PART ONE The Four Cornerstones of Character

LEADERSHIP BEGINS WITH CHARACTER. IF YOU START building competence without the footings and foundation of character in place, you will implode when there’s pressure, stress, or the temptation to accept an unearned reward.

Integrity

The first cornerstone of character is integrity. Integrity is about basic honesty and squaring up to who you are and what you believe. Integrity accelerates your personal development as you avoid feigned attempts to be amoral. When you avoid ethical misconduct and self-justification, your modeling behavior becomes astonishingly powerful. You deal justly with others because you deal justly with yourself. You put forth your best personal effort. You are careful to take credit and generous in giving it.

Humility

The second cornerstone of character is humility. Humility is a companion to integrity and is the unresented acknowledgment of your own dependency and ignorance. It’s the capacity to avoid hubris and the reality distortion field it creates.The more humility you have, the clearer your thoughts and the cleaner your actions. Humility does three amazing things: First, it keeps you safe from the perils of your own ego. Second, it brings you more satisfaction as you rejoice in the success of others. Third, it makes you more willing and able to change.

Accountability

The third cornerstone of character is accountability. Great leaders are not only willing but eager to be answerable for their results. Isn’t it interesting that poor leaders hate to be measured and great leaders can’t wait? When you model the principle of accountability, you do not deflect personal responsibility, you understand that hiding is a false concept, and you always assume that private choices leak into public consequences. Finally, accountability means finishing what you start and resisting all forms of entitlement along the way.

Courage

The fourth and final cornerstone of character is courage. To have courage is to resist and challenge the forces of the status quo when necessary. You are the one who has to upend the state of affairs and rebel against the popular culture. You are the creator, not the caretaker. You have a heavier social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and physical burden to bear. You avoid the soft quit—where you deliberately lessen your effort and eliminate any chance of success—and maintain the discipline to make something happen. Finally, you have the courage to set stretch goals that fire the imagination.