Page 203 - The extraordinary leader

180 • The Extraordinary Leader

information and learned about the latest software tools so that I could do a
bang-up job on my assignment. Nobody told me to do any of that,” he told
the researchers. What Lai understood and Henry did not is that only certain
actions earn the initiative label. 3
How Do I Improve My Effectiveness in Developing Myself? A key
skill for all successful leaders is the ability to continuously improve them-
selves. Too often, leaders achieve some office or position and then come to
believe that the learning phase of their career is over. They assume that, like
graduation from school, there is a time of learning and a time of execution.
Our research pointed out the importance of continuous self-improvement
in order for leaders to become exceptional. Looking at those who showed
great ability to practice self-development, we found a strong relationship
with integrity. That is, people who were viewed as highly competent in
terms of developing themselves were also viewed as being extremely honest
and straightforward. At first glance, the two behaviors seem unrelated. What
does self-development have to do with integrity and honesty?
Consider, however, the research done in helping people overcome alco-
holism and drug addiction. One of the major hurdles in getting help for peo-
ple to deal successfully with addiction is getting them to acknowledge that
they have a problem. Alcoholics in the early stages are inevitably in denial.
An alcoholic who showed up for addiction counseling was asked, “Why are
you here?” He answered, “Because my spouse thinks I have a drinking prob-
lem.” To which the counselor replied, “Go home and keep drinking. I can’t
help you until you think that you have a problem.” In most cases of drug and
alcohol addiction, it becomes evident to everyone else that the person has a
problem before it becomes evident to the person himself or herself. Fre-
quently, you hear the stories about people who have to hit rock bottom before
they finally wake up and say to themselves, “I have a drinking problem.” In
many addiction treatment programs, people use the practice of introducing
themselves by saying, “My name is John, and I am an alcoholic.”
Honesty is a striking feature of the relationship between self-development
and integrity. People who are good at self-development have the ability to eval-
uate their strengths and weaknesses honestly and to acknowledge their
strengths in behavior A and that they are less effective in behavior B. Keep in
mind that for some people, their problem is their lack of faith in their strengths.
They discount their own abilities. People who are poor at self-development
might be rationalizing their performance in less than objective ways. They