Sometimes the most courageous thing a leader does is tell herself the truth. Humans have an uncanny ability to color the truth to avoid pain or discomfort. Continuing to say “I am my best self!” does not make it true. Looking at our behavior critically and soliciting feedback from those we trust takes courage. No matter how painful the truth, it is never as painful as a lie. ─ Christy Beem ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

By Ken Chapman, Ph.D Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. Did you know that polite executives are more in demand these days than abrasive ones? That’s a switch from earlier years when greed was big and barreling over the opposition was the way to go. Basic things don’t change that much, but it’s become a matter of how you do it. Verbal polish counts. Soft-spoken executives get more respect than the leftover “Masters of the Universe” who populated Tom Wolfe’s novel Bonfire of the Vanities. You don’t have to pull out your mother’s copy of Amy Vanderbilt, wear a hat and white gloves to work, or make a dress-for-success fashion statement. You should, however, review the little things that make a good impression on other people. Be polite. Say “good morning” and “good night” to co-workers, from your boss to the mail room clerk. Smile. Offer to get a colleague coffee…

Leaders know you create opportunities by performing, not complaining—though complaining is the easier path and the one complainers applaud. ─ Ken Chapman, Ph.D.

Leaders provide encouragement. They provide encouragement for those who are struggling and for the accomplished and effective team members. Leaders know positive reinforcement propels a team toward high performance. When a leader believes in the team, the team starts to believe in itself. ─Deb Miller─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

If a person simply will not take the high road, you can’t stop them. Not everyone believes they need the goodwill of others. There are always employees who think they know everything and can do anything. Most annoyingly, they “know” what cannot be known! Then there are those confident but humble employees. They are wise in the way that a good person is wise for having absorbed life’s lessons. They know the value of goodwill. They welcome what others bring to the table. Don’t waste your mental energy on the know-it-all. Rather, be grateful for the good and decent to be found in every workplace. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

During the Great Depression of the 1930’s, the US. Soil Conservation Service paid Southern farmers to plant a little known Japanese vine called kudzu. It was intended for erosion control. It does control erosion; it, in fact, controls everything it grows over. The runaway vine now dominates over 7 million acres of former farmland that is no longer useable for row crops or forestland. A wise leader makes decisions conscious of likely impacts, knowing effects matter far more than good intentions alone. ─ Derek Conrad Brown ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc

Wherever people gather, gossip is the norm ── the work place being no exception. Leaders do not talk about people. Leaders know that gossip hurts the object of the gossip and the perpetrator. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

The nature of change is that it produces fear──fear of losing the familiar and fear of the new and unknown. So change requires courage. Leaders know that courage is not the absence of fear. It is the judgment that something is more important than fear. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

Leaders know self-improvement is impossible if your only model is yourself. The good example of another person can provide a compass. Heroic stories of high principle and sacrificial service to the common good have a place in the workplace. ─ Ken Chapman ─ Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.

By Ken Chapman, Ph.D. Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc. President Abraham Lincoln once remarked, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Few people have more power than an American President. Being the leader of the free world can certainly go to a person’s head, but this is not so with Jimmy Carter. If you review his career from the time he was a school board official through his term in the White House and beyond, you can see that he was willing to take on nearly any role to achieve a goal that he believed in. He always embraced the importance of the common good. There is possibly no more vivid example of his belief in the importance of the common good than his work with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat was officially founded by Millard and Linda Fuller in…