When I was an English teacher, before reading any book as a class, my students and I would use pre-reading strategies which are as follows: activate prior knowledge, preview the passage, make predictions, establish a purpose and generate questions. My good friend Albert Ntiri recommended a book called, Integrity, the courage to meet the demands of reality. He spoke so highly of the book, I decided to purchase it. Before I start reading this book, using these pre-reading strategies will be beneficial.
Activate prior knowledge
What do I know about integrity? To me, integrity is about making decisions for the overall good and always being honest with everyone. According to the dictionary, integrity means 3 things: 1) adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. 2) the state of being whole, entire or undiminished. 3) a sound, unimpaired or perfect condition. Writer, Stephen Carter writes that integrity requires three steps: "discerning what is right and what is wrong; acting on what you have discerned, even at personal cost; and saying openly that you are acting on your understanding of right from wrong."
When I think of integrity, I rarely think of the meaning but actual actions in which I have shown integrity or seen others doing so. For example, I have a friend who was making a great deal of money as a consultant for the public sector. However, after realizing that his job was in fact hurting the people he wanted to impact, he decided to leave and take a much lower paying job working for a nonprofit organization. He admits that graduate school loans are much harder to pay off but he has already been very successful in using his talents and graduate training to help this nonprofit accomplish its mission.
As a leader, I have made mistakes as well but after realizing what I did wrong, I admitted my mistake to my colleagues even if it meant making myself uncomfortable. One thing I will say is that it takes a lot of courage to own up to your shortcomings. You are out of breath, your hands are clammy and you can’t find the words to express your sincere concerns. The greatest fear is that your team will no longer admire you but once you start speaking the truth, the people around you embrace your humanity. They do admire you even more for acting with integrity rather than hiding behind walls of deceit.
Preview the Passage/Make Predictions
Most people do this in the bookstore when they want to decide whether or not they should read a book. The best way to preview is to read the back cover and to read the different unit and chapter titles. One unit in this book that draws my attention is Character Dimension One: Establishing Trust. The author addresses building trust through connection, extending favor and vulnerability. I have read many books about networking and they mention these 3 ideas when building relationships with people, which makes me think about how critical integrity is when networking. When you meet a new contact whether it is a potential friend or employer, it is important to connect with them on genuine terms and be your true self. It is also important to think what you can for others before what they can do for you and it is true that you must be vulnerable because whenever you have a true connection with someone, you expose some of your weaknesses.
After previewing the text, my students would make predictions on what they think the book will be about. Based on my preview of this book, I assume that I will learn about different qualities that make up integrity in business.
Establish a purpose
Some books are read for pleasure or to acquire information. Two people can read the same book for very different purposes. I have re-read a lot of my books from college after graduation. The reading experience is much different when reading for fun and not to write a paper or prepare for a class discussion.
My purpose for reading this particular book is to grow professionally and personally. Perhaps, I will discover some critical piece of information that will help me discover something about leadership
Generate questions
Lastly, I had students make a list of questions that they would most likely get answered by reading the book. Below are some of the questions I have compiled for this book.
What are some examples of tough situations that leaders face and how did others deal with these situations?
What does integrity mean to the author?
How does one maintain integrity in the business world?
My students would be so proud of Ms. Guzman for going through this pre-reading exercise. I hope this book lives up to my expectations and I look forward to using more reading strategies as I read this book.
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