Power of Character in Leadershi - Myles Munroe PDF
Power of Character in Leadershi - Myles Munroe PDF
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
Introduction: Contemporary Leadership and the Crisis of
Character
Part I: The Priority of Character
1. Character Matters
2. Leaders of Conviction
Part II: The Source of Moral Leadership
3. How Character Develops, Part I: What We Believe
4. How Character Develops, Part II: What We Value
5. How Character Develops, Part III: What We Serve
6. The Role of Values in Corporate Life
7. The Origin of Our Moral Conscience
8. The Power of Principles
Part III: Personal Character Development
9. Key Concepts of Character
10. Tempting Your Character
11. Core Qualities of Principled Leaders
Part IV: Restoring a Culture of Character
12. Integrating Vision and Values
How to “Fall Up”: Restoration After Character Failure
Notes
Character Development Worksheets
About the Author
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from
the Holy Bible, New International Version®, niv®, © 1973, 1978,
1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked (nirv)
is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®,
nirv®, © 1996, 1998 by Biblica. All rights reserved throughout the
world. Used by permission of Biblica. Scripture quotations marked
(nkjv) are taken from the New King James Version, © 1979, 1980,
1982, 1984 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. Scripture
quotations marked (kjv) are taken from the King James Version of
the Holy Bible. Scripture quotations marked (nasb) are taken from
the New American Standard Bible®, nasb®, © 1960, 1962, 1963,
1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Italics in Scripture
quotations indicate the author’s emphasis. Unless otherwise indicated, all
th
dictionary definitions are taken from Merriam-Webster’s 11 Collegiate Dictionary, electronic
version, © 2003.
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Sports
The spotless public image of golf champion Tiger Woods
was tarnished when his multiple extramarital affairs
became public. His wife divorced him, and he lost
several lucrative endorsement deals worth $100 million.
Woods received therapy for sexual addiction and returned
to the sport.
22
Religion
Numerous sexual abuse allegations have been lodged
against Catholic priests in nations around the world.
Charges have been filed in various cases, and there has
been fallout over cover-ups and inaction by Church
officials.
27
Charity/Nonprofit
Greg Mortenson, coauthor of the best-selling book Three
Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One
School at a Time, was cited for mismanagement of his
charity Central Asia Institute, as well as the misuse of
funds. The attorney general of Montana, where the
charity is located, stated, “Mr. Mortenson may not have
intentionally deceived the board or his employees, but his
disregard for and attitude about basic record keeping and
accounting for his activities essentially had the same
effect.” Mortenson was not charged with any criminal
activity, and he agreed to repay $1 million to the charity. 39
A Psyche of Distrust
One disturbing result of the crisis of character in leadership is that it has
created a psyche of distrust among the general public. There are, of course,
many earnest, hardworking people of integrity in all walks of life who strive
to do the right thing and are helping to uphold the society in which they
live. But while the nations of the world desperately need strong, authentic
leaders, too many people in positions of authority are self-absorbed. They
operate according to misplaced priorities or opportunistic motives. They fail
to offer anything of lasting value to their families, associates, clients,
customers, or fellow citizens. Instead, they abuse and misuse them.
Ethically deficient leaders are leaving a legacy of fear, skepticism, and
confusion among those who follow them or are otherwise affected by their
leadership.
For example, will the time come when we can watch a race at a track-and-
field meet or a cycling event and not secretly ask ourselves if the champion
won because he used performance-enhancing drugs? We often harbor the
notion that the winner must have cheated somehow. Or, even though we
may make allowance for some unintended memory lapses, when will we be
able to read a memoir and not have to wonder if some or most of it has been
fabricated? Sadly, we have become wary of the validity of such accounts.
Or again, when a large corporation is successful, when will we be rid of
lingering suspicions about its business practices and how it turned a profit?
We question whether big corporations can make money and still be ethical.
On the day that former business magnate Bernard Madoff was sentenced
to 150 years in prison for his massive Ponzi scheme—which cost his clients
billions of dollars—the judge made some striking comments about
Madoff’s life and leadership:
In terms of mitigating factors in a white-collar fraud case such as this, I
would expect to see letters from family and friends and colleagues. But
not a single letter has been submitted attesting to Mr. Madoff’s good
deeds or good character or civic or charitable activities. The absence of
such support is telling.1
Remarkably—and significantly—not one friend, family member, neighbor,
colleague, or acquaintance came forward to offer a positive statement about
Madoff’s character or deeds. Such a statement might have helped to
commute his sentence, allowing him the possibility of being released on
bail some time before the end of his life.
A Foundation of Character
Some people have a cavalier attitude toward ethics and morals—aware of
them but essentially disregarding them. However, other people have never
really been trained in the principles of character, so they make unwise
decisions that lead to their downfall. We can all think of people who were
admirable in many ways but fell because they lacked the discretion or
discipline that comes from cultivating good character. For example, they
may have started associating with “friends” who weren’t looking out for
their welfare and drew them into illegal activity. Or, they may have begun
experimenting with drugs or alcohol because it seemed “fun” or provided a
release from life’s pressures, only to fall into the snare of addiction.
A failure in character can happen to anyone, in any vocation or stratum of
life. For example, there was the case of two elementary school cafeteria
workers from Pennsylvania who were described as “sweet, hard working
lunch ladies” but who stole more than ninety thousand dollars of lunch
money over a period of eight years to feed their gambling addictions.3
Similar stories have unfolded in communities across the globe.
I recognize that addictions to gambling or to alcohol, drugs, or other
substances can be the result of physical predispositions or deep emotional
issues. These often require the assistance of a professional counselor. Yet
character training is an essential part of the healing process in these cases.
As we will see, the development of character in an individual begins with
the realization of his value as a human being and an understanding of what
he was born to accomplish. With that awareness, he can gain a new sense of
self-worth, internal strength, and hope for the future.
No matter what type of leader you are or how widespread your influence,
you face personal temptations, challenges, and stresses. And only a
foundation of character will sustain you and your leadership.
Leadership is not just a role one plays; it is a life one leads.
“Easier Kept than Recovered”
Thomas Paine wrote, “Character is much easier kept than recovered.”
Character is like preventive medicine—it keeps you morally healthy so that
you won’t develop maladies as a result of ethical flaws. One of the most
serious of these disorders is untrustworthiness. Once you lose the trust of
your family, your friends, or your colleagues, it is very difficult to win it
back.
Imagine you owned a business and had been using a particular supplier for
many years. Then, the supplier was exposed as having been repeatedly
dishonest in his billing practices. Assuming he wasn’t put in jail, would you
continue to do business with him?
Or, suppose you had supported a particular politician but found out that he
had been taking bribes for years, living a lavish lifestyle. Would you
continue to support him?
Chances are, no.
We can easily understand why leaders who have ethical defects lose the
trust of their followers, because we have all experienced some type of
betrayal, as well as the pain and anger it generates. Perhaps you have been
overcharged for repair services, had your house broken into and robbed,
been blindsided by the unfaithfulness of a spouse, or had a colleague gossip
about confidential information you shared. You understand what it means to
be a victim of someone who is operating with a character deficit. As
leaders, we must ask ourselves, “Am I, in any way, violating the trust of
those who have placed their faith in me? What impact am I having on those
who are influenced or affected by my behavior?”
Once you lose the trust of others, it is very difficult to win it back.
The Courage to Identify and Root Out Weaknesses
It is not just the Bernie Madoffs of this world who have character flaws.
And it is not only “big” ethical issues like fraud and infidelity that erode our
integrity, injure our credibility, and wrong others, damaging the quality of
our leadership. Character has many practical, everyday implications.
For example, how would you rate your consistency? If you are always
delinquent in paying your bills due to carelessness, it can, among other
things, affect your credit standing and that of your family or business. One
result is that you could miss out on opportunities to acquire loans to expand
your company, thereby limiting the growth of your business. In a similar
way, if you are regularly late for appointments and meetings, you can erode
others’ confidence in you and prompt them to decline future collaborations
that would have been advantageous for you.
Or, could a lack of self-discipline be undermining your strengths? For
instance, do negative emotions such as anger control you? If you hold on to
grudges, you may lose out on beneficial relationships, as well as sacrifice
your own peace of mind as you waste unnecessary energy dwelling on bitter
thoughts. Or, if you allow yourself to abuse alcohol or drugs, you will not
only do harm to your health but also put yourself at serious risk of losing
the respect of people you value and who can support your leadership (not to
mention the ramifications of any legal violations).
All of our negative attitudes and careless behaviors weaken our leadership.
The effects of our unaddressed character flaws inevitably cause us damage.
Whenever we fail to pay attention to issues of character, we will experience
some kind of loss.
The fallen leaders whom we know personally or read about in the
headlines are warnings to us. We must recognize that every decision we
make adds a sentence to our life story. Will the complete story of your life
and leadership add up to something positive and honorable? There is only
one way to ensure this outcome—through the intentional development of
character.
A leader who desires to be strong and effective will summon the
courage to identify and root out his weaknesses.
Most people have certain positive character traits and certain negative
character traits. Picture a continuum where some people have moved
toward the positive side of character, while some have moved toward the
negative side. Where are you on that measure? Are you on the positive side,
with conviction and integrity—or on the negative side, with duplicity and
moral compromise? Your answer will require some introspection, including
an examination of your personal motives. It is easy for us to overlook areas
of ethical weakness in our lives, and to remain unaware of how these
weaknesses affect the quality of our leadership.
A leader who desires to be strong and effective will summon the courage
to identify and root out his weaknesses, preventing them from growing into
larger, more damaging issues.
No Substitute
We are living in difficult social and economic times when we must refocus
on the priority of character—because character is the foundation for all
aspects of effective leadership.
Authority, gifts, skill, knowledge, experience, expertise, and so forth are
integral elements of leadership, but they can never substitute for character.
Unless we want to see the conditions of our world grow increasingly worse,
and unless we disregard the lives and legacies of our leaders—and that
includes us—we can’t move into the future with the same methods and
values of leadership that we’re employing today. The public has been
learning bad habits from its leaders. We must have a course correction—and
it must start with each one of us.
Character is the foundation for all aspects of effective leadership.
We face a great “war” today: the struggle between character and
compromise. I believe character will ultimately win, as more and more
leaders commit to becoming ethically conscious and principled, because
true character rests on a strong foundation that has the power to defeat
compromise.
All leaders should be encouraged to value integrity so that they will not
turn away from their ethical standards and thereby sacrifice the great
potential they possess. Those in high office and in other visible positions
must take this truth especially to heart. Engineers know that the taller the
building, the deeper the foundation must be. Similarly, the more exposure a
leader has to the public—the more fame he acquires, the more influence he
exerts—the more vigilant he must be to maintain deep, well-established
character.
Several years ago, I was sitting at the airport, looking out the window as I
watched the arrival of an aircraft that was taxiing down the runway toward
my gate. This was the plane that would take me to Nigeria, where I was
scheduled to speak at a conference. Suddenly, a seagull flew in front of the
window and landed on the ground near where the aircraft would come to a
stop.
So, there I was, looking at two “birds.” The first one did not have an innate
ability to fly—it had been constructed with the mechanical ability to
become airborne. But the second one had an inherent physical capacity to
fly.
As the plane approached, a number of airline employees started quickly
moving around on the nearby tarmac. Two of the workers guided the plane
to the jet bridge using green and red lights as signals. Others then
positioned the wheel chocks, worked the ramp, plugged in the external
power and air, refueled the plane, checked for mechanical issues, and
unloaded and loaded the conveyer belts with luggage.
Within the aircraft and behind the scenes, there were a number of others
who were involved in flying and maintaining the plane and seeing to the
needs of the passengers: air traffic controllers, pilots, flight dispatchers,
load planners, flight attendants, and maintenance coordinators, as well as
employees who restocked the water and food, serviced the bathrooms, and
cleaned out the cabin. I have learned that for a domestic flight, it takes
about fifty minutes to “turn” an airplane, preparing it for the next departure.
International flights can require an hour and a half. The well-choreographed
efforts of many individuals are required to handle the needs of just one jet.
Yet, as I observed the action on the tarmac, I noted that no one ran to help
the seagull! The bird didn’t need any outside support to keep it running
smoothly and safely, and to prepare it to fly again. Flying came naturally to
it. Soon, I saw the bird take off from the spot where it had been standing—
without jet fuel to propel it, a pilot to guide it, or a long runway to help it
get up to speed. It just flew up into the air…and soared.
Leadership Is Inherent
Leadership is designed to function like the flight of a natural bird rather
than that of a mechanical plane. That doesn’t mean that leaders act
independently from others. Quite the opposite. But, as I wrote in chapter 1,
leadership is not a role one plays; it is a life one leads. Genuine leadership
can never be separated from the essence of the leader as a person. In this
way, an individual’s exercise of leadership is, in effect, “self-
manifestation.”
