'Blame is the parking brake for improvement' (186-187). Own up to mistakes: 'Leaders take ownership of the results and do not try to excuse those or blame someone else. 'Outcomes are separate from the person, and the people who perform have a stable sense of self no matter what happens' (183). 'Profit comes as a result of facing problems, so doing it is seen as a good thing, not a negative thing' (175). This involves discovering your strengths and performing well in them, but you have to be humble enough to also know when to 'get out of the kitchen' in other areas. Know who you are: 'People who do best in life have a well-defined identity on a number of fronts' 144). 'If we are afraid of the truth about ourselves and have a character 'stance' to hide, then we are headed in the wrong direction, away from reality' (119). 'True listening and understanding occurs when the other person understands that you understand' (60).īuild trust through vulnerability allow yourself to be transparent enough to express need. In more depth, a person of character (is).

embrace problems and failures and resolve them 'Character = the ability to meet the demands of reality' (24).Ĥ. Some highlights of the book that I found to be valuable: Integrity is not something that you either have or don't, but instead is an exciting growth path that all of us can engage in and enjoy. All of us can grow in the kinds of real character that bring about fruitful relationships and achievement of purpose, mission, and goals. The real factor, Cloud demonstrates, is the makeup of the person. And the most successful are not only the ones with the most talent. There are a lot of bright, talented people who are never successful. He shows us how people with integrity: Success is not related to only talent or brains. He uses stories from well-known business leaders like Michael Dell and sports figures like Tiger Woods to illustrate each of these qualities.

Cloud explores the six qualities of character that define integrity.

Henry Cloud, a clinical psychologist and nationally syndicated radio host, shows how our character can keep us from achieving all we want to (or could) be. Drawing on experiences from his work with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and individual leaders, Dr. A person with integrity has the - often rare - ability to pull everything together, to make it all happen no matter how challenging the circumstances.

Necessary endings executive summary