Do You Know Any Humble Leaders?

By Deb Boelkes

When we think of great leaders, we often envision well-known military, political, or corporate warriors who lead from the front with an abundance of self-confidence—the kind of people who aren’t afraid to accept seemingly impossible challenges, take the biggest risks, and make the toughest decisions.

When you think of the greatest leaders you’ve known in your life, who comes to mind? Would you describe them as humble or self-aggrandizing? Did they boast about their stellar accomplishments or downplay their personal efforts in favor of sharing the spotlight with or giving credit to others for their success?

As I’ve interviewed dozens upon dozens of leaders over the years, the ones I’ve admired most were those I would label as virtuous Heartfelt Leaders. They inspire rather than intimidate; they coach rather than coerce; and they are discerning rather than judgmental. While they may have oodles of self-confidence, they are unafraid to ask forgiveness when they’re wrong, they are humble rather than arrogant, and they take pride in setting others up for success.  

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Great Achievement Results from Perseverance

By Deb Boelkes

Can you name a significant accomplishment in your life—one you were extremely proud of—that was without challenge? Have you found it easy to achieve your wildest dreams with little effort? If so, you’re lucky. Most great accomplishments are born of persistence—persevering with determination, even when the challenges faced are exceedingly complex and the going is exceedingly rough.   

The achievements I’ve been proudest of throughout my life were those I wasn’t at all sure I could pull off, yet I gave my best efforts despite the difficulties encountered.

One such experience came early in my career at IBM when I was offered a promotion and relocation to lead a business development effort with one of IBM’s largest accounts.  The opportunity came about thanks to a cocktail party where IBM’s CEO met the account’s CEO. Together they concocted a moonshot-plot to create the kind of bleeding edge technology that could catapult the customer’s global forward-thinking reputation.

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Courage to Do What’s Right

By Deb Boelkes

Sometimes doing what you know in your heart to be right can be the hardest thing of all to do—especially when your peers or your friends, a parent, or someone you admire is steadfastly headed down a path that you believe is wrong. While on the surface it may seem easier to just go along to get along, there are times when you know—by instinct, or intuition, or that moral compass of yours— that going along is just not the right thing to do, at least not for you.

Hence, the struggle. Where do your allegiances really lie? Where should they lie? 

It takes courage to swim against the tide. Having the confidence and courage to take a risk and make a public stand for what your heart tells you is right, when you or someone else has been wronged, can have a big impact on where you end up in life. It might make a difference to others in your life, too. Trying situations, when you battle with your conscience, are chances to make a difference in your world.

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Who Taught You About Respect?

By Deb Boelkes

Do you recall the first time you learned the concept of respect? Does it seem to you that today’s society understands and lives by this fundamental principle?

Based on the pervasiveness of cancel culture, the hiring and firing of employees based solely on gender or skin color, the rampant stealing and destruction of property, and other flagrant violations of the rule of law, it almost seems as though respect has become passé. In my humble opinion, it’s time we bring respect back to the forefront—in our personal lives, in our communities, and in our workplaces.

In August I began a series of posts spotlighting important characteristics of moral character and virtuous leadership. I began the series by asking the question, “Who’s responsible for developing virtuous leaders?” As I stated in that inaugural post, it’s up to each of us to be role models of virtuous leadership. Being respectful to others and being deserving of the same in return is fundamental to being a virtuous leader.

At the time, I commended the Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville, FL—a publicly funded charter school for K-8^th grade students—for its mission to become a wellspring of future leaders….where every student will build a solid foundation of knowledge, discipline, virtue, and character. As one of its pillars of virtue, Cornerstone emphasizes the discipline of Respect:

We believe all people have inherent human value deserving of kind and just treatment. Our attitude toward others and their property reflects the way we wish to be treated, regardless of individual differences.  

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Can You Be a Virtuous Leader Without Self-discipline?

By Deb Boelkes

How would you rate yourself in terms of self-discipline? Do you routinely set personal stretch goals and steadfastly strive to accomplish them, no matter how long it might take or how arduous the task to master? Or do you tend to impetuously pursue whatever fun and feisty opportunities appear on the horizon? Once you begin an important pursuit, do you challenge yourself to stay the course, or are you likely to bail out if things don’t progress the way you expected?

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The Responsibility of Being Responsible

By Deb Boelkes

If I asked you to select just one virtuous characteristic that should be required of anyone in leadership, and of anyone to be hired into your organization, and of any candidate you might vote into public office—a virtue so important, yet so easy to demonstrate that it could and should be taught to children, both at home and in school—what would that virtue be? 

There are many virtuous characteristics to consider, and I’d love to know which one you would select as the most important to embody at every age and stage of life. One I believe anyone over the age of three should master is the virtue of responsibility—being willingly accountable for what you say and do. And when you make a mistake, don’t make excuses, or blame others. Instead, admit it, apologize to those wronged, learn from it, and move on.  

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Are You Known for Your Integrity?

By Deb Boelkes

If I were to ask your peers, your boss, your staff, and your colleagues in the community to describe your most outstanding qualities, how many would define you as a person of high integrity?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines integrity as “Conduct that conforms to an accepted standard of right and wrong; devotion to telling the truth; faithfulness to high moral standards.” Some define integrity as “Doing what is right; never wanting to let anyone down; following through on commitments.” I believe integrity is one of the most important pillars of Virtuous Leadership.

In my last blog post, I asked the question, “Who’s responsible for developing virtuous leaders?”.  At the end of that post, I committed to highlight important characteristics of virtuous leaders in a series of subsequent posts. Because I believe integrity is so important, we’re covering it first, right here. In my opinion, it’s impossible to have a WOW Factor Workplace or a best place to work culture if you don’t have integrity.

If you watch the TV news on any given day, you’ll find plenty of examples of corruption, slander, deceit, and loose moral values. In fact, that’s almost all you’ll see on the news. When was the last time you saw such a shining example of integrity that you pointed it out to your kids, saying something like “Now, that’s a role model example of integrity. We should all try to behave like that”?     

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Who’s Responsible for Developing Virtuous Leaders?

By Deb Boelkes

You’ve probably heard the old joke, “How can you tell when a politician is lying?” and you probably know the answer: “When their lips are moving.” This witticism might be amusing if we weren’t finding our daily news sources so full of slander, dishonesty, and deceit.   

What ever happened to virtuous leaders, like the 56 men who in 1776 willingly pledged, For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor, when they signed the Declaration of Independence?  They knew the penalty could be death by hanging for treason against the British crown. Yet, these virtuous leaders stood valiantly against tyranny, regardless of the personal cost.

Can you name anyone in modern times who exemplifies virtuous leadership? Can you name one politician you believe is a virtuous leader?  Have you ever reported to a leader you would describe as virtuous? Do you strive to be a virtuous leader?  

Chances are your answer to most of these questions is NO. Yet, if I asked you to identify a leader you believe is a bully, or a tyrant, or a hypocrite, you could likely name several examples. Why is that?

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