True leaders begin to “fly” when they start living in line with their intrinsic
purpose. They don’t need artificial props. A leader may have a title, status,
and so forth, but he doesn’t require those external supports—and they are
not what define him as a leader.
Genuine leadership cannot be separated from the essence of
the leader as a person.
If you have not yet discovered your inherent leadership purpose, you may
have an important position in your company and an impressive job
description, but you are functioning only “mechanically” instead of
naturally. You are going through the motions, but you are not leading
according to the capacity that you were meant to, and you are not
experiencing the level of fulfillment that comes with it.
1. Purpose
Leadership is not exercised simply by implementing techniques or
methods, by using one’s skills, or by exhibiting a particular management
style. It is the expression of a mind-set resulting from the knowledge of
who you were born to be.
We live our lives based on who we think we are and why we think we
exist. Therefore, our leadership development to this point has been
influenced by our sense of the significance of life and our relationship to it.
Discovering Your Inherent Purpose
A true leader recognizes that he has a special purpose for being in the
world. That purpose determines the area of leadership in which he is to
serve. His recognition of his particular purpose is not an indication of undue
pride. Rather, it is a realistic assessment of his gifts and strengths.
Every person on earth is meant to exercise leadership in a particular area of
gifting. One of the ways we discover our purpose is by recognizing the gift
we can contribute to the world and/or the problem we were born to solve.
This process involves asking ourselves questions such as these:
What are my talents?
What would I like to do with my life?
2. Conviction
Once a leader discovers his personal gifting and leadership, it ignites
conviction in his heart. In the process of leadership development, conviction
has a twofold connotation. The first sense of the word is a belief in one’s
significance. This is not just head knowledge. It is the certainty that you
have something essential to contribute to humanity. It is a 100-percent
dedication to your purpose, which is stronger than any opposition you
might encounter. As a leader, you must be convinced that you exist for a
worthy reason and that you are able to accomplish what you were born to
do.
The second sense of the word refers to convictions (plural), or deep-held
beliefs based on a commitment to one’s purpose. Convictions give you a
sense of direction in life. They guide your activities and give them meaning.
Your convictions are instrumental to your character development. They lead
you to become dedicated to specific principles, or a code of ethics, by
which you pledge to live as you carry out your purpose.
An individual can have the other qualities listed in the above definition of
leadership, such as influence or passion, without having conviction. But
true leaders manifest each of the qualities—and the ingredient we are sorely
missing among leaders today is personal convictions. Having convictions is
what enables a person to remain stable and trustworthy, even in the midst of
difficulties or temptations.
Frankly, if you don’t have solid convictions, you don’t deserve to have
followers. If you keep vacillating in order to please people, if you keep
sacrificing your belief system in order to be accepted, you are not a leader
—you are a compromiser. We need leaders who are willing to stand up to
the disapproval of their own friends and the public at large for the sake of
something that is noble and true. Today, it is hard to find leaders who have
such commitment to their convictions.
If you sacrifice your belief system in order to please others,
you are not a leader—you are a compromiser.
3. Vision
A leader’s conviction about his significance propels him to develop a
personal vision, as he begins to formulate the specific way in which he will
carry out his contribution to his generation. I define vision as “purpose in
pictures” or “the future in pictures.” It is seeing your purpose so clearly in
your mind’s eye that it is already a reality to you. All true leaders have a
clear vision. They can “see” the objective they hope to accomplish or the
product they want to produce.
When Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech,
he declared, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in
a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character.”4 From the clear way he articulated his vision,
many of the 250,000 people who heard him speak from the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, D.C., that day—as well as the multitudes who
have since heard or read his words—must have virtually seen the future he
envisioned.
Vision influences your entire life, including your priorities—how you use
your time, what you spend your money on, what opportunities you act
upon, and so forth.
What is your personal vision? When you start “seeing” your dream and
realizing how your gift can be served to the world, you begin to formulate a
vision for your life. And it is through your vision that you will be able to
begin the practical process of fulfilling your life’s purpose.
4. Passion
Most people have an interest in their future, but they lack the drive to
fulfill what they truly desire to accomplish in life. Yet, those who have
discovered their purpose, formulated deep convictions, and captured their
vision in their mind’s eye will have natural enthusiasm and energy. Hard
work and diligence are always involved in carrying out one’s purpose, but
they can be difficult to maintain without internal motivation. Passion
provides that motivation.
It is his sense of significance that a helps a true leader to protect his
passion from degenerating into mere hunger for power. Tragically, there are
leaders in our world who seem to have no trouble killing or otherwise
eliminating their opponents and others who are “in their way”—including
many innocent people—in order to achieve their ends. But they are not
willing to die for something noble. In contrast, the passion associated with
true leadership comes from a personal commitment to sacrifice oneself to
fulfill one’s purpose—even to the point that one would be willing to die for
it.
Leadership passion is therefore a desire that is stronger than death. We see
evidence of this quality in the lives of great leaders. Abraham Lincoln
spoke about his unequivocal commitment to the principle of freedom for all
men that is embodied in the Declaration of Independence, asserting, “I have
said nothing but what I am willing to live by and, if it be the pleasure of the
Almighty God, die by.”5 Nelson Mandela said, “I have cherished the ideal
of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in
harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for
and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to
die.”6
Mahatma Gandhi was only five foot four inches and had a slight build, but
he won a remarkable political victory over the British Empire, freeing India
from colonial rule. He had a vision of equality and justice in India and a
conviction about nonviolent protest. He went to jail and was willing to die
for this vision. His passion stirred up hundreds of millions of people and
brought about sweeping change. That’s the power of passion in leadership.
5. Inspiration
In the process of leadership development, inspiration is the point where the
leader connects with other individuals; it is where his purpose intersects
with their purposes. A leader’s passion for his purpose is like a flame,
igniting new possibilities in the minds and hearts of other people, causing
them to think in new ways and stirring up and revealing the convictions and
visions within them. In this way, a leader’s vision gives meaning to others’
lives as it invites corporate commitment to a noble cause. People’s personal
vision will always be found within a larger corporate vision.
A leader’s passion for his purpose ignites new possibilities in the
minds and hearts of other people.
Awakening Others’ Sense of Purpose
When you inspire people by your passion for your purpose, you won’t
need to recruit them to help you, obtain their “vote of confidence,” or wait
for them to approve you. As you awaken their sense of purpose, they will
voluntarily join you in order to fulfill their own contribution to the world
through participating in your vision. They will offer their time, energy,
resources, and creative power to be part of a larger purpose to which their
vision is connected. Likewise, other leaders will inspire different people
who will join them, based on their innate purposes and gifting. There is a
place for everyone to manifest his personal leadership abilities.
Keep in mind that although true leaders draw other people to their vision,
they do not “clone” them to be just like themselves; they do not seek to
recreate themselves in others. Rather, they enable others to use their unique
gifts and abilities to fulfill their own inherent purposes. It should be clear
that people don’t receive their personal visions from the leader to whom
they are connected—they are enabled to fulfill their own vision as they help
the leader enact his.
For example, suppose a leader’s vision is to manufacture a safety feature
that would help prevent plane crashes under severe weather conditions. He
has the idea and enough knowledge of engineering that he believes the
device can be developed. However, he can’t design and produce it by
himself. As he begins to share his vision and passion for this safety feature,
he will draw others to him whose personal vision is to participate in airline
design and who have the innate gifts to develop and produce such a device.
Free of Manipulation
Just as true leaders don’t seek to clone themselves in their followers, they
don’t try to “collect” followers and supporters in order to make themselves
feel good. They may identify particular people they would like to mentor,
and invite them to help carry on the overall vision after they are gone, but
they never actively try to recruit admirers.
Likewise, a leader who is motivated by his purpose, convictions, vision,
and passion never uses or abuses other people. Genuine leaders seek to
facilitate the personal visions of their colleagues, executive team members,
managers, employees, and family members. At the same time, the manner
in which they live out their vision and code of ethics is a positive example
to those around them.
Inspiration is the opposite of intimidation and is absent of manipulation.
When leaders fail to inspire others, they often resort to manipulation to
force people to participate in their plans and do what they want them to do.
I’ve studied many individuals who have portrayed themselves to the public
as leaders but who are really professional manipulators. They play on
people’s fears, use a carrot-and-stick approach, and threaten and coerce
them. That is not leadership—that is sophisticated dictatorship.
Every leader must recognize the danger of falling into manipulation. Every
day, all over the world, people manipulate their spouses, their children, their
friends, their colleagues, their coworkers, their employees, their clients, or
their constituents because they do not understand—or respect—the
leadership quality of inspiration. The moment you stop inspiring people and
start manipulating them, you cease to be a true leader.
Inspiration is the opposite of intimidation
and is absent of manipulation.
6. Influence
To a large extent, leadership is influence, and all of us already exercise
some influence—whether positive or negative. If somebody else is
watching you, you are a leader. The moment you have a child of your own
to raise, you are a leader. When you know more about a particular subject
than others and can teach it to them, you are a leader. When you are placed
in a position of responsibility over your peers, you are a leader.
Leaders who exercise positive influence don’t try to prove themselves to
others. They are more concerned with “manifesting” themselves, or
revealing the purpose they were born to fulfill. When you inspire other
people through your passion, you never have to announce that you are a
“leader.” People will think of you as a leader, and will call you one
themselves, because you will have motivated them to do something—
change the status quo, create something new, find a solution to a problem,
and so forth.
The essence of influence is the ability to motivate other people to take
action and effect change. You can’t lead if you don’t influence. You can’t
influence if you don’t inspire. You can’t inspire if you don’t have passion.
And you won’t have passion unless you are convinced about your purpose,
convictions, and vision.
As I wrote in the introduction to this book, nothing is altered or
transformed without leadership. As leaders go, so goes the world.
Therefore, if we don’t do something about the global crisis in leadership we
are experiencing today, the state of our societies is going to grow worse and
worse. Moral leadership is urgent in human affairs because the character of
leaders—for good or for ill—affects the lives of their followers. Let us look
at some specific ways in which this influence occurs.
1. Leaders Influence the Mind-set of the Followers
Leaders can transform people’s outlook to the point where their
perspective becomes completely different from the way they formerly
thought. Such influence is a tremendous power that all leaders need to
acknowledge and discipline in their own lives, ensuring that they do not
abuse it—especially since a change in mind-set almost always leads to a
change in behavior.
A leader can use rhetorical skills to convince people that what they
believed was good is evil, and vice versa—altering their values and
conduct. In Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, after Brutus and his fellow
conspirators kill Caesar, believing him to be a tyrant, the character of Mark
Antony uses his communication skills to turn the crowd from an admiration
for Brutus to a seething desire to kill him and his accomplices. Followers
must always weigh the consequences of what they hear and receive from
their leaders.
In contrast, an enlightened perspective is a gift that true leaders can give
their followers. For example, when Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the novel
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she changed the mind-set of tens of thousands of people
who had been either neutral toward the institution of slavery or accepting of
it. By putting a personal face on the issue, she showed that slaves were
people rather than “property,” so that many citizens began to support efforts
to abolish slavery.
An enlightened perspective is a gift that
true leaders can give their followers.
2. Leaders Influence the Characteristics and Attitudes
of the Followers
A leader who holds deep convictions can transfer those convictions to
others. For instance, he can rouse the fearful so that they will take bold and
necessary action in the midst of a crisis. Winston Churchill, through his
powerful speeches, stirred the English people to continue standing against
Nazi Germany after the fall of France. In one of these speeches, he
famously declared, “…the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle
of Britain is about to begin.…Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties,
and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last
for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”7
In contrast, a leader who lacks conviction can transfer his complacency or
timidity to his followers. There is an account in one of the books of Moses
in which Moses sent twelve leaders to scope out the Promised Land before
the nation of Israel entered it. When the leaders returned, ten of them
expressed their fear of the inhabitants, declaring that they were too strong to
defeat: “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the
same to them.”8 Two of the leaders insisted they would still be victorious,
but the people grumbled and took on the perspective of the ten who were
afraid and felt like “grasshoppers” in their own eyes. As a result, the victory
was delayed for forty years—almost two generations. The people lost out,
largely because they allowed the fearful mind-set of their leaders to infect
them.
3. Leaders Influence the Morality of the Followers
The ethics of a leader can sway those who follow him—either directly,
through the corporate values that are encouraged through his leadership, or
through his policies. If the leader is a high-ranking official over a nation, his
morals can permeate an entire culture. You may come from a country in
which the leaders have tremendous gifts, communicate well, and are
competent in various leadership techniques—but are lacking in ethical
convictions. Many leaders do not take responsibility for their actions. They
feel they should experience no consequences when they betray the trust of
their constituents, whether their employees, their families, or the public.
