On this Father’s Day, I’m sharing an excerpt from a 2008 commencement address that James Fallows gave at his father’s alma mater, Ursinus College, outside Philadelphia. He shared three ideas with the graduates that are as important today as they were 11 years ago: challenge, curiosity, and character. Full text is HERE. Here’s what he
Category: Character
The first C of trustworthiness: Character. The question being asked of you: “Do you walk your talk?” If you walk your talk, you have integrity. Honesty is aligning your words with reality. Integrity is acting in accordance with your words. When you don’t walk your talk, you’re a hypocrite. People can be hypocritical for a
What is the biggest impediment to walking our talk, to living our values? If you peel the onion, you often find it is us. We say we want to live our values, but we often stray because of what might happen. We respond in kind when others go low and hurt us. We abandon our
High-stress situations can provide the greatest opportunity for growth — if you view them as such. In the Navy and Marine Corps we were always training; always seeking to improve our individual and team performance. Even in combat, under the most stressful conditions, we reviewed our performance carefully and sought improvement. A while back I
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