Character Matters in Politics and Business
Competency, Commitment, and Character are three competency that are required of leadership. If a business leader is lacking any of the three, the business will fail and fail miserably.
Competency determines what we can do.
Commitment determines what we want to do.
Character determines what we will do.
Character can be learned and needs to be practiced in order to be cultivated.
Character, defined simply, is the way someone thinks, feels and behaves.
Character is fundamental to how we engage with the world, who we engage with, how we act and make decisions, and what we notice and reinforce.
What behavioral habits that allow you to have the character of a leader worth following?
Philosophers have used the term virtues as a way of describing the behaviors, values and traits of good character.
We’ve identified 10 virtues of leaders who focus on long-term performance of their organization, and the organizational impact when these are present.
- Humility — continuously learning, respect, trust
- Integrity — reduction in uncertainty, partnerships developed, cooperation
- Collaboration — teamwork, diversity, learning, confidence
- Justice — strong employee relations, fairness
- Courage — innovation, confidence to act, opposition to bad decisions
- Temperance — reduced risk, quality decisions
- Accountability — ownership of decisions and their execution
- Humanity — social responsibility, support
- Transcendence — big picture thinking, striving for excellence
- Judgement — quality decisions, calculated risk-taking, commitment
How do we see character in action on a daily basis from leaders?
- A leader without humility isn’t open-minded, doesn’t listen to others, becomes isolated and is unable to become a stronger leader.
- A leader without courage doesn’t challenge poor decisions or difficult issues.
- Leaders without accountability create a disengaged culture of fear where others are blamed for their poor decisions.
- Leaders without temperance lose credibility as they rush to judgement, don’t gather relevant data and take calculated risks.
- Without collaboration, leaders don’t achieve worthwhile goals because they don’t take advantage of their team’s diverse knowledge, experience, judgement and skills.
How are you practicing these virtues to strengthen your character?
Character is shaped by our habits.
“Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” — Frank Outlaw
Lack of character is often displayed by the pronounced lack of empathy the victims of your abusive rhetoric and actions.
In the short term people follow you because of what you do. In the long term, people will follow you because of who you are. Character matters.
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