Such attitudes and behaviors do not go unnoticed by followers, so that
many people begin to think, He’s a leader, and he did such and such and
got away with it, so I can do it, too. This is why it is vital for leaders to
recognize and assess the values they currently hold and to establish or
reestablish ethical principles that they will commit to stand upon. We will
explore this process in the next few chapters.
4. Leaders Influence the Commitment of the Followers
If a leader has strong convictions, his passion will become contagious
among his followers, leading them to commit to his vision. Earlier, we
talked about Martin Luther King Jr. in relation to how leaders develop
vision. King’s vision gave him a passion that inspired and influenced
“average” people—such as housewives, carpenters, masons, teachers, and
religious leaders—to march in nonviolent protest against the refusal of
certain states in the nation to acknowledge and permit voting rights for
blacks. A number of them personally faced the resistance of policemen
armed with clubs, dogs, water hoses, and tear gas. Why would anyone
willingly risk being beaten with a billy club or choked by tear gas? What
kind of man would influence people to actually do that? Someone with
genuine conviction.
A leader’s commitment can be transferred to enough people that his
personal conviction eventually becomes a national movement. His
principles can initiate an irresistible process of reform. If, as a leader, you
try to avoid an issue or a consequence, people won’t follow you. But if you
meet it squarely and remain constant in your convictions, others will join
you.
A leader’s principles can initiate an irresistible process of reform.
5. Leaders Influence the Destiny of the Followers
The influence of someone who has conviction can lead people to a destiny
they might not otherwise have reached. Czech playwright and dissident
Václav Havel, who had long decried the dehumanizing elements of
communism, helped precipitate the nonviolent Velvet Revolution in
Czechoslovakia in 1989 that effectively led to the end of communist rule
there. Havel and other dissidents formed the Civic Forum to plan the
dismantlement of communism in their country. Timothy Garton Ash, a
historian who witnessed the forum, said, “It was extraordinary the degree to
which everything ultimately revolved around this one man.…In almost all
the forum’s major decisions and statements, he was the final arbiter, the one
person who could somehow balance the very different tendencies and
interests in the movement.”9 Havel became the last president of
Czechoslovakia and the first president of a new Czech Republic.
Conversely, the influence of a leader who lacks character can condemn his
followers to an appalling fate. In the 1970s, cult leader Jim Jones convinced
people to leave loved ones and live with him in the jungles of Guyana.
Several years later, he led 909 of his followers to their deaths by inducing
them to drink cyanide—then he shot himself to death.
Adolf Hitler was a gifted politician and communicator, wielding
tremendous influence over the German people. He held thousands of
citizens spellbound as they listened to his speeches in person or on the
radio. His oration was so powerful that some people thought he was a god.
Hitler had many characteristics of an effective leader. But his philosophy,
his personal code of ethics, was immoral. It turned his leadership assets into
frightening tools of abuse.
Hitler didn’t value all of human life—just a small segment of it. His
warped value system created disaster for his nation and many other nations
of the world. Millions of people died as a direct or indirect result of his
reign. They were starved, died of disease, or were exterminated in
concentration camps, prison camps, and quarantined ghettos. While fighting
World War II—a war Hitler instigated—many people were killed in battle
or died when they succumbed to disease or accident; others were wounded,
maimed, or emotionally scarred for life. Multitudes lost loved ones and
possessions, seeing their entire way of life vanish. Today, the German
people are still trying to come to grips with the question, “How could our
people have let that happen and even have participated in it?”
The lesson for us is that whatever we accommodate, we will either
ultimately embrace or be destroyed by. We are not safe on any level—
social, economic, emotional, physical, or spiritual—if we don’t know the
person we are following. We can’t afford to be complacent or gullible.
Philosophy, or Beliefs
Our philosophy, or belief system, has been formulated throughout our lives
by our responses to various influences on us. Those influences include our
families, our friends, our heritage/background, our physical and social
environments, our education, our religious affiliation, our knowledge, the
media we have been exposed to, our associates, our coworkers, and so
forth. Our beliefs come from the ideas we have been exposed to or have
developed from our observations and analyses, and which—and this is most
important—we have received as truth.
Some of the ideas we accept may be false or incomplete. But if we believe
they are true, they still become incorporated into our personal philosophy,
helping to construct the foundation on which we build our lives. That is
why, if a person wants to change his belief system, he has to change his
ideas about himself and/or his ideas about the world.
We develop character, therefore, as a result of our personal philosophy,
including what we believe about the meaning of life, the nature of the
world, and how we should relate to other people.
If a person wants to change his belief system, he has to change his
ideas about himself and/or his ideas about the world.
What Ideas Have We Accepted?
I am convinced that one of our greatest weaknesses as leaders today is that
our philosophical training about who we are as human beings—including
our inherent purpose as leaders—has been severely deficient. Our
environment and other influences have produced defects in our thinking due
to some of the flawed philosophies that have been perpetuated by our
culture, which we have accepted. If we want to become leaders of character
who make a positive difference in the world, we need to take a serious look
at what ideas we have received, how those ideas have shaped our
philosophy of life, and what beliefs and attitudes we may need to change.
For example, if a leader has accepted the concept “It’s everyone for
himself in this world,” he will always put himself before other people, with
the result that he may neglect, mistreat, or even abuse his followers. True
leaders always place the highest value on the dignity of all humankind.
Personally, I believe that if you don’t respect other people, you should not
be in leadership. The world already has too many problems to take on
another leader who disregards the intrinsic value of human beings.
A leader’s personal beliefs about himself and the nature of the world will
inevitably be revealed in his public policy. By “public policy,” I do not refer
only to governmental programs and laws. I use the term in a broad sense, to
indicate the policies, directives, instructions, and guidance of leaders
toward those who follow them. A leader’s public policy reflects how he
views, interacts with, and affects the lives of other people as he carries out
his leadership.
“As a Person Thinks in His Heart, so Is He”
Let us look at another proverb from the perceptive King Solomon: “As [a
person] thinks in his heart, so is he.”1 Many people misquote this saying by
leaving out the word “heart.” But Solomon did not say, “As a person thinks,
so is he.” To me, the word “heart” is the most important word in this
statement. It denotes the center of our reasoning. I believe the “heart” is
equivalent to what psychologists today call the “subconscious mind.” So,
we could paraphrase Solomon’s saying in this way: “As a person thinks in
his subconscious mind, so is he.”
As the term indicates, our subconscious mind exists behind our conscious
mental functions. It is where everything that we believe is “stored,” much
like information is stored on a computer hard drive. When you are using a
particular program on your computer, you don’t see all the programs and
files that exist on your hard drive. You see only what you are working with
at the moment, whether it is a word processing system, a spreadsheet, or a
game—or several programs at the same time. The rest of the programs and
files exist, and some may even be active, but you’re not consciously aware
of them. Yet if you intentionally open a new file or maximize a screen to
view a program you are running (for instance, to check the status of an
ongoing system update), you bring that other portion of the hard drive to the
attention of your conscious mind, where you can consider it.
In a similar way, we can bring the thoughts that are in our “heart,” or
subconscious mind, to the surface of our conscious mind for reflection and
assessment so that we can begin to evaluate what we really believe—and
why.
Most people live according to the ideas that reside in their subconscious
mind. That’s why it’s so important for us to understand not just what
another person is saying but what is stored in his belief system. For
example, you may have had the experience of thinking that a person had all
the makings of a good leader—until he was promoted! Then the negative
qualities started to manifest. Abraham Lincoln said, “If you want to test a
man’s character, give him power.” I would augment that apt comment by
saying that if you want to know the true character of a person, give him one
or all of the following: (1) power, (2) position, or (3) money. The way in
which an individual uses any of these resources will reveal what exists at
the core of his inner life.
We can sum up what we have discussed so far in this way: Our beliefs
govern who we are, as well as the path along which we are traveling in life.
It’s not what we say, but what we genuinely believe, that directs our lives
and our leadership.
Ask yourself, “What foundational beliefs direct my life?”
Convictions
Our established belief system gives rise to our convictions. This point is
similar to what we discussed in the last chapter in relation to discovering
one’s purpose—that when a leader fully believes in his inherent purpose
and gifting, it leads to conviction. We can’t “receive” character from
something outside of us. The groundwork of character is established when
we personally hold to an idea so completely that, for us, it becomes a deep
principle worth sacrificing for.
Character is measured by the depth of what we claim to believe. Again,
you can learn all the skills, methods, and styles of leadership, but they
won’t mean much if you have no real convictions that guide your life—or if
you sell out your convictions. If your belief system is weak, you will find
yourself to be inconsistent in your standards and vacillating in your ethics.
You may choose the honorable course one day, but the next day engage in
ethically questionable behavior.
Ask yourself, “What strong convictions do I hold?”
Character is measured by the depth of what we claim to believe.
Traditional Leadership Concepts:
Legacies of Philosophy
Based on the process we have been looking at, we can understand how,
through shared beliefs, certain concepts of leadership have taken hold in our
nations and permeated the world’s cultures. The generally accepted images
of leaders and leadership that many people have today are derived from
particular philosophical ideas. We have absorbed these ideas as naturally as
we have absorbed other ways of thinking and living from our culture, such
as the manner in which we celebrate holidays and the colloquialisms we
use. Yet most of us haven’t stopped to consider how our beliefs about
leadership have been affected by prevailing cultural ideas.
The theoretical foundation for many of our beliefs about leadership,
especially in Western nations, was derived from the ideas of several
renowned philosophers from ancient Greece. These ideas were
disseminated widely through the influence of the vast Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire existed for nearly eight hundred years, from about 250
b.c. to a.d. 476. It was the most powerful empire in history. At its height,
Rome ruled over virtually the entire known world. No nation or empire
since then has equaled its power and influence. The Romans admired the
Greeks, and their thinking was greatly influenced by Greek philosophy. The
Greeks held the idea that there were superior and inferior races. When
Rome invaded Greece and took over that great empire, the Romans adopted
this philosophy. They ruled with the idea that Romans were superior to the
rest of the peoples of the world. As we will see, the basis of their perceived
superiority was that they had certain distinctive traits, and that they had
been chosen by the “gods” to be the leaders.
The Romans’ philosophy led them to accept the idea that subjugating other
peoples was a good and acceptable practice. As their empire extended
across the world, their ideas about races and peoples influenced how they
treated their subjects and how their subjects came to think about
themselves. The essence of these ideas still affects us today.
I have read the writings of Plato and Aristotle, and the thoughts of
Socrates. While they said many helpful things, I am astonished that people
still accept much of what they believed about leadership, because, in my
view, their basic theories are flawed.
Let us examine some of our widely accepted theories of leaders and
leadership that come from Greek philosophy.
1. The “Birth Trait” Theory
This theory holds that some humans are born with unique qualities that
earmark them for leadership, while the majority of people—who do not
possess these traits—are destined only to follow and be subordinate.
Aristotle said that from the hour of a person’s birth, he was marked for
either leadership or subjection. Aristotle promoted the concept that we
sometimes express today in these words: “Leaders are born, not made.”
I have investigated the traits that the Greeks and Romans valued, and they
were things like the shape of one’s nose, the color of one’s eyes and hair,
the fairness of one’s skin, and one’s height. If you didn’t happen to have the
preferred manifestations of these traits through genetics, you were
automatically relegated to a lesser status—to servitude.
Earlier, we discussed how people often choose leaders based on the
leaders’ appearance and stature, rather than for their character or even their
abilities. Various studies have clearly indicated that personal traits, as well
as circumstances, do contribute to the kind of leadership a person exercises.
Yet while a person’s leadership may be affected by his physical traits and
other factors, these do not constitute the whole picture of leadership.
Moreover, some people today have the idea that only individuals with
certain traits can be leaders, reinforcing the ancient belief that leaders are
superior to the rest of the population. Yet, as we discussed in chapter 2,
every person exercises leadership in a particular area of gifting. We all have
a unique gift or gifts, and none of us is intrinsically “superior” to others—
even when they are under our authority or oversight.
2. The “Chosen by the Gods” Theory
Another Greco-Roman theory that corresponds to the “birth trait” theory is
that leadership is reserved for a favored few whom the “gods” selected for
elite positions over the masses. The “chosen ones” are to control, manage,
and direct the lives, aspirations, fortunes, and futures of those who are “not
chosen.”
To the people living in the Roman Empire, this meant that if the gods
didn’t choose you to be a leader, you were destined to spend your life as a
slave or a servant. So, if you were not a Roman—a member of the elite race
—your lot in life was to be second class. You could never rise to the caliber
of someone worthy of real leadership.
