by Michael Holland
I’ve been pondering how American Diplomats are assessing their exposure, given the forced transparency of some of their secret cables via the WikiLeaks cable dumping. Are they embarrassed? Worried? Fearful? Relieved? Anxious? Distraught? I imagine that each individual is wondering how others view their integrity as compared to the perception of that integrity, pre-WikiLeaksCablegate.
What if all the emails, text messages and voice mails you’ve sent to your boss(es) and peers were suddenly available for all your employees and friends to view, analyze and decipher? Would your integrity be questioned or diminished? In what ways would your capability to lead be impacted?
Trustworthiness, integrity and credibility are great descriptors of good leadership. But the origin of these qualities ultimately comes from your values, and the alignment of those values with your behavior reveals the core truth about you. And that truth is always present, even if hidden by the supposed veil of secrecy.
