the pieces withstand scrutiny…the pieces withstand the test of time…the pieces are simple and when combined, the pieces make sense.  

When compared to moral judgment, the concepts ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’ are easier to measure. When compared to moral judgment, the concepts ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’ are easier to communicate with other people. When compared to moral judgment, the concepts ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’ are easier to embrace with other people.

The concepts ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’ open the door to common ground.

Common ground is the framework for Influence.

You can choose to define Integrity as:

  1. When you know your Personal Values and
  2. When you can express your Personal Values in writing [showing how you think the think] and
  3. When you can talk with others about your Personal Values [talk the talk] and
  4. When your actions are consistent with your Personal Values [walk the walk] and
  5. When you acknowledge your think-talk-walk errors and strive to not repeat them

          …then you have Integrity.

You can let people know this definition does not contain biases in moral judgment zones.  It’s just about whether or not things are ‘unimpaired’ and ‘complete’.

Then you will, naturally, seek first to understand.

Then you will, naturally, keep your biases in check.

Then you will, naturally, expand your Influence.

 

PS: Very few other people have interest in your or anyone else's moral judgments...they have enough of their own...and constructive criticism is an oxymoron.

Thought Tweet #821.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 9, 2013

Thought Tweet #821.5 The leader's Values fuel everything; the leader's actions determine if the vehicle is in drive, neutral, reverse, or park. 

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Values are potential energy.

When you take action are they put to constructive use.

Tags:

Thought Tweets | Values: Personal Values

Use Fear as a catalyst for Courage

by Rick Baker
On Sep 9, 2013

Fear is a precursor to Courage.

Fear is a necessary precursor to Courage.

Without Fear we could have no Courage.

We know there is an abundance of Fear. We know Fear is capable of lurking at every corner.

Fear is like a wild, untamed, insatiable beast.

Courage – sometimes conscious, sometimes subconscious, and certainly always having strong subconscious roots – is the only trainer able to handle Fear.

We can choose to view Fear as a catalyst for Courage.

We can choose to view Fear as a thing life offers us to enable us to have and build Courage. We can choose to view Fear as a signal, alerting us to do some thinking and take some action to build Courage.

When we choose to view Fear that way, we choose to use Fear as a catalyst to build Courage. We choose to put Fear to constructive use…as our bodies naturally, subconsciously, do when we face real danger.  Put another way, we can choose to mirror the processes of Nature that automatically provide us with fight or flight reactions. Fight or flight fits certain high-risk-of-real-danger Fear-situations. Fight or flight doesn’t fit most everyday Fear-situations. Fight or flight doesn’t fit most workday Fear-situations.

For most workday Fear-situations Courage is a better solution than fight or flight.

So, when Fears visit us during the workday we should not allow them to cause us to do battle [in our heads or externally] and we should not try to ignore them or shrink away from them. Instead, we should use Fears as catalysts for building Courage.

When we use Fears as catalysts for building Courage we enable Courage to drive Confidence. Confidence, molded by Courage, is that comfortable state of mind that is resistant to and resilient in even the most difficult Situations.

Confidence: that's a state of mind we should want to maximize.

Tags:

Emotions & Feelings @ Work | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich | Values: Personal Values

Thought Tweet #818.5

by Rick Baker
On Sep 4, 2013

Thought Tweet #818.5 Shared, or at least compatible, Values & Vision, allow people to align their focus toward common goals.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Another 80-20 Rule: make sure you score at least 80% common ground on Values and Vision.

If you and your partners and key players do not share common Values & Vision ground then, sooner or later, your business life will be stressed and struggled.

We have seen this time after time. 

Thought Tweet #800.5

by Rick Baker
On Aug 9, 2013

Thought Tweet #800.5 Self-confidence is the magnetic recipe that attracts the things you need most to succeed in business.


The Thinking Behind The Tweet

You just need to know how to blend the ingredients together...your ingredients and other people`s ingredients.

If you know how to blend them together, great.

If you don`t know how to blend them together, learn.

Confidence is Valued by Spirited Leaders.

Tags:

Spirited Leaders | Thought Tweets | Values: Personal Values

Thought Tweet #800

by Rick Baker
On Aug 9, 2013

Thought Tweet #800 Authentic Self-confidence, properly illustrated and linked to Vision: this is at the essence of leadership.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

It takes various forms, as examples:

  • Alexander the Great did it his way…on the backs of horses leading the charge
  • Mahatma Gandhi did it his way…on the consciences of his nation’s oppressors
  • Richard Branson does it his way…on the dreams in achievers’ hearts

Confidence is a magical state of mind; Confidence is a much-valued state of mind.

When your confidence meter is properly set your opportunity to succeed in business is amplified, often many times over. Self-confidence, near the upper end of reasonable bounds, is the magnetic recipe that attracts the things you need most to succeed in business: the co-operation and enthusiasm residing in yourself and in other people.

 

Tags:

Hero Worship | Thought Tweets | Values: Personal Values | Vision: The Leader's Vivid Vision

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.