One goal is common among all of humanity and that is a longing for success. Success is only achieved through leadership in some form. Whether a person becomes a public leader in his church, in his country, or simply a leader in his own life, it takes a leader to put in the effort to achieve one's hopes and dreams. Leadership allows a person to acquire the means necessary to meet a personal goal and ultimately reach this idea of success. However, possessing these leadership skills is virtually impossible without integrity. Thus, integrity is the key component in attaining the leadership skills needed to find success. First and foremost, one must become a leader. Leadership is defined as the ability to obtain followers (Maxwell). Obtaining …show more content…
Integrity is the key component to gaining a substantial and true following. Through integrity, one creates this image or reputation that embodies everything that person believes and intends to spread to his followers. So, if one lives a life with integrity, becoming a leader will occur more naturally. Integrity is the foundation of leadership in many ways. As Maxwell points out the following points about integrity in leaders: integrity builds trust, has great influence, facilitates high standards, creates a solid reputation, and produces credibility. Showing people that a leader has integrity allows them to trust what he says because people can trust his reputation, which is the foundation of his following. This trustworthiness engenders a greater influence, which demands a higher standard as followers expect a certain level of integrity in the topic of the leader's passion. Moreover, a cycle of integrity and strengthening reputation builds credibility, as followers trust what a leader says because of his integrity, which only reinforces his reputation as a trustworthy leader. Integrity is not always an easy task to maintain in a leadership role, which makes it an accomplishment for any leader who establishes this trust with his followers and maintains that credibility as well. It is evident that if integrity is the foundation of a successful leader, integrity must be a focus for the leader and the leader must exhibit these traits if he wants his followers to also exhibit integrity towards him. People learn from example, so to act with integrity is to receive it in