If a manager managed to win and preserve the trust of his employees and colleagues, then the corporate culture is fundamentally good. On the other hand, if there is no trust base, then all our efforts are worthless.

When I talk to a leader about the relationship between vulnerability and the leader, the first reaction is almost always that the two don’t really fit together. The leader must be strong, sure, otherwise no one will follow him, in fact, they will abuse his weakness.

Many people in the business and professional world work extremely long hours, sometimes seven days a week, ignoring their need for personal refreshment. They ignore this paradox of being able to accomplish more if we work less, setting aside time for much-needed rest.

Engaging in work, parenting, personal hobbies or some other activity, there are two extremes for how we do what we do. We can adopt the “good enough is…good enough” mindset, trying to get by with a relative minimum of effort. Or we can choose a very different approach, that of perfectionism, a fixation on attempting to do things exactly right.

Gathered together were admirals, generals, captains, colonels, corporate CEOs, medical doctors, professors. Influential men of various ranks and professions. None of their successes and failures were apparent, however, for without their uniforms they all looked the same. The gathering was a trip down memory lane, our U. S. Naval Academy class of 1961’s 55-year reunion, in 2016. As I looked around the room and recaptured memories of all those young warriors, filled with incredible hopes and dreams and aspirations, all I could think of was, “Where have they gone?”

A character that consists of trustworthiness, honesty, and love of neighbour at work may be the most important success factors in one’s career.