I prefer to picture leadership life as being rather like the Nile, which flows as a main river then eventually subdivides into a number of river branches, fanning out to form the Nile Delta.

The main river is the heart of who we are in leadership terms - including our character, skillsets, personality, values and beliefs.

The branches are the river valleys that we flow through such as family, business, church, civic life and social settings.

It's often said that what happens in secret behind closed doors has no bearing on a leader's public life.

But the philandering politician, for example, is already compromised. The potential for deception first invaded his river upstream.

He has allowed himself to lie to his wife and children, so why wouldn't he lie, downstream, to his constituents to get what he wants?

The confluence of values and worldviews in our river entered by means of different tributaries, some healthy for the aquatic ecosystem and others less so.

A business leader who decides upstream that he or she will intentionally speak words of encouragement to build others up as a matter of principle will likely do so in each of the river branches of leadership life.

The river delta analogy helps us get closer to the meaning of integrity.

It's not just about being seen to do what I tell customers or team members that I'll do: it's internalising a set of values and acting on them every time in every context.

After I began writing this issue, I happened upon a very relevant account of journeyers through a valley, who, by what they carried in their hearts, made it 'a place of springs.'

The more I have observed about leadership, the more I have come to realise that it is less about head knowledge and techniques.

It's more about what we allow to occupy our hearts and the resultant outflow, with the potential for making 'places of springs.'