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New Insights into Leadership Development • 177

people have a great deal of trust in the leader will cause the message
to be accepted. Without trust, however, no amount of great oration
can make people accept the message.
6. Developing a competency companion changes the person. Most
people have had the experience of dramatically changing a skill and
then finding interesting side effects. Learning to play golf well gives a
person increased confidence. A regular exercise program makes a
person less stressed. Focusing effort on accomplishing a stretch goal
causes depression to go away. Strengthening a competency has the
capacity to change a person’s perspective, attitudes, and outlook on life.

Examples of Competency Companions
We have found that for each competency, there are eight to fourteen com-
petency companions. It is beyond the scope of this book to provide an
exhaustive list of every competency companion, but we provide here one
example for each of the 16 differentiating behaviors. We have organized
these into the five elements in our leadership model. We have compiled a
complete guide of competency companions. For further information on this
guide and how it is used to develop leaders, contact the authors by going to
www.zengerfolkman.com.

Character—The Center Pole of the Leadership Tent
Improving Integrity. When characterizing people with low integrity, we
visualize a person who purposely tries to take advantage of other people.
However, many people who experience integrity problems don’t always fit
that mold.
Sean was a bright and very honest young man from a foreign country. He
was very religious and was in his final year of school in the United States. In
his home country, his family was well known. He was approached by a group
of investors and offered a very good salary to go back to his home country
and sell his fellow citizens on an investment opportunity. The men who
approached Sean were regular churchgoers, and so he assumed that they
would be able to deliver on this investment. He trusted these men, so he did
not ask many questions or check out the viability of the investment. Because
of the reputation of his family, Sean was very successful in signing up millions
in investments. After a short time an initial payment was made to investors.