We visited Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London to hear another fascinating talk by Nicky Gumbel. This time the subject was integrity.Nicky’s words of wisdom are well worth listening to. You can download yesterday’s talk at this link
If you want 40 minutes of free advice that you would pay a fortune for from a management consultant please have a listen.
I’ve always argued that integrity and humility are two of the greatest qualities of a leader. In yesterday's talk Nicky gave numerous examples of what integrity actually means in practical terms if you are a manager or leader in business.
One story that sticks in my head is about 'Gibbo' who shared an office with his boss Gordon Selfridge owner of the world famous store Selfridges.
The phone rang and the Gibbo answered. The caller wanted to speak to Gordon Selfridge. Gibbo asked the caller to hold on and told Gordon who was calling. Gordon said ‘Tell him I’m not here'
Gibbo handed the phone to Gordon and said ‘You tell him you are not here’
Gordon was furious and Gibbo said to his boss ‘I refused because if I can lie FOR you I can lie TO you and I will NEVER lie to you’
From that moment Gibbo was taken into the confidence of the boss and considered a trusted source. That is integrity.
Question - how many of us would have done the same as Gibbo?
I admit to not acting in that way at times in my career.
No comments:
Post a Comment