Brilliant TED Talk: “Everyday Leadership”
Enjoy! Well worth 6 minutes. It is not about behavioral integrity directly, but it is powerful about leadership… and I suspect it is a mechanism that ultimately promotes integrity.
‘Nuff Said
Credit to my friend, colleague and future coauthor, Charles Feltman for finding this one.
August Firewalk
I led another firewalk last night, August 20. Despite life being painful right now — some personal loss I prefer not to go into on the blog — I rose to the occasion and a larger crowd than last month was really served by the experience. Unlike other walks, many people in this group wanted to walk silently. And once they got started, they did not want to stop! I used music for the first time, gave out “firewalker” pins, and talked a bit more about the link between firewalk and integrity. The dominant words in the testimonials were “exhileration” and “serenity.”
Here is a sampling:
“There was initial anxiety and trepidation…By the time I faced the fire, I found myself in the center of calm & a feeling of serenity. It is that feeling that I will hold onto for the rest of my life. Thanks, Tony!”
– Preston C., Educator, 53
…
“A very liberating experience like breaking through a barrier. A feeling of calmness pervades my body & mind. I highly recommend it.”
– Paul Strebel, Financial Advisor, Instructor, Consultant, 52
…
“The fear was more effort than performing the firewalk and other enlivening tasks of this incredible evening.”
– Daniel Keough, Public Health Advocate
…
“Freeing…lightening…essence of what all of us need in life: a dram of courage, a dose of ‘yes I can.’”
– Eric Machan Howd, Educator, 42
…
“..it is empowering. I really felt like I was in the moment and in myself.”
–Lindsay Myron, Student, 21
…
“Tonight’s experience was absolutely liberating!…Any words to describe [it] would somehow take from the experiece.”
–Jason Wilson, daddy, 36
…
“It is about commitment. You can do anything if you step into it.”
–Naari S., Student, 21
…
“Very exhilerating!”
–Douglass Bennett, Landscaper, 39
What a joy it is to be able to give that experience to people! I look forward to running multi-day events, with a firewalk at the beginning. What a wonderful space gets cleared. I look forward to filling that space with integrity.
I just captured the URL TonySimons.com!
Some Australian with my name was sitting on it for a while, but did not use it. I think he was a dentist or something. I recently encountered a Tony Simons who is a school superintendant in North Dakota. He contacted me after someone bought him my book as a goof. He said he loved the book.
Dilbert Highlights a Classic
Do I really need to add anything to this?
Being the Betrayer… (cross-posted in forum)
This section of the forum is one of the most important, as it collects and considers stories
about how integrity functions and why. This is the place for presenting and discussing stories that are not already in The Integrity Dividend book. It is a way for all of us to keep learning about this fundamental issue.
Here is where we can tell and discuss stories about integrity failures, their causes and
consequences. The failures can be public — like the current banking crisis — or they can be failures of a boss you have had or known of. Or they can be our own. The story that follows describes one of my own integrity failures of a few years ago. If you have heard me speak, then you already know something about it… but there is more.
My school had just started a new degree program: A one-year accelerated MBA in hospitality. The new program opened up a new market for students: career switchers. These folks scored 50 points higher on entrance exams than our previous students. They were smart, driven, ambitious, and experienced — they were exciting to teach.
Read more »
How Integrity Feels as a Leadership Idea
My friend Bill Jawitz sent me this cartoon within hours of hearing about the integrity dividend. I think it is incredibly insightful.
