Henry Cloud may be best known for his series of works co-authored by John Townsend on the subject of Boundaries. But his most helpful contribution to my life has been his book titled Integrity. It was recommended to me about a year ago by a friend, and when I saw it at a local bookstore I picked it up and read it. I am not sorry!
Without going into tremendous detail, Cloud defines integrity as “the courage to meet the demands of reality.” That alone should pique your interest. From that starting point Cloud presents the case for integrity as the unifying ordering of one’s character which allows the leader to meet the demands of reality. The book is organized around six aspects of character, which I list as follows.
1. The ability to connect authentically which leads to trust.
2. The ability to be oriented toward the truth which leads to finding and operating in reality.
3. The ability to work in a way that gets results and finishes well which leads to reaching goals, profits, or the mission.
4. The ability to embrace, engage, and deal with the negative which leads to ending problems, resolving them, or transforming them.
5. The ability to be oriented toward growth which leads to increase.
6. The ability to be transcendent which leads to enlargement of the bigger picture and oneself.
I think this book would be helpful to any leader, manager, or person who desires to do some genuine “heart work.” You will find the benefits to be enriching.
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