High-Trust Leaders are in a fight every day.
It is a good fight, a noble fight, but a fight nonetheless.
It is a fight they accept as the natural order of things. They don’t look the other way, make excuses, or wish it was otherwise.
It is a fight they welcome as the path to breaking out of the pack, to be memorable, to make a difference.
It is a fight waged within themselves because they are human.
When human nature and the environment conspire to entice the High-Trust Leader to compromise their values, to take the short-cut, to tell themselves, “just this once,” they fight the relentless temptation to take a slice out of their character and integrity by fighting back.
As Seth Godin describes:
The professional pushes back
“The architect refuses to design the big, ugly building that merely maximizes short term revenue. She understands that raising the average is part of her job.
The surgeon refuses to do needless surgery, no matter how much the client insists. He doesn’t confuse his oath with his income.
The marketer won’t help her client produce a spammy campaign filled with tricks and deceptions, because she knows that her career is the sum of her work.
The statesman won’t rush to embrace the bloodlust of the crowd, because statesmen govern in favor of our best instincts, not our worst ones.
There are plenty of people who will pander, race to the bottom and figure out how to, “give the public what it wants.” But that doesn’t have to be you.
Professionals have standards. Professionals push back.”
Be a High-Trust Leader: build and sustain your CHARACTER by pushing back and fighting the good fight.
Training Tip
Look for an opportunity today to push back in some way, large or small. Exercise your character muscles to walk your talk, to live up to your values, to overcome the temptation to short-change your customer, your client, or your colleague. Or as someone famously said, “be the person your dog thinks you are.”