This theory supports the idea of a class system. If you believe the gods
choose some people to be rulers and others to be slaves, then if you happen
to be among the slaves, it wouldn’t matter if you earned five PhD’s and
knew more than all the other leaders combined—you would always be seen
as inferior and existing primarily for the benefit of those who were born
leaders. In most countries, up until modern times, people did not move from
a lower class to a higher one. If they were born to parents who belonged to
the nobility or upper class, they remained in that station throughout their
lives. If they were born to parents who were servants, they couldn’t aspire
to be anything but a servant.
We still see this attitude today in many nations among those who think that
a person’s “pedigree,” social status, and education at exclusive schools
alone qualify him to be an elite leader. Those whose lineages are from
“lesser” origins, and whose social standing and education are not as
prestigious, cannot aspire to the highest and most influential leadership
roles.
3. The “Charismatic Personality” Theory
This theory promotes the idea that only certain individuals who possess a
unique measure of “charisma”—who are extroverted and charming, have
superb communication skills, and so forth—are leaders.
Charisma is a Greek word meaning “favor” or “gift.” So again, the idea
was that certain people were endowed by the gods with gifts that made
them superior to others. Today, when they encounter someone who has
charisma and charm, many people automatically assume he is a leader or
destined to become a leader.
A person with a charismatic personality can use his natural gift while
exercising his leadership, but it will not make him a true leader—neither
will it sustain him as a leader. Note that each of the above theories has
nothing to do with a leader’s character, only his personal features or natural
abilities. Furthermore, according to these theories and their offshoots, many
people today who are active leaders in business, economics, education,
religion, science, and many other fields could never have been leaders.
4. The “External Factors” Theory
In addition to the above ideas from the Greeks and Romans, our culture
has other traditional views of leadership that focus mainly on external
factors. One such view is that leaders are formed as they learn to deal with
particular circumstances: If you put a person in a certain situation with
specific criteria and stimuli, he will emerge as a leader.
While outside circumstances play a critical role in shaping the character
and abilities of leaders (a topic we will explore later), this theory does not
generally emphasize a leader’s inner purpose, beliefs, and convictions—all
of which are essential for successful leadership.
Another idea is that leaders are developed by studying leadership at a
college or university, or by participating in other leadership courses and
training. Many people believe that if a person has earned an MBA or
attended leadership conferences, he is qualified to lead others.
I am not opposed to leadership training—I train leaders all the time. Yet
many leadership courses do not cover some of the essential elements of
leadership development, such as we discussed in chapter 2. In addition,
education and training alone are not sufficient means for becoming a leader
—especially if a person does not merge his training with the knowledge of
his unique purpose and the exercise of his intrinsic gifts.
A Perpetual Influence
Let us look briefly at how the Greek and Roman ideas of leadership found
their way to us. When the Roman Empire eventually fell apart, it became
many local states and kingdoms, which developed into the countries we
know today. Much of Europe is made up of former colonies of the Roman
Empire, and through the influence of various European nations on their own
colonies, Greco-Roman philosophies, including those about leadership,
spread even farther.
Assumed Superiority
When some of these European nations starting obtaining their colonies,
they embraced the idea of the superiority of certain races, in which the
oppressor believes he is superior to the oppressed. Over the years, this
concept solidified as the idea that a leader is superior to his followers. This
damaging philosophy is still taught in a number of our colleges and
universities, seminaries, and leadership training schools, which produce
many of the leaders of our nations.
This is why, when university graduates and professionals obtain positions
of leadership, many of them automatically feel superior to others. They may
not consciously realize they have this attitude; it may exist in their
subconscious minds. However, it manifests in their attitudes toward their
leadership roles and in their relationships with other people—especially
their followers, employees, or subordinates.
Sometimes, the worst thing you can do is give someone a title, because
suddenly he thinks, I am better. I am privileged. Whether the title is
president, executive, senior partner, supervisor, director, manager, pastor, or
anything else, it becomes a problem for many people because their minds
are still influenced by these false philosophies of leadership.
I find this to be the case among people all over the world. I often speak to
groups in developing countries. Of the approximately 7 billion people on
earth, about 5 billion of them live in nations that were formerly colonies of
European powers. In these nations, the belief system remains that only
particular people have the right to lead, and the rest of the masses, who
don’t have special traits, charisma, and so forth, can never be leaders.
Sometimes, the worst thing you can do is give someone a title,
because suddenly he thinks, I am better. I am privileged.
The “Black Crab Syndrome”
The sad fact is that those who have been oppressed don’t seem to take on a
different mind-set once they throw off their oppression and experience a
measure of freedom. They suddenly adopt the same philosophy and
attitudes toward their own people that had been used against them. For
example, they may think, My skin color is lighter than yours, so I must be
better. Why do people do this? Because it is the model of authority and
power they have learned from their culture and by their personal
experiences, so that it is ingrained in their thinking and attitudes.
Thus, they act according to the “black crab syndrome,” which keeps their
emerging societies from becoming places where all people are valued and
encouraged to better themselves. The black crab syndrome is a phenomenon
named after the behavior of real crabs. Suppose you caught or purchased
some live black crabs to serve at a party. You plan to prepare them later on
that day, and you need to store them somewhere. You could just place the
crabs together in a barrel, and you wouldn’t even have to put a lid on top of
the container. You could be assured that none would escape. Why? Because
the other crabs wouldn’t allow a single crab to climb over the rest to reach
the opening at the top. If a crab were to climb up so that it got close to the
top, the others would pull him back down again. Yet if the crabs would only
allow each other to reach the top, many could go free.
This mind-set of not wanting someone else to get ahead of you, and
therefore not helping him and even actively working to keep him down—or
pulling him down when he begins to succeed—is also prevalent among
people in developed nations. Everyone is afraid that someone else will
become better off than he is or gain more advantages than he has.
Thus, the leadership mind-sets of the Greeks and Romans still rule us. We
think we need to be superior to others in order to feel special, chosen, and
safe.
Misfocused Priorities
Due to the above views that we have inherited through our culture, the
professors and other instructors who teach leadership courses and seminars
at our universities, institutes, and workshops usually focus on such aspects
of leadership as these: power, position, titles, skills, gifts, talents,
educational qualifications, knowledge, and personality. They do this
because these are the ideas that they were taught or otherwise assimilated
into their belief systems.
Therefore, in both formal and informal settings of leadership training and
practice, we continue to overemphasize certain concepts of leadership while
neglecting the most important—character. Again, many of the above ideas
are factors in leadership, but they do not define what it means to be a true
leader. Most important, they do not produce a true leader.
Perhaps 90 percent of the people we consider leaders found their way into
their leadership position based on the traditional leadership theories we’ve
discussed. They possess outstanding gifts and skills, they hold impressive
academic credentials, they were born into wealthy and/or prestigious
families, they exercise some form of natural power and influence, or they
have appealing physical traits. While directors, managers, human resources
personnel, and electors may have considered the leaders’ character when
hiring or voting for them, it likely wasn’t the first, second, or perhaps third
consideration for many of them.
I want to emphasize again that natural attributes and acquired skills have
not prevented numerous leaders from failing at their responsibilities and
falling from their former heights due to indiscretion, greed, or hubris—
thereby destroying their own potential. In the introduction to this book, we
looked at a number of famous people who possessed traits that, according to
traditional thinking, should have guaranteed their success as leaders, yet
they fell. You probably know of other leaders who had all the indications of
promising lives and careers but forfeited their positions.
“To educate a man in the mind and not in morals
is to educate a menace to society.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Properties of Values
Next, let’s note several properties connected with values.
1. Values Grow out of Personal or Corporate Philosophy
Again, our beliefs and convictions are always the starting place for the
development of our character, which is established through our values.
2. Values Are More Important than Rules
If an individual has strong, positive values, he doesn’t require a lot of
external laws and rules to govern his life. He doesn’t need to be monitored
by someone else who makes sure he does what he should be doing. He
monitors himself. And because his values are based on his internal
motivations, they have both stability and longevity.
The best kind of rules are meant to make us aware of standards that are
right and beneficial for us, so that we can make a personal decision to
observe them. They are not intended to be an end in themselves. On the
other hand, arbitrary rules that people are forced to comply with will lack
power because they will not be internalized by them.
If an individual has strong values, he doesn’t need a lot of
external laws and rules to govern his life.
3. Values Can Build Others Up or Tear Them Down
Depending on whether a person’s values are derived from positive or
negative beliefs, they will be helpful or harmful to the one who holds them
—and to others. This point may seem obvious, but many people don’t
consider the effect their values have on their daily lives.
For example, a leader can value the idea that the financial “bottom line” is
the only thing that matters. Accordingly, instead of inspiring his employees,
he harasses them in an attempt to attain greater productivity.
The organization Leadership IQ conducted a study involving more than
five thousand leaders over the period of August 2012 to January 2013.
When asked about their leadership style, 39 percent of the leaders preferred
to use an “intimidating” style—a factor the study attributed to “economic
fatigue” related to the global financial crisis. Apparently, in an attempt to
spur workers to make more money for the company, many managers
employed intimidation.1
Another study that examined the leadership implications of the economic
crisis concluded that leadership based on principles of character was
“prevalent in the firms that weathered and even prospered during the
crisis.”2 This study indicates how different values can produce different
results. Good productivity is a legitimate goal for a leader; however, the
path to achieve it is to lead with character, valuing the contributions of each
participant and encouraging him to use his gifts to the fullest.
Values ultimately motivate our conduct, and many of our actions are not
morally neutral—they have either positive or negative consequences for
ourselves and others.
4. Values Are Personal—but They Are Never Private
This point, which I mentioned briefly in chapter 1, corresponds with the
previous point. It highlights the fact that our values inevitably have some
impact on others.
Many families, communities, and countries are being destroyed today as
people’s negative values are manifested in their ill treatment of others. For
instance, if an individual doesn’t place a high value on the institution of
marriage—and on his own marriage, in particular—he may think it’s
acceptable to engage in an extramarital affair. By so doing, he can devastate
the lives of his spouse and children. In the process, he may also experience
losses—of his friends, his home, and other important aspects of his life.
In contrast, if a person places a high value on the institution of marriage,
and has committed himself to this value, it will keep him from having an
extramarital affair, even if he may be tempted to do so. His dedication to his
marriage will impact not only his life but also the lives of his spouse and
children.
5. Values Outlive Goals
Goals are temporary aims that a leader has determined are necessary to
enable him to reach a greater objective. Values, on the other hand, are
timeless. Once a leader reaches a specific goal in the process of pursuing
his vision, he can set other goals that align with his values.
6. Values Send a Message
Your stated values communicate what you claim to stand for. But the
values you demonstrate by your actions reveal what you truly stand for and
whether your stated values have real substance and meaning.
We should take time to consider what ethical messages we are sending to
others. For example, by his words and actions, an individual can indicate to
other people that he is open to engaging in unethical behavior. As a result,
someone who is looking for a “partner in crime” to participate with him in
dishonorable conduct, such as lying or cheating, will feel comfortable in
approaching him. However, if the individual has made it clear through his
words and actions that he is a person of character who will not lie or cheat,
the dishonorable person will not approach him but will pass over him and
look for someone else to recruit.
7. Values Attract Similar Values
Likewise, it is generally the case that people who hold particular values are
drawn to other people who hold the same values. Applying this point to
personal relationships, we know that friendships are forged among people
who have similar interests and preferences.
My close friends and associates share my values. There are other people
with whom I am unable to associate. My experiences with them have
revealed that they don’t value the things I value; in fact, sometimes they
value things that I believe are detrimental. That doesn’t mean that I
intentionally snub them. Yet, as a leader, I have to protect my character, and
a close tie with them would not only be ethically unhealthy for me but it
might also give the impression to others that I support their values.
Values are so important that they should be the basis of our key
associations. The same point applies to corporate relationships—for
example, companies doing business with one another and governments
making agreements and treaties with other countries and supporting various
international causes. When considering an association, leaders should ask
themselves, “What overt or underlying values are involved in this decision?
What binding alliances am I making?”
Global terrorism is on many people’s minds today, and terrorists use
various methods to promote their causes. When a terrorist straps a bomb to
his body and detonates it in a crowded public square, killing innocent
people (as well as himself), it indicates that he values his message more
than he respects human life. Some people in the world would support his
action, because they share a similar priority. Yet the terrorist’s
demonstration does not lead me to be sympathetic to his cause, and I cannot
accept his justification for his actions, because he doesn’t respect what I
value.
Values should be the basis of our key associations with others.
8. Values Shape Corporate Entities
The social norms and the environment of a corporate entity are established
by the values of its leaders and the shared values of its members—creating
a corporate culture. In a later chapter, we will discuss the role of core values
in relation to a business, an organization, a nation, or any other group.
9. Values Manifest in Corporate or Public Life
A person’s values will eventually be revealed by the way he conducts
himself, and the manner in which he treats others, in the group of which he
is a part. For example, if one of his values is honoring the purposes and
inherent gifts of other people, he will not gossip about others or try to
undermine their success. If another of his values is respecting the property
of others, he will not steal from his company, his coworkers, or his fellow
citizens. If yet another of his values is esteeming the quality of honesty, he
will not lie to others or exaggerate the facts of a matter to his own
advantage.
