The Leadership Quality of Character: Be a Piece of the Rock

A man took his young daughter to a carnival and she immediately ran over to a booth and asked for cotton candy. As the attendant handed her a huge ball of it, the father asked, “Sweetheart, are you sure you can eat all that?” “Don’t worry, dad, “ she answered, “I’m a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside.” That’s part of what real character is – being bigger on the inside than on the outside. How a leader deals with the circumstances of life tells you many things about his character. Crisis doesn’t necessarily mold character, but is certainly does reveal it. Adversity is a crossroads that makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. Every time he chooses character, he becomes stronger, even if that choice brings negative consequences. And the development of character is at the heart of our development as leaders. 1. Character is More Than Talk – Anyone can say he has integrity, but action is the real indicator of character. Your character determines who you are. Who you are determines how you see and think about things. How you see things determines what you do. That’s why you can never separate a leader’s character from his actions. If a leaders actions and intentions are continually working against each other, then look to his character to find out why. 2. Talent is a Gift, Character is a Choice – We have no control over a lot of things in life. We don’t get to choose our parents. We don’t select the location or circumstances of our birth and upbringing. We don’t get to pick our natural talents or IQ. But we do choose our character. In fact, we create it every time we make choices – to cop out or dig out of a tough situation, to bend the truth or stand under the weight of it, to take the easy money or pay the price. As you live your life and make your choices, you are continuing to create your character. 3. Character Brings Lasting Success with People - True leadership involves other people. Followers do not trust leaders whose character they know to be flawed, and they will not continue following them. And if you think you’re leading and no one is following, then you’re only taking a walk. 4. Leaders Cannot Rise Above their Limitations - Have you ever seen highly talented people suddenly fall apart when they achieved a certain level of success? The key to that phenomenon is character. Steve Berlas, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of The Success Syndrome, says that people who achieve great heights but lack the bedrock character to sustain them through the stress are headed for disaster. He believes they are destined for one or more of the four A’s: arrogance, aloneness, (destructive) adventure-seeking, and/or adultery. Each is a terrible price to pay for weak character. To be continued… Truth@Life can help you, regardless of your location. Call 248-396-6255 or email me at curtis.songer@gmail.com for a free consultation. If you receive value from these blogs, please consider donating to keep this blog site up and running. This ministry cannot continue without the generous donations of its readers. Just click on the "Donate" button in the upper right. For more info on help I can provide check out http://truthatlife.com/ or email me directly at curtis.songer@gmail.com