There are many ways to measure the degree to which a leader demonstrates positive character. In his book entitled “Return on Character”, Fred Kiel measures the character of leaders based on four universally accepted moral principles:
Let’s explore the importance of responsibility to character-based leadership. In his book, Kiel connects the principle of responsibility to two important behaviours: Read more
In their book “Corporate Culture and Performance” John Kotter and James Heskett provide valuable insights into the impact that a strong organizational culture has on the long term performance of the organization. Their conclusions reinforce a popular quote: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Although the original author of this quote is not clear (many think it was Peter Drucker) the importance of it is clear. It is much more difficult to make significant changes to organizational culture than to organizational strategy. To be an effective leader, you must ensure that the organizational culture and strategy are strengthened and aligned to ensure that employees will act as you hope and expect them to, particularly when the going gets tough. Read more
In my last blog post, I talked about the importance of nurturing positive character attributes to prepare for moments when our character will be tested. In this blog post we discuss the attribute of clarity of purpose and its ability to enable decisive action.
I remember visiting the John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum on a vacation trip to Boston a few years ago. One of the exhibits that was particularly interesting was the exhibit dedicated to the 1960 televised Presidential election debate that saw John F. Kennedy squaring off against his opponent Richard Nixon. This debate was apparently the first election debate ever televised (television was relatively new in 1960) and it enabled the public to see the immediate reactions of each candidate to the questions they were being asked and the challenges they faced from their opponent. Read more
I remember first reading the quote: “adversity builds character”. I thought this was a valuable insight. However, I later came across a revised version of this quote which stated: “Adversity doesn’t just build character, Adversity reveals character”. The distinction really caught my attention. I believe that there is a great truth here. The essence of a leader’s character is not the situations they have been through – it is how they act when challenged by current situations.
As individuals we all demonstrate leadership effectiveness in how we act. The question is: how do leaders nurture positive character attributes to prepare for moments when our character will be tested? The answer lies in the actions we take and the commitments we keep each and every day. As we continually act with good character, it becomes a habit. When the moment of truth comes to test our mettle, our good habits will reveal our good character.
This blog is the third in a series of blogs focusing on the importance of character and how it impacts leaders and leadership. Following on the previous blog “What is Character in Business Leadership“, In this blog we’ll seek to understand a little bit about values and virtues and how we might measure them. Read more
In this blog I plan to continue on the theme of understanding the importance of character to leadership. In my last blog, I outlined the importance of good character to leaders. Leaders want to enable their followers to exercise independent thinking and decision-making that serves the leaders vision and goal. In order for a leader to feel comfortable with delegating independent decision-making, they must have trust in the person and individuals who exemplify positive character traits are very trustworthy.