Discipline
Once we have determined our moral standards, written them down, and
declared them to others, what does it take to keep them? We will explore
this theme in more depth in a later chapter on how character is tested. But
first, to be intentional about our character—following through with our
established standards—requires exercising personal discipline. If we have
genuine convictions, we will be motivated to discipline ourselves for the
purpose of remaining aligned with those convictions.
Setting Priorities and Making Choices
Just as moral standards begin with our thinking, discipline begins with our
mind. Being disciplined involves setting priorities for yourself that
determine your choices and direct your behavior. Two dictionary definitions
for discipline are “a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity,”
or “orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior.” When you have a
“rule” that governs your activity, or when you have “prescribed” conduct
for yourself, it means that you previously made some choices that you have
determined will guide your activities and behavior.
Priorities are the key to effective decision-making. You must identify
priorities in relation to achieving your vision and establishing the principles
by which you will conduct your entire life, including how you will spend
your time and money. Prioritizing places useful limits on your decisions—
limits that will enable you to become the leader you were meant to be. You
first determine what is beneficial for you, and then you order your life in
ways that train and prepare you, and provide for the fulfillment of your
purpose.
Self-imposed Parameters
The key to being disciplined is to set self-imposed parameters for your life
in relation to both your moral standards and your daily activities—what you
will and will not accept for yourself, and what you will and will not
participate in. Are the activities you are currently involved in beneficial to
your leadership purpose and vision? The choices we must make are not
always between what is good and what is bad. Sometimes, they are between
what is “good” and what is “better” or “best.” Prioritizing protects you from
trying to do everything. It keeps you from spending too much time on
secondary pursuits.
Unless you establish moral standards and priorities for yourself, you will
have no real beneficial restraints on your life. Therefore, ask yourself
questions such as these:
On what am I expending my energies?
On what am I spending my money? Where am I investing
my finances?
What am I feeding my mind and heart (TV shows,
movies, books, music, Web sites) as a steady diet? Is
what I am watching, reading, or listening to helping or
hindering me in the pursuit of my purpose and vision?
(All of the above types of resources are value-neutral—it
is how they are used by others, and how we prioritize
their use in our own lives, that makes the difference from
a moral standpoint.)
Ethics
This leads us to the next stage of character development, in which our
conduct and/or disciplined actions manifest as our ethics. Let’s look at
several dictionary definitions of ethics, in which I have emphasized certain
words in boldface type: “a set of moral principles: a theory or system of
moral values,” “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a
group,” or “a guiding philosophy.”
In previous chapters, we’ve talked about leaders establishing a “code of
ethics.” A code of ethics brings together what we’ve discussed over the past
three chapters. It is the synthesis of a leader’s beliefs, convictions, values,
and moral standards, as well as the priorities and choices that determine his
personal discipline. A code of ethics is a clearly delineated guiding
philosophy and system of moral principles to which he commits in order to
exercise effective, ethical leadership.
An individual’s experience of exercising leadership will be much easier—
and more fulfilling—if he establishes strong beliefs and convictions, and
determines his values, moral standards, and priorities at the beginning of the
process of his leadership development. Yet all of us must continually work
to strengthen the areas of ethical weakness in our lives, and to develop the
qualities of principled leaders. Our code of ethics is like a compass,
pointing us to the goal we are moving toward. In the end, the quality of our
character depends on the nature and durability of our ethical code.
Our code of ethics is the synthesis of our beliefs, convictions,
values, moral standards, priorities, and discipline.
Character Controls Lifestyle
Lastly, the conduct that we manifest, as a result of our commitment to our
code of ethics (or our lack of such), defines our character. And our character
controls our lifestyle. That is where our philosophical journey ultimately
leads—it determines the entire shape and scope of our lives. In this sense,
we could say that our character is our life.
A popular television show depicts what life would be like in the world,
particularly in America, if suddenly all the electrical power went out—and
no one could turn it back on again. While the TV show is fiction, the
problem it portrays is a reality for many people in certain regions of the
world, including the country of Nigeria.
Several years ago, while on a speaking trip to Nigeria, I was talking with a
top lawyer in that nation who was one of my hosts. I inquired, “Nigeria is
the seventh-largest oil producer in the world, but most Nigerians don’t have
electricity. Everywhere I go, people use generators for power. There is no
national grid in place to run electricity to people. Explain that to me.” He
said, “Well, it’s not in the best interests of the politicians for the people to
have electricity. Every time they discuss that issue in the parliament, they
vote it down.”
When I asked why government leaders would vote down giving people
access to electricity, he replied, “Most of the politicians own either
generator companies or companies that prepare them or provide fuel for
them.” Because the politicians had a particular business interest, the
majority of their country’s citizens were being denied a key resource for
their lives.
Perhaps you, too, live in a nation where corruption or mismanagement is
holding back resources or improvements from its people. When I became
aware of the underlying problem in Nigeria, I knew I could not address the
issue directly, because it was a symptom of a greater issue—an apparent
lack of values among many of the nation’s leaders. Therefore, when I had
the opportunity to speak to a number of these leaders, I talked about
character and how it affects national life. I knew that when leaders catch a
vision of character, they begin to change their values and their conduct.
Subsequently, their values become their policies.
Slowly, the situation has begun to change in Nigeria. There have been
efforts to reform and privatize the electric industry. But there are still many
internal challenges, and there have been setbacks. Reportedly, 120 million
people in that nation, or three quarters of the population, still do not have
access to electricity.1 But leaders are continuing to work on the problem.
Such issues require commitment and perseverance, as well as the
development of shared values among the leaders and citizens.
When leaders catch a vision of character,
they begin to change their values and their conduct;
subsequently, their values become their policies.
Corporate Influence
As a leader, always be aware of this reality: Your personal values and
moral principles have a significant influence on those who participate with
you in your corporate effort, as well as others who are affected by your
policies and conduct. I use the word corporate here to refer to any form of
association or joint effort, on any level—families, nonprofit organizations,
churches, businesses, local communities, county or regional governments,
states or provinces, nations, coalitions of nations, and so forth.
You set the tone for your followers. Your leadership role and its influence
include some or all of the following:
Maximizing the corporate vision.
Transforming the corporate culture to the point that your
personal beliefs, attitudes, standards, and behavior are
adopted by your followers or constituents.
Establishing policy, or the regulations and laws that
govern your constituents.
Determining the direction, security, and prosperity of the
group.
Setting standards in relation to corporate ethics and
intended outcomes.
Effecting change.
These are substantial responsibilities, and it is essential to know how the
corporate values that you establish and promote will impact the ethical
environment and success of your endeavor. Additionally, although you are a
leader in the realm of your own gifting, you are also a member of other
corporate entities whose values exert influence on you. Are you aware of
the impact they are having on you? Moreover, what responsibilities do you
have as a participant in these groups?
For example, you are the citizen of a nation. Do you know the vision and
values of your country? Are its values constant, or are they shifting? What
influence do these values exert on you? What are your commitments to
your nation?
You may also be a member of a community organization, such as a
volunteer group. Are you aware of its purpose and values? Could you
express them to someone else? Do you agree with them? What are your
responsibilities in relation to this group?
In this chapter, we will look at the vital role that values play in corporate
life. We will further explore how to apply to our particular leadership
situations what we’ve learned about values and morals over the last few
chapters, and we will discover how corporate values influence our own
lives.
All corporate entities should establish stated values that communicate their
character and expectations. For example, a company might post a sign in
several prominent locations in its building that says “As a company, we are
not interested in only your gifts—we are interested in your good character.”
If an employee has exceptional gifts but lacks character, he may engage in
unethical and/or illegal acts—like stealing from the company. For example,
a personal assistant might be able to type over 100 words per minute, but if
he is dishonest, he may take a computer home one day and never bring it
back. I’ve seen similar things happen.
2. Core Values Require Total Corporate Commitment
In any corporate entity, there has to be a general agreement among the
members about what values have high worth and therefore must be upheld
and preserved. Otherwise, there will be disorder and confusion, as well as a
breakdown of unity, as we have discussed. Every member of an
organization should concur with, and be governed by, the corporate values.
3. Core Values Must Become the Personal Values of the Individual
Members
This point is related to number 2, but it reflects the idea that although
corporate affirmation of values is essential, values can be fully effective
only when they are personally embraced by the individual members of the
group. Remember that an individual’s personal vision is always found in the
context of a larger corporate vision. If a member doesn’t see how his
personal vision may be fulfilled within the corporate vision—if what he
values most isn’t aligned with that corporate vision—he will become
detached from the rest of the group, and the quality of his contribution will
diminish. In such a case, it is not necessarily a problem of unethical
standards. The individual may have the same moral principles as the rest of
the group, but what he values in terms of his purpose, and how he would
like to fulfill it, differs from the vision and goals of the rest of the
community.
How is the vision of a corporate entity protected? It is protected by the
participants’ shared values, accompanied by common moral standards—
whether written or implied—discipline, and ethics. A corporate standard
will mean nothing if the members don’t accept it as their personal standard.
When they don’t, they become a drain on the organization; they begin to
undermine its purpose. Values always originate with individuals’ beliefs
and convictions. Then they are applied to corporate arenas. The personal
and the corporate must align.
When a member isn’t aligned with the corporate vision,
he will become detached from the rest of the group,
and the quality of his contribution will diminish.
Corporate Responsibility and Personal Responsibility
I remember hearing about an incident in which an aircraft had to make an
emergency landing because one of the engine plates had not been locked
properly before a flight, causing a dangerous and potentially life-
threatening situation. As I understand it, if an engine plate falls off a plane
in midair at 300 mph, it can become like a razor-sharp knife able to cut right
through steel.
During the investigation of the incident, people in the media were asking,
“Who is at fault here?” The discussions I heard on television were
interesting in light of corporate values. One person said, “First of all, the
pilot should have checked for that while doing his walk-around of the
plane.” It is routine for a pilot to check specific items before a flight. So
when a pilot walks around an aircraft, he isn’t just stretching his legs; he’s
looking at various aspects of the plane, double-checking the work that the
maintenance crew has performed.
The television commentators then asked, “Did the captain fail to check it?
Or was it the fault of maintenance?” Any individual who performs
maintenance on a plane has to sign off on a checklist of items. The
authorities knew which individuals had been involved with the maintenance
of the plane. Had they failed to close the plate properly? The commentators
went on to say, “The supervisor is then supposed to sign off on what the
maintenance crew signed off on.”
As I listened to this ongoing commentary about the plane incident, my
conclusion was that it was a corporate values issue. Even though it was
determined that someone on the maintenance crew had neglected to lock the
plate correctly, the fault came down to a company issue, not an individual
one. Everyone connected with the airline was supposed to personally accept
what the company had agreed upon as its corporate values—including those
related to safety. That means the pilot had to do his part during his walk-
around; the maintenance crew had to do its part and not sign off until it had
checked all the details, such as whether the engine plates had been locked
properly; the supervisor had to make sure the maintenance crew had done
its job; and so on. Everyone has to work together toward corporate success.
And working together means having common values.
A Realigning of Values
When someone becomes a member of an organization, he may find it
necessary to adjust some of his core values so that they align with the core
values of the group. Suppose someone seeking employment interviews with
a corporation and reads on the job application a list of the company’s core
values, one of which is teamwork. The candidate realizes that, up to this
point in his career, he has been very independent-minded. One of his values
has been to work on his own rather than with a team.
The candidate has two choices. He can retain his former value of working
alone and try to find a position where he can do so at a different company.
Or, he may decide that working with others to some degree is a necessary
component in any endeavor and is a value he would like to develop. In that
case, he can decide to embrace the company’s value and adhere to it if he is
hired.
In another example, suppose a citizen of one nation immigrates to a
different country and wants to become a citizen there. The governing
articles of the new country delineate certain core values that reflect its
character. Because the immigrant wants to become a citizen of that society,
it becomes necessary for him to accept its stated core values. In fact, many
people are motivated to move to a new country and take up citizenship there
because they are especially drawn to its values.
A new citizen could, of course, merely pretend to have a commitment to
his adopted nation’s values. If he does, he weakens the unity among the
members of that society. He might even become a danger to them, if he
wanted to actively attack those values. To become a committed and
meaningful member of his country, a new citizen must personally adhere to
its foundational beliefs. Relatedly, if all the citizens of a country made a
commitment to actively embrace the ethical values that the national
community espoused, then ethical and moral corruption would quickly
diminish.
When someone joins a group, he may need to adjust his core values
so that they align with the core values of the organization.
