Page 194 - Appreciative Leadership

The Path of Integrity 167

The path of integrity unfolds with the decisions you make. It is the

trail you leave as the impacts of your decisions ripple outward. Each
and every day you make hundreds of decisions. And every decision

you make emerges from and influences the interconnected web of all
life. Test this idea for yourself.

PAUSE Scan the past couple of hours in your mind:

• How many decisions have you made? To call someone, to
answer the phone, to write e-mails, to order lunch, to can-
cel a subscription, to schedule a meeting, to take a day off ,
to meet with your team, to have a cup of coff ee.
• How many decisions have you talked about and contrib-
uted to making? The agenda for the meeting, the timing

of the new product launch, the budget for marketing,
the purchase of new technology, the strategy for culture
change.
• How many decisions occurred, in this same hour, that impacted
you, your work, or your family? A colleague resigned, a large
order was placed with your company, the price of gasoline
increased, you were invited to speak at a conference next
year, your spouse went shopping for dinner, violence broke
out in your hometown.
• Imagine, how might the decisions you made infl uence the
lives of others—short term and long term?
• Imagine, how might the many decisions others have made

in this hour influence your life, work, or family at some
later time?

Appreciative Leadership calls you to be conscious about your
decisions, to be aware of when they align with your values and when
they do not. Of special importance is the consistency of your deci-
sions over time. Nothing stirs criticism in an organization more than