Integrity Matters Broadcasts
May 1, 2005
Strategic and Tactical Integrity
Dear Friends:
Never say: "Never!" Twenty-five
years ago, our executive and leadership effectiveness business,
Dimension Five Consultants, Inc. was launched. Between
1970 and 1980, my responsibilities were those of a chaplain
at a preparatory school in St. Louis, Missouri, and a pastor
in local churches in Connecticut, Indiana, Missouri and
California. When the consulting business began, it was
my opinion that Jim Bracher would never again present a
sermon, at least not a formal one. A sermon, as you may
know, is defined as "a talk on a religious or moral
subject." Consulting would now be my profession.
So, when invited, in early April, 2005, to record for later
broadcast, not one but three Sunday messages, it was another
reminder how circumstances can challenge one to reconsider
earlier decisions. So, be careful when saying "Never!"
My three sermons for the "Day 1" broadcasts
are titled "Faith for all Seasons" (May
29, 2005), "Fulfilling Promises" (June 5, 2005)
and "God Knows You" (June 12, 2005). Conducting
interviews with me before and after each presentation was
Mr. Peter Wallace, Executive Producer, Day 1.
Formerly known as "The Protestant Hour," "Day
1" is celebrating 60 years
of weekly broadcasts. It has won numerous awards, including
the George Foster Peabody Award and the 2003 Crystal
Award for Excellence in inspirational radio. It is produced
by Canon Louis "Skip" Charles Schueddig of
the Episcopal Media Center in association
with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Episcopal
Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
and the United Church of Christ. To read more, click
here: http://www.brachercenter.com/article_day1_2005.html.
Back to the Bracher Center, let's
focus on Strategic and Tactical Integrity. This
may not be a sermon, but it is about direction and values.
Leaders know that strategy energizes
directives. Guiding associates effectively necessitates
constancy and consistency in planning the work and working
the plan. Casual abdication of principles in rough weather
breeds contempt among followers and glee from competitors.
Setting priorities based upon a substantive strategy reassures
the workforce and compounds the efforts that underpin success.
Leaders are steady.
Tactics bring organizations closest
to the customer. Relentless measurements, continuously
seeking improvement, enhance successful performance. Diagnostics
monitor transactions and assist with customer service and
product refinements. Leaders pursue perfection.
Serving organizational development leaders, the Bracher
Center Certification in Strategic and Tactical Integrity* provides
clients and their stakeholders with valuable tools in
the administration of education and culture to further
expand interpersonal knowledge with constructive applications.
To qualify as an organizational development
leader* (receiving additional education and
training through the Bracher Center), the following questions
must be answered "yes" by the recommending
executive and then approved by the Bracher Center for
Integrity in Leadership:
- Is the individual effective in communicating
throughout the organization?
- Does the nominee exhibit interpersonal ease
and problem-solving creativity, including the delivery
of forthright critique with both accuracy and tact,
at multiple organizational levels?
- Has the candidate been a standout in the application
of the Bracher Center's Executive Integrity Program
which includes the successful utilization of both the Portrait © and Feedback ©?
*Our Strategic and Tactical
Integrity Program requires the previous successful
participation in the Bracher
Center's Executive Integrity Program. The Executive
Integrity Program includes the Portrait© (Addressing
Interpersonal Integrity); and Feedback © (Toward
Continuous Improvement), which measures and monitors
organizational integrity.
Presented in four modules, our Strategic and
Tactical Integrity Program will train the organizational
development leader in the use of powerful interpretative
behavioral tools along with the practical application
of these tools. When organizational beliefs are
clear and operating behaviors are consistent,
then productivity-enhancing alignment is
the by-product. Organizational, operational and cultural alignment enables
all members of the team to improve their long-term effectiveness
in addition to the immediate impact of their efforts.
Insight, awareness and discipline lead to success. These
four modules, when successfully completed, equip organizational
development leaders to:
- Understand, interpret and communicate behavioral
patterns for and with colleagues to improve organizational
effectiveness.
- Deliver constructive and objective
counsel regarding operational impact and guide performance-improving
actions.
- Develop customer-responsive environments,
internal and external.
- Align behaviors with beliefs so
that stakeholders rally around constructive values in
the accomplishment of mission: the acquisition and retention
of customers.
Moving away from services provided directly by
the Bracher Center, it is appropriate to raise
other issues faced every day by many who read our Broadcast and
call on us for advice. There are serious educational
challenges that can mean the difference between success
and failure, between paying fines and facing jail time.
Perhaps these next two paragraphs will challenge you
to answer the educational question: how does one make
sure the right information has been understood and is
being applied, by all of the right people? Compliance
is no longer a convenience, it is the law. Know the rules
and honor them or face the consequences.
As many of you know, the Bracher Center believes and
advocates that it should be common knowledge that
free markets must regulate themselves or governments will. And,
if you would like to know what those who direct the Securities
and Exchange Commission intend to do to address
compliance, instilling lasting and meaningful changes,
then read further. This link will take you to comments
made by Ms. Lori Richards of the SEC : http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/spch102804lr.htm
Ms. Richards' follow-up speech urges leaders to
learn about and then build a culture of compliance. Pay
special attention to her ten strategic areas. They may
lack specifics, but non-compliance can create problems.
Learn SEC parameters: http://www.sec.gov/news/speech/spch042303lar.htm
From the macro challenges of Wall Street to the
commonplace behaviors that surround us every day, including
sanity and safety on airlines, please note the question
from another reader of my weekly newspaper
column Integrity Matters. Again,
life is about self-regulation, even at 30,000 feet in
the air.
What kinds of chaos will be created
with unlimited cell-phone usage on airlines?
In May, 1992, while working feverishly between flights,
in an airline "club" at Chicago's O'Hare
Field, a fellow traveler was talking loudly on the telephone,
making my concentration impossible. After staring at him,
hoping he would lower his voice, I noticed others doing
the same thing. He continued his abrasive noise-level.
Other business-types were also making phone calls, talking
with others, writing notes, but quietly. This individual
was oblivious or ignorant; insensitive or simply a clod.
Friday nights, when folks are heading home, it is unwise
to be loud or rude.
I bit my lip, walked over to "noise-maker"...to
learn what happened to me in this confrontation,
click here: http://www.brachercenter.com/columns/2005/2005-4-13.html.
Commitment to integrity-centered leadership. Values
such as integrity, perseverance, and commitment are too
often averaged down in a misguided search for consensus.
With the twin values of honesty and reasonableness, the
Bracher Center operates with intensity, sensitivity, and
follow-through to develop integrity, quality and loyalty.
Wisdom remains constant: "Integrity is one of several
paths; it distinguishes itself from the others because
it is the right path and the only one upon which you will
never get lost." -- M.H. McKee
The June Broadcast will illustrate that integrity
is alive and well.
Jim
