Take the Character Test
From last week:
Good character is the true measure of a leader.
If you're not someone of good character, then what type of leader are you?
Last week I encouraged you to agree that everything we do starts with our character. No one is perfect, but when we have significant flaws in our character then everything else suffers.
Jim Collins concluded humility was the primary common trait of truly GREAT leaders. This supports my conclusion about the importance of character: The only way a person can be sincerely humble is when they consistently demonstrate good character.
I did a web search on character traits. One site is "all about character," offering 50 different character traits. Yet none of them were honesty or integrity. How can you have good character without integrity? Scary...
Lots of opinions out there. Lots of long lists. I suggest we focus on 7 attributes of good character. When we get these right, the rest should take care of themselves. Without these behaviors as our strengths, other attributes of character fall apart.
Here is a quick self-test of character for anyone in a leadership role. In some ways these build upon one another.
Consider your strengths, and build on them. Identify areas to improve, and work diligently to develop new habits to overcome your bad ones (that never go away completely).
#1 - Faith
Everyone has a spiritual faith, even an atheist. How consistently do you live out what you believe?
#2 - Truth
People define what they believe to be true based on their spiritual beliefs. There are facts, logic, and absolute truths, but you have to decide which ones you want to believe. There are a growing number of false truths promoted online and in people's opinions. How do you define truth, and live by it?
#3 - Integrity
Your definition of integrity or honesty hinges on your belief in truth. If you feel truth is relative, or only important when it agrees with what you want to do - then your honesty will be selective - honest when you want to be, or based on what you want to believe or do, rather than unemotional facts or logic.
Were you 100% honest in all of your communications today? This week? This month?
#4 Relationships
Your ability to love others depends on how you process information through your faith, truth, and integrity filters. At the end of your life you only have two assets: Your legacy (impact on others) and relationships (vulnerability with others). These depend on your character.
Do you have close friends and business relationships, or are you "relationship-lite," where virtually no one really knows you? You can be a person of good character who is a loner, but having deep relationships makes life richer. What can you do to develop or extend deeper friendships?
#5 - Candor
The power of candor hinges on your integrity and relational skills, among other behavioral attributes. Candor is how much information you are willing to share with another person. Ideally you achieve close to a "Goldilocks rating" on your candor - you do not share too much, or too little. You share just enough. How are you doing?
#6 - Decisions
You make decisions based on the five prior attributes of character. Good decisions come from a place of knowing who you are, who you serve, and a healthy fear of making a mistake.
Once again, you strive for a Goldilocks' balance between a sense of urgency that a decision must be made, and your process to fully consider all the data and counsel before accepting the risks of the decision. Do you make decisions too quickly, or too slowly? How can you develop habits of more balanced decision-making?
#7 - Grateful
People of good character are thankful. Be sincerely grateful for what you have, instead of complaining about what is missing in your life. This way you will overcome life's difficulties more easily. How can you be more grateful throughout each day?
Yes, I am stopping here. We can consider and/or debate dozens of more character traits, however when you focus on these seven most of the others will take care of themselves.
Character checking can be a daily exercise, if not multiple times during the day as you make decisions, communicate with others, and take action.
Intentions do not count.
RECOMMENDATION: Evaluate your character based on every sense of your heart, every emotion you feel, every word you speak, and every action you take.
You are NOT defined by your worst moments. You are also NOT defined by your best moments. It is more of an accumulated score over time without a requirement to be flawless.
Your character in a particular situation may be less than you desire. Slowing down to consider whether you are meeting or exceeding your own character standards can be life changing. However, you have to be strong enough to make the difficult decision NOT to do something that is below your standards.