Let’s look at a third example. Suppose a young person has just graduated
from high school. His parents allow him to live at home rent free, so he
finds a part-time afternoon job. Then, he spends the summer staying up late
with his friends every night and sleeping until eleven o’clock in the
morning. At first, he is happy with this arrangement; he values the lack of
demands in his unstructured existence. Soon, however, he realizes that his
life isn’t going anywhere. After looking at his options, he decides to join the
army. In making this choice, he has to change his value system from living
an unstructured life to living a very structured one. He would not be able to
survive in his new environment unless he accepted the values of the new
corporate entity of which he had become a part.
Leaders, as well as Followers, Must Commit to the Corporate Values
Leaders are not exempt from the need to adhere to the community’s values
as their own personal values. Leaders are a part of the corporate entity, but
they aren’t the entity itself. They are not above being governed by the
community’s values—although some leaders act as if they were. A leader
should never tell a follower, “Do what I say—not what I do.” He has a
responsibility and an accountability to his followers, and he must
demonstrate that he personally holds to the values of the group.
4. When There Is a Breakdown of Shared Core Values, Some Members
Will Function According to Unspoken Negative Values
In organizations where positive values are not communicated, repeated, or
demonstrated by the leaders, negative values can develop among the
members as a means of personal survival and/or advancement. Individuals
may start seeking a competitive advantage, rather than using their gifts for
the benefit of the whole community.
Negative values are rarely talked about among the members of a corporate
entity, except on the sly. These values may be in direct conflict with the
organization’s policies. Here are some commonly heard phrases in which
people communicate, especially to new employees, the unspoken values of
a company, as opposed to the formal ones:
“Don’t contradict the boss.”
Suppose you put your house on the market, after having just remodeled
several rooms—creating a master-bedroom suite with a walk-in closet and a
spa-like bathroom; installing custom-made cabinets, marble countertops,
and new appliances in the kitchen; and converting the basement into an
enormous family room. These improvements enabled you to raise your
asking price considerably.
However, also suppose that the foundation of your home hadn’t been
properly supported, so that it suddenly became severely cracked, causing
the house to tilt; or, imagine that a sinkhole developed, so that your house
slipped into a deep pit. Under those conditions, no one would want to buy
it! You couldn’t even live in it yourself. If the house couldn’t be salvaged,
your improvements to the interior would have been for nothing. In reality, a
house is only as valuable as the strength of its foundation. And its
foundation is only as strong as what it is built upon.
A Human Priority
The order the Creator set for leadership is character before power. That is
why an emphasis on character must become a human priority again. When
we return to character, we return to the natural state in which we were
meant to function.
You may be a manager, a supervisor, an entrepreneur, a politician, a
clergyperson, an educational director, the chairperson of a community
group, or the president of a nation. Whatever form of leadership you
exercise, I urge you to make the following lifelong commitment: to help
bring back character as the priority among leaders. Otherwise, our world
will continue to spiral apart, morally and ethically. Across the globe,
societies are deteriorating, and they will crumble if we don’t make character
our first concern.
The whole world was to be filled with men, women,
and children who manifested the nature of God.
How Human Beings Lost Character
As we have discussed, a basic quality of the Creator’s nature is that it
doesn’t change. The questions we must therefore ask are: “How did human
beings as a race—made in God’s image and likeness—lose the continual
manifestation of His character?” “When did we stop being always
consistent, always predictable, always trustworthy, always just, always
merciful and compassionate, and so forth, as the Creator is?” “Why did we
start to demonstrate unethical characteristics, so that our world has veered
so far away from being an expression of His nature?”
Ironically, human beings lost their ability to consistently manifest the
Creator’s nature because the first man and woman heeded the false
accusation that God wasn’t treating them with true character—that He was
not being just. When His trustworthiness was called into question, the first
humans made a decision to doubt His authenticity. Then, for the sake of
gaining power for themselves, they broke a key principle He had
established for them. You can read about these incidents in the first book of
Moses.20
The principle that the first human beings violated had been designed to
protect them, so that they would not suffer the consequences of living
outside of God’s nature. In breaking this principle, they went against the
very means that would have safeguarded them. Because they chose to live
outside of God’s nature, their character became warped. This indicates that,
in some way, their character did not depend on nature alone—it also
required an ongoing decision to remain in that nature. Today, we face the
same type of decision: Will we live by our established principles, beliefs,
values, moral standards, and ethical code? This is a choice we make on a
daily basis.
The first humans’ tragic decision caused humanity to suffer the
consequences of a loss of God’s true nature—including the onset of strife,
sickness, and physical death. The fundamental source of all of humanity’s
deficiencies and problems was—and is—its rejection of the Creator’s
principles. This rejection is what the Scriptures call “sin.” It is why human
nature is described by spiritual leaders as being “fallen.” It once existed on
a high ethical plane, but it descended into a place where it often manifests
only a fraction of its former state.
Illustrations of Character
The English word character comes from a Latin word meaning “mark,” or
“distinctive quality.” As we have seen, our character is what marks, defines,
and identifies us. And we’ve been asking ourselves, “What distinctive
qualities identify me? Are they positive or negative?” Genuine character
includes the following features: It is (1) fixed, or set, (2) predictable, and
(3) stable.
1. Character Is Fixed, or Set
Most people are familiar with the saying, “Every man has his price.” This
idea implies that every person has a point at which he will compromise his
moral standards to gain something else that is a higher priority to him.
Some of the usual candidates are money, fame, and power. But if we want
to be leaders of character, we have to stop accepting this notion—right now.
There’s no “price” for a leader of character that will cause him to
compromise his standards, because his principles are his life. All leaders of
character are therefore “set in their ways,” ethically speaking.
There’s no “price” for a leader of character that will cause him
to compromise his standards.
The fixed quality of character may be illustrated by elements whose
intrinsic quality is to be unchanging, or absolute. For example, the letters of
the alphabet within a particular language are fixed. (Each letter is also
called a “character,” in reference to being a “mark.”) For instance, A is
always A. It will never turn into C. The same property is true for all of the
letters of the alphabet. The meanings of the individual letters do not change.
If they were not set, the system of using them to communicate meaning
among people who share a common language would fail. It would lead to
mass confusion.
Moreover, a number of languages in the world share some or all of the
basic Latin alphabet. For example, the French and Portuguese languages
use the identical twenty-six letters of the alphabet that the English language
does. The Spanish language adds only one letter. The pronunciation of the
letters differs, but the fact that the alphabets are fundamentally equivalent
simplifies the process of learning these related languages. Similarly, moral
absolutes give people solid parameters that enable them to understand the
world they live in and to interact with others in a meaningful way.
Numerals are another example of the fixed nature of character. The number
1 is always 1. It will never change to become 2. And so on, up to infinity. In
nations across the globe, the properties and functions of numbers are used
in exactly the same way.
An additional example of the set nature of character is that of physical
laws. As we discussed in a previous chapter, the Creator’s moral principles
function in a parallel way to His physical laws, such as gravity—they are
unchanging, and they apply to all of us.
Let’s conclude this section by looking at a final illustration taken from the
properties of a commonly used building material—cement. If cement is
wet, it is malleable, enabling you to form a specific shape—often adding
other materials to it first—using a mold. For instance, you might use it to
make sections of a concrete sidewalk or concrete building blocks.
However, once cement hardens, or sets, you can’t reshape it. If you want to
make something different, you need to start with fresh cement. I heard a
story about some cement workers who forgot to keep the drum of their large
cement mixer rotating. By the time they realized their error, the cement in
the drum had completely dried, and they knew there was nothing they could
do to salvage it. The cement was now set and unchangeable. Those workers
had to spend hours using sledgehammers to remove all the dried cement
from the drum so it could be used again.
When cement is set—hopefully, as intended—you know that the sidewalk,
concrete blocks, or whatever else you have formed will be solid and secure.
Likewise, a person with character is “set” in the sense that he cannot be
changed from holding to his established convictions and standards. Suppose
someone offered you cash under the table to look the other way in an illegal
business transaction, and said, “Just pretend you didn’t see this. Let it go.”
If you agree to look the other way, your character is not “set.” Your values
are still malleable. But if you refuse, your character is solid and secure.
That is why we must learn to exercise the kind of personal discipline that
will say, “I cannot do this. It’s against my convictions.”
2. Character Is Predictable
In chapter 7, we discussed several attributes of the Creator, one of which is
that He is always “predictable.” To be predictable is to be consistently
responsible and trustworthy. We can rely on God because He is not one
thing one day and another thing the next.
Would you say that your conduct is predictable or unpredictable? For
example, is your temperament consistent? Do your family members and
coworkers have to walk around on tiptoe when they see you because they
don’t know how you will react to them on a given day? Do they have to
warn others, “Watch out—he’s in a bad mood today!” One biblical writer
described Jesus of Nazareth as “the same yesterday and today and forever.”1
That is the way our character should be. Moreover, when we demonstrate
that we are reliable, we give other people a sense of security and well-
being.
A principled leader is predictable to the point that his character speaks for
him in his absence. That is to say, people know him so well that they could
vouch for what he would or would not do in a given situation—and be
totally accurate. Consequently, as one gauge of how strong your character
is, you might ask several people you trust to give you an honest assessment
of what they think your conduct would be under various scenarios. Use that
information to help you form and strengthen your character.
A principled leader is predictable to the point that
his character speaks for him in his absence.
3. Character Is Stable
As we noted earlier, one consequence of humanity’s loss of true character
was instability. The first-century writer James said that a double-minded
man is unstable in everything that he does.2 I think James was saying that if
a person has a character defect in one area, he will inevitably have character
flaws in other areas, as well. And it’s hard to trust a person who keeps
vacillating.
Instead, when we walk with integrity, our good character can flow evenly
in all areas of our life. Jesus of Nazareth told a concise parable describing
how the nature of the Creator is meant to fill us. He said that the kingdom
of God is “like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of
flour until it worked all through the dough.”3 Character must “work its way”
through every part of us, so that we can consistently manifest it to others.
Another excellent illustration of the stability of character is that of a statue.
Perhaps you have a favorite statue—the Statue of Liberty in New York
Harbor; the “Christ the Redeemer” statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Michelangelo’s David in Florence, Italy; or a statue in your community.
One of my favorite statues is of Queen Victoria, located in Parliament
Square in downtown Nassau, Bahamas. The statue is carved completely of
marble, and the famous queen is depicted as a young woman, sitting with a
royal scepter and a sword, wearing a crown and flowing robes, and smiling
serenely.
The statue was placed in the square in 1905, so I’ve never known a time
when it wasn’t there. Because it has remained unchanged for decades, it
always reminds me of the stability and resilience of character. I see this
statue frequently in my comings and goings, and no matter what the
weather conditions, the statue does not appear altered. It could be a day
when the temperature reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and everyone in
town is wilting from the heat, but “Victoria” continues to smile. During the
rainy season, the downpours are so heavy at times that you can hardly see in
front of you. The rain comes down like lead, and it beats on the statue, but
she smiles through it all. That statue has also been through every hurricane
in the Bahamas since the early twentieth century, including Hurricane
Sandy in 2012. It has endured 140-mph winds, staying strong in the midst
of the storms.
Moreover, someone might go up to “Queen Victoria” and insult her, but
she would just keep smiling at the person and never retort. You could go to
her in the middle of the day, and she would still be sitting and smiling. You
could “sneak up” on her at two in the morning, and she’d be smiling. When
no one is in Parliament Square looking up at her, she is still smiling. One
time, I saw a bird land on her head and “relieve” itself on her—even then,
she kept her serenity! I can guarantee what she is doing right now without
being in her presence, because I know she is unchanging—she has
“character.”
Similarly, a principled leader does not change his values and principles, no
matter the external circumstances. He is able to weather all kinds of
personal and professional storms, even those that are “hurricane strength,”
while remaining calm and steadfast. We need to ask ourselves the
following: “Am I consistent, no matter where I am, what I am doing, and
what time of day it is?” “What do I do when people ‘relieve themselves’ on
me—in other words, gossip about me, criticize me, attack my motivations,
insult me, or even swear at me? Do I become a different person, losing my
temper and lashing back?” “What would I be like if my business collapsed
and I lost everything? Regardless of how devastated I felt, would my
character remain the same?” “Am I the really the person that I project to
others?” “Do I behave in an unethical or inappropriate way when no one
else is around?”
A true leader is able to take criticism and mistreatment and still retain his
character. Genuine character will outlast all disagreements, disapproval,
opposition, and attacks. If you believe in your ideas and your standards, you
should stay with them—be stable. Even your enemies may eventually
acknowledge your integrity. Jesus of Nazareth was cursed at and mocked.
He was spat upon, had His beard plucked out, was severely whipped, and
had nails driven into His wrists and feet; He endured the worst form of
capital punishment ever invented. Yet what did He say when He was dying
on the cross? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are
doing.”4 Even after all He went through, Jesus perfectly reflected the
Creator’s nature—always consistent, predictable, trustworthy, just, and
loving. That’s character!
