The Power of Character to Create Leaders of Principle

We noted that without leadership nothing is corrected without leadership no development, without leadership mo grow. let now review what we’ve learned about the importance to the development of leaders equipped to bring about a cultural course and to advance our societies through ethical principles.

1.    Character Gives Leaders Credibility

 The only avenue for gaining credibility with people so that they will respect our leadership is to develop genuine character. When we demonstrate character, people will not make deposits in our ‘’trust account,’’ but they will also advance us “credit” as an investment in our future. They will follow us in faith-and every deposit and investment they make will strengthen the credibility of our character. If we be continue to be consistent, they will keep following us. We must build a stable honorable life if we want people to believe what we say about ourselves and our vision. How committed are you to leading with credibility?

 

2.    Character Gives Leader Moral Force

Character not power –is the force of true leadership. If a person has moral force, he doesn’t need to put physical or emotional pressure on people to make them do what he wants .the moral force of a leader is potent because it has the capacity to influence others.

When you develop into a person of strong character-dependable and stable-this is when you become a true force of leadership. For example, your followers may be deeply impressed by your ability to stay under pressure. Consequently, your very presence will bring peace to them, because they will know they can rely on you. People will be influenced by you when they are inspired by you, and inspiration comes from character. Are you focused on moral-or moral force?

 

3. Character Ensure That Leaders Maintain Trustworthiness

Trust is a privilege given to the leader by his followers; therefore, a leader must maintain that trust over time and keep it up to date. Some companies will spend billions of dollars to protect the longevity of their good name and reputation after a defect or malfunction is discovered in one of their products. They issue a recall and may develop advertising campaigns to alert and reassure their costumers, even though doing so entails tremendous cost.

So, if many companies will go to that kind of effort to protect the integrity of their name in the market place, why do many leaders fail to protect the integrity of their name among their followers by ignoring Ethical principles? We can’t set a price tag of having good name. Are you willing to pay the cost of self control, discipline, and delayed gratification in order to establish and maintain true character?

4. Character Legitimizes leaders

It is character that gives people a legitimate right to lead others. Leaders without character are “illegal, because they are asking people to place their faith in an untrustworthy source. No one has a right to lead if he cannot be trusted, and it would be inappropriate for him to ask people to follow him. If he does, it’s as if he is running a scam, because con men are individuals who ask people to trust them, even though they will never deliver what people promise, but will, instead, steal something from them. There are many people throughout our world today who are powerful conmen- but they call themselves “leaders”.

Is that statement too harsh? I don’t think so, because leaders without character who violate people’s faith inevitable take away some quantity of their valuable personal assets- things like trust, security, peace of mind, and hope. This is why, when people become disappointed over the poor ethical conduct of a leader they have followed, many of them become angry. They take it personally, because they have committed much of themselves to the leader and his vision. The leader’s conduct and its after effect constitute a major abuse of the great gifts the people have invested – their time, energy, talents, resources, and commitment – which they have poured out based on their trust.

 

As we have seen, many people today respond to leaders based on what they promise more than on what they value. We need to shift the condition of our support from promises to proven character. The condition should be: “Don’t just tell me what you can do for me – show me who you really are. If you clearly demonstrate that you have character, I will give you my trust.”

How about you? When people place their faith I you as a leader, are they relying on a trustworthy source- or an untrustworthy one?

 

5. Character Establish Integrity in Leaders

 We have learned that character is built through tests over time and that having integrity involved the integration of one’s thoughts, words, and actions. Thus, a leader’s integrity can be established only over the course of time, which allows for this integration to occur. For this reason, leadership should not be given to people who have not yet been tested and tried. There must have a clear history expresses as evidence that they have demonstrate stability, trustworthiness, and competence over time.

 

An emerging leader, therefore, must be tested to use to see if he can standup under pressure: How stable is he when circumstances are not going well? Can he handle the weight of disappointment? To this end, an individual who is young or untried should be given a responsibility gradually, so that he can develop and manifest character with each level of accountability. This principle is the reason I emphasize the core character quality of quality, he cannot become a principled leader. I give many people in my organization challenging responsibilities because I want them to be able to go and become qualified to accept leadership position. Therefore, it’s important for us not only to build our own character, and not only to look for demonstrated character in other leaders, but also to help our followers develop their character so they may become trusted leaders, as well.