From the Ground UP excerpt

On building confidence…
Don’t limit risk-taking to your business life; take a few risks in your personal life too. If you’re
a beige type, paint the dining room maroon. Take a vacation with no set plans. Take a
different route to work, or take an unfamiliar road just to see where it goes. Order the
escargot. Have the courage to express your needs. Turn down that invitation you really don’t
want to accept. Return your meal in a restaurant if it’s not prepared to your liking. Ask for
help if you’re carrying an unfair load. Follow up by stating what you want to accomplish, why
you can’t accomplish it alone, and specifically what others can do to help.
Being assertive and being unkind are not the same.
Understand that difference.
On integrity…
Stuff happens. You don’t meet a commitment as promised; you say something and wish
you could cram each word back in your mouth; you do something you later regret. If you don’t
make amends immediately, you can bet others will make a note of it. And over time you’ll be
saddled with a negative label that’s mighty tough to remove.
If you buy into the importance of your good name, don’t overpromise, bad-mouth the other
guy, or make claims that aren’t true. It’s far better to be seen as a goody-two shoes rather
than to be known as undependable, a gossip, or worst of all, unethical.
What’s that old saying? Ah, yes: A word to the wise is sufficient.

On leadership…
At the beginning of each leadership seminar I asked the group to think of a leader - such as
a parent, teacher, or boss – who had a considerable positive impact on their lives, someone
they respected highly. Then I asked them to list the qualities or characteristics that prompted
them to think of that person.
Although I’ve done this exercise with hundreds of participants, almost to the person they
have listed “high expectations” as a key characteristic of the leader they chose. They often
went on to say that if it weren’t for the leader’s expectations, they likely would not have been
as successful – or even successful at all.
The same is true of those who look to you for guidance. You can be kind, empathetic, and
caring, and at the same time have high expectations. They aren’t mutually exclusive. Your
role is to help your team stretch and grow, and it starts by expecting things of them.
Don’t let your fear of losing them rob you of the power to lead them.