Strategic Thought Transformation - The IIPM Think Tank

cess can be driven by being candid not just
with yourself but also in your associations
with others. The crux of the dissertation patiently
probes whether one has the courage
to face realities and clamp down on calamities.
Holding the six essentials of character
previously mentioned to closer scrutiny and
gauging it painstakingly is the holy grail,
is the raison d’être of this tomb.
While there is a fair amount of food for
thought on offer for connoisseurs, none of
it is too heavy to assimilate or understand
and one of the primary reasons behind this
is Dr. Cloud’s easy-going conversational
style that carries the reader along with it
rather than sweep him (or her) off his/her
feet. Languid and purporting a perspicacity
that is still delightfully down-to -earth in
its approach, “Integrity: The Courage to
Meet the Demands of Reality” promises
no easy solutions, instead propagating a
lifestyle change for the reader who might
have instead been anticipating a ready
remedy in the offing! Replete with little
gems showcasing true-to-life circumstances
where an individual’s character contributed
substantially towards the end result, the
correlation drawn between integrity and
profit acts as a shining paragon of virtue
Success is not a
direct function or
measure of the
talent at your
disposal or the
intelligence you
are endowed with
at the micro-level for individuals and at
the macro-level for corporations, several of
whom are inundated with corruption.
One of the key shortcomings of Dr. Henry
Cloud’s work is the structure and flow of
the book, or rather, the unstructured nature
of its composition. Flowing along like a
river finding its own way, “Integrity: The
Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality”
is a rambunctious ramble on the part of the
author, with linkages that might seem incoherent
between certain points professed
in the book. The advice offered, at times,
is nothing that will rock your world, instead
bears striking semblance to popular
clichés. Peruse this: “Things never work.
When they don’t, that is the time to make
them work. Then, if you do, they work”(!)
In all honesty and seriousness, that sounds
like something straight out of a parental
sermon session, and we are all well aware
of how enjoyable those are!
When all is done and dusted with,
though, it is worth mentioning at this
juncture that “Integrity: The Courage to
Meet the Demands of Reality” is just what
the doctor ordered (sic). In bookshelves
stacked with what might best be summed
up as hokum, Dr. Cloud’s offering stands
out as a pragmatic and pioneering effort
that demystifies the mystique of success. A
bonafide goody-bag of takeaways for the
astute reader, Integrity is a treasure trove
of honest-to-goodness common sense and
wisdom accrued from experience, which
makes it an invaluable must-read. Integrity,
in short, grits us to face reality as we have
never seen it before!
BOOK EXTRACT
While character includes our usual understanding of ethics and integrity, it is much more than
that as well. Another way of putting it is that ethical functioning is a part of character, but not all
of it. And it certainly is not all of what affects whether or not someone is successful or becomes
a good leader. In my own experience in over twenty years of working with CEOs, boards,
managers, management teams, VPs, partners, supervisors, investors, and those who have a
stake in their performance, I have seen many honest, ethical, people of “integrity” who were
not making it in some way. While we would say that they all were people of good “character,”
the reality is that it was still their “personhood” that was getting in the way of their talents and brains accomplishing all that
was in their potential. There were aspects to who they were as people that they had never seen as important to develop,
and those very issues were keeping them from reaching the heights that all of the other investment they had made should
have afforded them. While they met the criteria for being people of “integrity,” they also left a trail behind them of falling
short in some key areas of performance that left both them as well as their stakeholders and the people who depend on
them wanting more. They were unable to successfully: 1) Gain the complete trust of the people they were leading, and
capture their full hearts and following 2) See all of realities that were right in front of them. They had blind spots regarding
themselves, others, or even the markets, customers, projects, opportunities, or other external realities that kept them from
reaching their goals. 3) Work in a way that actually produced the outcomes that they should have produced, given their
abilities and resources. 4) Deal with problem people, negative situations, obstacles, failures, setbacks and losses. 5) Create
growth in their organization, their people, themselves, their profi ts, or their industry. 6) Transcend their own interests and
connect with larger purposes to give themselves to, thus becoming part of a larger mission
An IIPM Intelligence Unit Publication STRATEGIC INNOVATORS 95