Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part Two)Written by Brent Filson
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to author, and it appears with included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.comWord count: 838 Summary: One element of leadership that many leaders ignore or neglect is character. Is it a necessary ingredient in leadership? The author answers question with challenging observation that character can actually drive leadership results. Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part Two) By Brent Filson In first part of this two part article, I talked about importance of character in leadership. After all, best leadership involves people bonding with leader in deep, human, emotional ways. The passive way of looking at character is that bonding won't happen if people are confused about or disdain your character. But there is also an active way of looking at character: You can use aspects of your character to actually promote results. Your best character traits can be turned results-multipliers. Here's how. By way, results I'm talking about don't necessarily have to be organizational results. Many leaders have used my processes in their lives outside their organizations, with teenagers or with their spouses, for example, and not simply as a "leadership" process. Who you are as a leader should be intertwined with who you are as a person. If your leadership is not your life, you diminish both your leadership and your life. To begin with, select any one of character traits you identified in Part One. We will focus on ways to use that trait to get increases in results, however you define those results. For example, trait "always ready to forgive" can be a results driver, because it enables you to clear air with people you need to help you get results. After all, if you're always ready to forgive slights and perceived slights, you avoid blame shifting and finger pointing — both impediments to organizational results. Epictetus (AD 55–135), another stoic philosopher, said, "Small-minded people habitually reproach each other for their own misfortunes. … Those who are dedicated to a life of wisdom understand that impulse to blame someone or something is foolishness. … The more we examine our attitudes and work on ourselves, less we are apt to be swept away by stormy emotional reactions in which we seek easy explanations for unbidden events." Although one's relationships in leadership are predicated on results, most effective results-producing relationships arise when these relationships ultimately have nothing to do with results, when people respond to you not just as a leader but simply and profoundly as a human being.
| | Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part One)Written by Brent Filson
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to author, and it appears with included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.comWord count: 1000 Summary: One element of leadership that many leaders ignore or neglect is character. Is it a necessary ingredient in leadership? The author answers question with challenging observation that character can actually drive leadership results. Character: Is It Necessary In Leadership? (Part One) By Brent Filson We know character when we see it, but what exactly is it? How do we define it? What role does it play in our getting results as leaders? What role does character play in our careers? In this two part article, I'll explore these questions and give tips on using character to get results and build your career. A key function of character in leadership is to engender trust in people, and function of their trust is to have them take action for results. Few leaders come to grips with challenges of character and so miss great job and career opportunities. Let's start with its root, which comes from a Greek word, "kharakter", a chisel or marking instrument for metal or stone. Our character, then, is our mark engraved into something enduring. We can mold mannerisms, but we must chisel our character. Of course, we don't carry around a stone or a sheet of metal marked with our "character". The enduring thing is aggregate of traits and features that form our apparent individual nature. "Apparent" is operative word. Our character exists not only in and of itself, but also as an appearance to others. The fact that character exists both in us and in minds of other people holds a powerful leadership lesson. To begin to understand what character is all about in leadership, describe five of best leaders in history. Then, list three to five character traits that made each one best. Describe five of worst leaders in history, and list three to five character traits that made each one worst. Now make same lists for people in your industry and your own organization. Did you learn something new about leadership and character? What did you learn? I emphasize new because, in identifying elements that compose character, we come to understand thinking processes that help us form character judgments. Because we commonly make snap judgments about people, we must be aware of how and why we make those judgments, so we can clarify and make better use of them in our leadership. The ultimate character we must be concerned with, of course, is our own. Our character influences our leadership, and through our leadership, our careers. Few leaders make connection between career and character in this way, let alone do something about it. Your doing so will give you a tremendous advantage in your career. We know that it's much harder to see our own character than for us to see character of others. At this point, however, it's unnecessary to try to understand what your character actually is. You need only realize that, for purposes of leadership, your character is forged in values and manifested in relationships. Values are qualities that spur action. Moreover, values are tied to emotions. We feel strongly about values we hold and look to others to hold, and because of such feelings, we're usually acting on our values in one way or another.
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