A true leader is able to take criticism and mistreatment
and still retain his character.
Character Means…
Based on the above, let’s look at some statements that summarize what it
means to have character.
1. Character Means Having a Commitment to a Set of Values Without
Compromise
Leaders of principle do not relinquish their values in the face of pressure to
disregard their beliefs. Because their values are based on their convictions,
they are willing to lose money, promotion, and other advantages for the
sake of their values. Unfortunately, many leaders today are experts in
compromise. They change their values based on what they think other
people want them to do, not what they genuinely believe is right.
Moral compromise is different from the natural give-and-take that occurs,
for instance, when a group of people is discussing options for how to
implement procedures or what methods to use to attain a certain goal. There
is an important distinction between compromising one’s beliefs and making
a concession on an opinion, so that a group can come to a consensus. In
those circumstances, we are not to be uncompromising for its own sake, or
for the purpose of making life hard for another individual. However, when
moral issues are clearly at stake, we must steadfastly hold on to our values
and ethical code.
In an earlier chapter, we discussed the account in which Moses sent twelve
leaders to scope out the Promised Land before the nation of Israel entered
it. Ten of the leaders expressed their fear of the inhabitants of the land, but
two of them insisted the Israelites would be victorious over their enemies.
These two leaders had a strong conviction about, and commitment to, what
God had already assured them they could do. They had “a different spirit”
from the other leaders.5 They had the spirit of character.
Today, many leaders are afraid to be criticized and opposed, so they don’t
take a public stand on important moral issues that affect the well-being of
their community and nation. They cannot handle disagreement, criticism, or
opposition because they just want to be accepted. You could say they have
accepted popularity as their “price” for moral compromise. When people try
to pressure us to back off from our values, we have to be able to say, “I
can’t be ‘bought,’” or “I’m not going to compromise,” or “I must publicly
express my principles regarding this issue.” When you look back on your
life, you may not remember the things that you fell for. But you will
remember what you stood for.
2. Character Means Being Dedicated to a Set of Standards Without
Wavering
Earlier, we examined the process through which our moral standards are
derived from our values. We should compromise neither our values nor our
standards. When a principled leader establishes moral parameters for his
life, he doesn’t waver in his dedication to them. He does not violate them
for anyone or anything. As someone who has lived under the constant
pressure of public scrutiny, let me tell you that no one else will set moral
standards for you. You must set your own. And then you must be fixed and
stable in relation to them.
Let me suggest a few additional examples of specific moral standards that
a leader might set: “I will not lie in order to get a promotion or increase my
profits”; “I will treat my employees justly by giving them fair wages and
ensuring the safety of their work environment”; “I will uphold the value of
every human life.”
The first book of Moses gives the account of a young man named Joseph
who lived in Canaan.6 While he made some mistakes, he exhibited strong
character dedicated to a set of moral standards that brought him through
severe trials.
Joseph came from a large family. He was one of twelve sons—and his
father’s favorite. Consequently, his father gave him special treatment,
including the gift of an elaborate robe. It’s not surprising that his brothers
became intensely jealous of him. After plotting to get rid of him for good,
they sold him as a slave to a passing caravan that was on its way to Egypt.
Then, they smeared the blood of a goat on his special robe to make their
father think that Joseph had been attacked and killed by a wild animal.
How would you react if your own siblings sold you as a slave? Might not
that have been an excuse to waver in regard to your standards? But Joseph
relied on the reserves of his moral character, kept his wits about him, and
trusted in God. He was purchased by a man named Potiphar, who was the
captain of Pharaoh’s guard. Even though he was a slave, Joseph apparently
made a decision to perform his work with excellence, because Potiphar put
him in charge of his entire household and everything he owned. Joseph
established himself as a trusted and valued servant, and the estate prospered
under his management.
So, life was improving for Joseph, and those are the times when some
people will let their guard down and ride along where life is taking them,
often becoming lax in their standards. If Joseph hadn’t been unwavering in
his convictions, that might have happened to him, too, because the
opportunity soon presented itself. Joseph was good-looking, and he caught
the eye of Potiphar’s wife, who soon asked him to sleep with her! He
refused, saying, “No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has
withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then
could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?”7
Even though she persisted daily in trying to convince him, he would not
succumb to her offer. Again, how many people under such circumstances
would have done the same? This young man was abruptly torn from his
family and the home he’d always known and taken to a foreign land as a
slave. He might have accepted whatever opportunities for pleasure and
advantages were offered to him. Yet Joseph knew he had a noble purpose in
life, and he had a reverence for his Creator, so he remained faithful to his
ethical code.
His commitment cost him greatly. Furious at being refused, Potiphar’s wife
accused Joseph of attempting to molest her, and Potiphar had him thrown
into prison. Remarkably, even in that circumstance, he must have remained
steadfast, because the prison warden soon put him in charge of all the other
prisoners. Every time he kept to his convictions, it strengthened his
character even further.
So, Joseph remained dedicated to his principles, even though he was all but
forgotten in prison. Yet all these trials were the prelude to his emergence as
a powerful leader in Egypt when, through a series of God-orchestrated
events, he went from imprisoned slave to Pharaoh’s first-in-command. Keep
Joseph’s “character arc” in mind in the next chapter when we discuss how
trials and difficulties lead to personal growth and steadfast integrity.
Every time Joseph kept to his convictions,
it strengthened his character even further.
3. Character Means Making a Continual Effort to Integrate Your
Thoughts, Words, and Actions
Integrated Means “Whole” and “Entire”
The words integrate and integrity are both derived from the Latin word
integer, meaning “whole” and “entire.” Thus, one definition of integrate is
“to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole.” Having
character means making a continual effort to integrate your thoughts,
words, and actions, so that you are “one.” A leader should be able to
declare, “What I say, what I do, and who I am are the same.” Achieving
such consistency takes daily discipline.
An important principle to remember is that there’s no “break” in life from
character. There is no point at which we will have “arrived,” so that we no
longer have to concern ourselves with values and principles. We must
therefore keep vigil over our character. For instance, it is very easy to be
tempted to lie. Suppose you were laid off from your job, and you found
some short-term work through a temporary agency. Then, at a social
function, you meet a wealthy business executive who asks you, “So, what
do you do for a living?” You don’t want to seem inferior, so you inflate
your job description. Character requires daily maintenance, because every
day—and often many times throughout the day—our character will be
tested.
Integrity Means Having One Face—Not Two or More
If we are to be principled leaders, our private life and our public life must
be ethically “one.” This means we must be honest when no one else is
watching us. When we say something in public, we must still mean what we
said when we are in private. A person with integrity is the same person all
the time, night or day, hot or cold, in good times and in bad. He believes
what he says, and he says what he believes. He says what he does, and he
does what he says. There is no dichotomy.
When we lack integrity, we are disingenuous, or “two-faced.” Let’s look at
an illustration of this concept from the origins of the acting profession. The
Greeks were the first to develop drama. While they started out using only a
chorus of people to narrate a story, they later incorporated into that format
an individual who could play five different parts, or characters, by wearing
different masks, changing them according to the particular role he was
playing.
Interestingly, the word the Greeks used for this person was hypokrites,
from which we get the English word hypocrite. Similarly, the word
hypocrisy comes from the Greek word hypokrisis, meaning “acting on the
stage, pretense,” from hypokrinesthai, meaning “play a part, pretend.”8 In its
original form, “hypocrite” was not a negative term; it merely referred to the
actors who wore masks on the stage while playing multiple parts. However,
the term evolved into the idea of a person of “many faces”—someone
whose real identity was not what it appeared to be.
Jesus of Nazareth referred to a number of the religious leaders and
practitioners of His day as “hypocrites.” For example, He said, “So when
you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward in full”9; and “Woe to you, teachers of
the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and
dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”10 In other words,
He was saying, “You are actors! You wear a mask to hide who you really
are. You keep changing your ‘face.’” They were not “integrated” because
they lacked true character.
We must ask ourselves, “Am I manifesting who I really am in my
interactions with others?” That can be a tough question to ask yourself—
and to answer—but it is a necessary one. We have to start taking off our
masks, so that who we really are can be seen. Then, we must work to
develop our character, so that other people will be able to fully trust what
we say and do.
It is wearying to pretend to be someone you’re not. It’s as if you have more
than one person living inside of you, working at cross-purposes. It’s similar
to what we talked about in an earlier chapter regarding character versus
reputation. Character is who you are—reputation is the mask.
The problem with having a conversation with a hypocrite is that you’re not
sure exactly who you’re speaking with at any given time. Today, many
people—especially younger people—say, “Everybody is a hypocrite.” They
have observed too many leaders say one thing but do another. Or, they have
seen leaders act in ways contrary to what they’ve been told constitutes good
character. They don’t believe that what the leaders tell them has any real
value. As a result, many of them think, I’ll behave any way I want to,
because standards don’t seem to matter. Look at how that politician lied.
Look at what that businessman stole. They start pointing at people who
have violated values and moral standards.
In contrast, when a leader’s private life and his public life are consistent,
he will demonstrate integrity to those around him. True character does not
change with the tides; it is not altered according to the latest opinion poll. It
is consistently “one.”
The problem with having a conversation with a hypocrite is that
you’re not sure exactly who you’re speaking with at any given time.
4. Character Means Making Sacrifices in Support
of Your Principles
A principled leader possesses beliefs so strong that he is willing to
sacrifice for them—to experience the loss of popularity, friendships,
colleagues, financial gain, and success for their sake. Such a quality must be
reintroduced to society by leaders of genuine principle.
Mahatma Gandhi made some major sacrifices for his vision. For instance,
he went on several hunger strikes, one of which drew attention to the unjust
treatment of India’s poorest classes in the caste system, the “untouchables.”
People will continue to remember Gandhi for generations because of his
willingness to sacrifice for what he believed in.
5. Character Means Imposing Self-Discipline in Keeping with Your
Values and Moral Standards
In conjunction with making sacrifices, a leader must impose daily
discipline upon himself, so that he will remain aligned with his convictions
and continue to adhere to his principles. In chapter 5, we discussed specific
ways to exercise self-discipline.
Perhaps, before you picked up this book, you felt like giving up your
values and standards because you found yourself in the midst of a difficult
circumstance. It could be that, because you had made a commitment to your
principles, you disciplined yourself to stick with them, and affirmed, “I will
continue to cultivate myself as a person and as a leader.” If that has been
your situation, I commend you for your discipline and urge you to keep
holding on to your convictions. Your leadership is needed in our world!
On a trip to Israel, I toured a site where ancient artifacts from the Roman
Empire were on display. In one area of the site, I noticed what looked like a
large smelting pot, as well as pieces of metal, a broken sword, a broken
dagger, and an intact sword. The guide at the site explained, “The Roman
Empire had the most powerful army in the world. Practically no one
defeated the Romans militarily. Why? They not only had superior strategy,
but they also had superior weapons. And the reason Roman swords were so
powerful is that they had been properly tempered.”
The guide then explained the tempering process. A Roman blacksmith
would take iron ore and beat it on an anvil with a steel mallet to make it flat
and even. Then, he would put the metal in a furnace. When the metal
became red-hot from the fire, the blacksmith would be able to detect dark
spots in it, which indicated areas of weakness. Wherever he saw a spot, he
would hammer at it until he couldn’t see it anymore. Then, he’d take the
glowing metal and thrust it in very cold water. This caused all the molecules
in the metal to move close together, strengthening it.
After this, the blacksmith would take the sword out of the water and put it
back in the fire. The metal would heat up again, and he would check the
area where he had previously worked on the spot. If it was still there, he
kept working at it until it was completely gone. Then, he’d put the sword
back in the fire until it was glowing hot again, so he could identify the other
weak areas. He would repeat this process until no more spots remained. In
this way, the sword would repeatedly be subjected to a process that took it
from burning fire to hammering to ice-cold water.
The guide said that whenever a blacksmith finished making a sword, he
engraved his own name or mark on it. So, every Roman sword identified
the person who had forged it. And every blacksmith who worked for the
Roman army had a contract stipulating that if any of his swords broke, he
could be put to death.
This guarantee that the sword would not break was crucial to the success
and safety of the soldiers. They were going out into the world of battle. And
when they were in the middle of the pressures of combat, they couldn’t
afford to have their swords break. If they did, their lives could be
jeopardized. The soldiers had to be able to place confidence in the strength
and durability of their weapons. And the only way they could trust their
swords was to know that they had gone through this “tempering” process.
