Five Things To Think About For Five Minutes on the subject of CHARACTER
1. Character builds credibility.
A person of character keeps his or her promises. If you can say "yes" to someone and people believe that your "yes" actually means something, they will find you more credible. When a leader begins to overpromise or underdeliver, his or her credibility becomes questionable. What promises have you made that you might have difficulty keeping? What stands in the way of you being true to your word? Is your credibility being questioned?
2. Character earns respect.
Respect isn't something that you can simply go around and ask people for. Many student leaders expect that others should respect them because they hold a position of authority. But respect doesn't automatically come with authority. In fact, people may have respect for a position of authority, but not have much respect for the person in the position. Respect must be earned. What are you doing to earn the respect of others? Are you respectful of others? Respect tends to be reciprocal - if you respect me, I am more likely to respect you.
3. Character creates consistency.
People who allow their emotions or circumstances to dictate their mood aren't people of character. They are reactive rather than proactive. Reactionary leadership is a character flaw. Over time, people who follow your leadership should be able to have certain expectations about how you will handle situations (especially difficulties and crisis). If you suddenly blow up at people or randomly mope around others, people will be less likely to trust your leadership abilities. Character that creates consistency doesn't mean a lack of emotion, but rather, the person of character keeps one's emotions in check and isn't led by them.
4. Character earns trust.
Ultimately, trust is the permission that people will give you to lead them. Without it, you become a figurehead in a position and people will remain spectators and not get involved. What are you doing to build trust between yourself and those whom you lead? Peter Drucker said, "The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit…. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done."
5. Character is built over a lifetime, but can be lost in a moment.
It takes time to build character. Helen Keller (who spent years overcoming adversity and building her character) said, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." Your character must be guarded and cared for. The mistakes that we make in regards to our character will follow us around for the rest of our lives. Who do you know that has made a crucial error that resulted in the loss of trust in their character? What can you do to avoid making similar mistakes?
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Use this material in conjunction with the 5x5s worksheet.
Download the 5x5s Worksheet here.
What is 5x5s? Read more about it here.
The first four items in this 5x5s worksheet were adapted from an article by Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders entitled, A Leader's Moral Intelligence - Part Two in the Leadership Link. For more information on Growing Leaders, go to growingleaders.com.
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