Page 201 - The extraordinary leader

178 • The Extraordinary Leader

That money was distributed to each investor. A short time later, Sean learned
that the investment scheme had failed. He was left holding the bag.
Many other people report an experience similar to Sean’s. They do not
intentionally attempt to deceive other people, but in the end their integrity is
compromised. They trust another person but fail to aggressively ensure that
promises made by others will be kept. When we looked at the competency
companions to integrity, we found that those rated high in integrity were also
rated high on assertiveness. Those rated low in integrity, on the other hand,
were rated low on assertiveness. Those with high integrity were very effective
at stepping forward and addressing difficult issues, confronting conflict, being
direct, and facing up to difficult situations.

Personal Capability—The Second Pole Lifting the
Leadership Tent
Becoming a Better Problem Solver. What if a person wanted to improve
in problem-solving skills? Obviously, that improvement could be in the way
they are perceived, or in actually improving those skills—and hopefully both.
We examined the competency companions for effective problem solving and
analytical skills. We found that one of the highest correlates was initiative.
People perceived as being good problem solvers and highly analytical were
also perceived as taking a great deal of initiative. Those perceived as poor
problem solvers were perceived as having low initiative.
Robert Kelley describes initiative as the most important work strategy in
separating the “stars” from the rest of the pack at Bell Labs. He illustrates his
point by describing two new hires, both with similar credentials: 3.8 GPAs
from respected universities, strong summer internships at computer compa-
nies, and lustrous recommendations from professors.
Henry holed himself up in his office as if he were writing his dissertation
or studying for a bar exam. He collected volumes of technical documents to
acquaint himself with the latest ideas. He began learning how to use exotic
software programs he thought might be helpful in his work. He would surface
only for a bathroom break or a mandatory staff meeting. “What’s going to
count,” he remembers thinking at the time, “is whether I can prove to my
co-workers how smart I am.”
Lai set aside three hours each afternoon to work on her assignment. In
whatever time was left of her workday, she introduced herself to co-workers