Establishing Trustworthiness
Jesus of Nazareth experienced many tests and trials, and one of the most
demanding was at the beginning of His public ministry, when He was thirty
years old. Let us look at an account of what transpired, written by one of
Jesus’ disciples. It begins, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted….”6 The word “Spirit” in this passage has a capital “S.” That
means that God Himself led Jesus into the desert to be tempted, or
“tempered.” He tested His own Son for the purpose of trying His character.
Let us continue the account:
After fasting forty days and forty nights [in the desert], [Jesus] was
hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell
these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does
not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of
God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the
highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw
yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning
you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike
your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do
not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their
splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and
worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written:
‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”7
God’s enemy, Satan, is the enemy of humanity, as well. In the Bible, he is
referred to variously as “the tempter,” “the devil,” and “the accuser,” and
he, too, tests us for weakness. He did this with the first human beings when
he told them the Creator was acting in an unjust way toward them and
tempted them to violate a vital principle. As we discussed, the first man and
woman failed this test.
God allows the tempter to test us as part of the tempering process, which is
meant to show us our vulnerable areas so that we might seek to be
strengthened and established in character. As the first-century writer James
expressed, “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For
God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is
tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.”8
As the tempering process builds our character, we become more and more
trustworthy. For instance, being criticized by other people is a test we all
experience. Yet our critics can be among our greatest assets, because
criticism always puts our character on trial for its authenticity and shows us
the true state of our thoughts and attitudes.
Satan will not tempt us in the areas of our lives in which he knows we are
strong. Rather, he tests us in the areas in which we are unstable or about
which we are uncertain. And, every time we resist temptation in an area of
weakness, we fortify that area with character. Suppose you are trying to
break a bad habit. If, every time the habit attempts to assert itself, you
“hammer” it, your character in that area will be strengthened. Eventually,
you will overcome the habit and no longer be tempted in that area. But stay
alert—the tempting will begin in a different area!
Our critics can be among our greatest assets, because criticism
always puts our character on trial for its authenticity and shows us
the true state of our thoughts and attitudes.
Here’s another example of a type of test that may come your way. Suppose
you are returning to your home country after having traveled overseas. The
customs officer asks you, “Do you have any goods to declare?” For five
seconds, you feel the intense pressure of a test, because you are tempted to
tell a lie so that you that won’t have to pay any customs duties. You think
you might get away with it. Then you remember that one of the moral
standards you have committed to is, “I will be honest in all my business
dealings.” So, you say, “Yes, sir, I have several items to declare.”
Once, when I arrived home from a trip out of the country, I made my way
to the customs desk at the airport. I am well-known in my nation, and the
customs officer said, “That’s okay; you don’t need to declare that.” I
replied, “No, it’s not okay. I don’t want you to give me any special
treatment. Let me pay.”
A leader’s position and title do not exempt him from being honest. We
don’t have the right to violate principles just because an opportunity to cut
corners or make money illegally presents itself. Suppose you obtained a
position as the head of a government department that awarded contracts in
the areas of engineering and construction. You have three hundred million
dollars in your budget. Suddenly, you experience intense pressure, because
many of your friends and casual acquaintances begin to call you, asking to
be granted contracts. But the hardest test comes when your uncle
approaches you with a tear in his eye, telling you that things are financially
tough, and he can’t pay his rent. He wants you to grant him a lucrative
contract. You know he’s not qualified to be given a contract, and it would
be a conflict of interest, but you are tempted to compromise your principles
and misspend public funds for the sake of helping your father’s brother.
Let me emphasize that there is no one in the world for whom you should
give up your integrity. In many instances, if you compromise your
convictions to please someone else, you’ll be amazed at how little that
person cares. He will use you, and then dismiss you. Or, he will leave you
to pick up the pieces. Then, you will have to live with the fact that you
compromised your moral standards. Again, leaders fail when they sacrifice
their character on the altar of compromise.
Jesus passed each one of the tempter’s tests without compromising His
integrity. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t painful for Him to experience those
tests. But His commitment was steadfast—He remained true to His values
and principles, citing them in response to each argument of temptation
made by Satan.
Note that in the process of trying to get Jesus to violate His principles,
Satan endeavored to make Jesus doubt His position. The tempter also
distorted the meaning of one of the principles God had established. The
principle he twisted would have been valid in context, but he used it out of
context. Yet, because Jesus had a thorough knowledge of the Creator’s
principles, He was able to see through the tempter’s deception and
effectively refute him.
We must be aware that the same experience could happen to us. Other
people—or the tempter himself—may try to make us doubt our position in
God or twist the meaning of first laws in order to get us to compromise our
beliefs and values. For example, someone may say, “The Bible says,
‘Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as
your soul prospers.’9 You’re supposed to prosper in all things, so what’s
wrong with taking a little money under the table? Everyone does it!” To
which you should reply, “The Bible also says, ‘You shall not steal.’”10
The temptations that Jesus of Nazareth experienced in the desert reflect the
three major types of temptations that all human beings experience in life:
(1) The test of the appetites—such as for excess food and drink; illegal
drugs and other addictive substances; and lust, or uncontrolled passion—
whether physical or emotional; (2) the test of fame; and (3) the test of
power. Every leader who has fallen has been snared by at least one of these
three.
The three major types of temptations that all human beings
experience are the test of the appetites, the test of fame, and the test
of power.
The second temptation the tempter tried on Jesus was essentially this:
“Jump off the building and land like Superman! People will be dazzled, and
You’ll be an instant success.” Leaders who rise quickly in fame, power,
and/or fortune are often referred to as “overnight successes.”
I do believe in overnight success—if the “night” lasts about twenty-five
years! Principled leaders usually go through a long process of character
building and persevering in their leadership vision, during which they
faithfully keep their commitments, pursue their goals, refine their skills, and
develop their trustworthiness. This process leads to personal success that is
grounded and lasting. However, many who become successful overnight
end up instant failures not long afterward. Think of what happens to the
majority of people who win the lottery. They squander their winnings
quickly, and many are worse off than they were before they had wealth.
So, don’t jump from the pinnacle of the building. Instead, take the long
walk that leads you through places of testing, where your character can be
tried and proven. Then, you can come out on the other side as a successful
leader, both personally and professionally, experiencing longevity and
leaving a lasting legacy.
Strong Convictions
In chapter 3 and elsewhere in this book, we discussed the necessity of
forming strong convictions. However, this process is so central to the
development of character that it merits being included in this chapter, as
well. As we have seen, convictions refer to two aspects of leadership: (1) a
leader’s certainty that he has a unique purpose in life, and (2) his
wholehearted personal commitment to a vision worth sacrificing for.
Our established belief system gives rise to our convictions. To have
convictions is to sense that there is something we must do while we are on
this earth. It is not optional, because life will have no meaning if we don’t
accomplish it. As I wrote earlier, we can learn all the skills, methods, and
styles of leadership, but they won’t mean much if we have no real
convictions that guide our lives, or if we sell out those convictions.
Accountability
Accountability, or answering to a higher authority for our attitudes and
actions, reflects a commitment to our own personal integrity. This core
quality helps us to remain fixed, set, predictable, and stable in character. We
have a responsibility to be accountable on three levels—to ourselves, to
other people, and to our Creator.
A Commitment to Self-evaluation
First, we are responsible for regularly examining our own conduct to
assess if we are living according to the moral principles that we value
highly and have established as standards for ourselves. Again, we can
accomplish this most effectively if we have written down our principles,
beliefs, convictions, values, moral standards, and ethical code, so that we
can easily refer to them.
A Commitment to Evaluation by Others
Second, to be accountable means to submit the evaluation of our attitudes
and actions to another individual or group of individuals qualified to
examine them in light of the principles to which we have committed. No
one can see all of his own weaknesses, or the areas of his life in which he
may be compromising his standards. We all sometimes need a different
perspective on our lives to show us our weaknesses and our strengths alike.
That is why many people have “accountability partners” with whom they
meet regularly to encourage and challenge each other.
We should make ourselves accountable only to someone of proven
character who has demonstrated that he has our best interests at heart. He
should be someone who is able to clearly assess our progress in character
development and show us how to get back on track when we have strayed.
When we are able to take an honest look at our character, and commit to
work on our areas of weakness, we will strengthen our integrity. We will
integrate our thoughts, words, and actions even further, so they can become
“one.”
A principled leader truly welcomes this process of accountability. He
desires to have his values tested for consistency. He wants to know how
well he is holding to his own stated code of ethics. Rather than being afraid
of constructive criticism, he embraces appraisal because he understands that
his inherent worth was given to him by his Creator. Because he desires to
manifest true character, he is strong enough to hear what he needs to hear
and to use it profitably in his life.
In contrast, unprincipled leaders are afraid of being held accountable, so
they avoid evaluation whenever possible. As a result, many of them become
“lone wolves.” They think, I’m accountable only to myself. Such people
risk self-deception and isolation from the community of which they are a
part. They may also begin to use and misuse other people.
In many organizations, leaders are accountable to a board of directors, a
group of advisors, or a similar accountability group. If they do not have
such a forum to hold them responsible for their stated values, principles,
and goals, leaders can make bad moral choices and other unwise decisions.
Many leaders fall due to a lack of accountability, as we have seen in the
examples throughout this book. A number of them had apparently not made
an intentional decision to pursue character-based leadership, so they had
never really submitted themselves to either self-examination or evaluation
by a board or other group.
Finally, a commitment to evaluation by others means that a leader reports
not only to those to whom he is responsible but also to those for whom he is
responsible. Accordingly, he should regularly meet with his followers to
make sure he is supporting them as they work to fulfill their part of the
vision. And he should endeavor to supply whatever they may need in this
regard.
A Commitment to Evaluation by the Creator
Third, a principled leader recognizes that his ultimate accountability is to
God. That is why he has made a commitment to follow the Creator’s first
laws. He knows that even when he is alone, everything he says and does is
observed by his Higher Authority.
As beings created in the image and likeness of God, we have
responsibilities and privileges alike. One of our responsibilities is to “fear”
our Creator. The term “the fear of the Lord,” which is found in the Bible,
does not mean that we are to be afraid of Him. In this sense, the word “fear”
has to do with a great reverence and respect for Him that causes us to desire
to follow His principles. It also refers to a proper sense of respect for His
power, His love, and His other qualities.
We each have gifts and talents, but we did not create ourselves, and this
fact should cause us to put our accomplishments into perspective and to
express gratitude to our Creator for them. In chapter 9, we looked at the
story of a young man named Joseph who had been sold into slavery by his
brothers and later falsely accused and imprisoned. Joseph is an example of a
leader with great reverence for God. The reason he was moved from the
prison to the palace was that God had given him the ability to understand
the meaning of significant dreams. When Pharaoh had a troubling dream,
someone remembered Joseph’s gift, and he was sent for by the Egyptian
ruler.
Let’s examine what Pharaoh said to Joseph, and then what Joseph’s
response was. “Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I had a dream, and no one can
interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you
can interpret it.’”1 Wouldn’t you feel good if a king said that to you,
especially if you’d just spent years in prison for being unjustly convicted of
a crime? You would want to enjoy the moment and take credit for your
ability. Yet, because Joseph revered God, he understood his responsibility to
acknowledge the source of his gift. “‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph replied to
Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.’”2 A principled
leader doesn’t stand up in such a situation and say, “I’m the answer to all
your problems!” Rather, he gives credit where it is due.
A leader’s willingness to be accountable reflects his commitment to always
be consistent in what he says, what he does, and who he is. Accountability
—in all three realms we’ve just discussed—protects a leader from being
hypocritical, or two-faced, enabling him to align his life with his standards
and principles and to establish his character.
A leader’s willingness to be accountable reflects his commitment to
be consistent in what he says, what he does, and who he is.
Monitoring Your Associations
Let me mention one other subject related to accountability. When we do
not exercise discernment about those whom we choose to be our close
friends and associates, we can inadvertently become answerable to people
who don’t have our best interests in mind, and whose immature character
may have a negative effect on us. Consequently, we may end up following
unwise advice and false principles. As I mentioned earlier, our character—
for good or ill—often determines the nature of the people who gravitate to
us and become our companions. In other words, our character determines
our company. We should form friendships with those who value what we
value and are committed to principled living. For this reason, we must be
intentional about choosing our close associates, as well as developing our
personal character.
Humility
The next core quality is humility. The word humble is derived from the
Latin word humus, meaning “earth.” To be humble, then, means to be
“down-to-earth.” In the context of character, this means to express and
manifest your true self in accordance with your unique, inherent purpose. A
leader can manifest true humility only after he accepts his significance as a
person and as a leader. When he does so, he ceases to be self-conscious
about his actions. He evaluates them regularly, but he does not strive at
them, and he does not pretend to be someone he is not. If an individual
“tries” to be humble, he has missed the true meaning of humility. If we’re
not manifesting our true selves, we cannot be humble. We have
inadvertently put on a mask that hides what we are meant to express and
reveal to the world.
The quality of humility in a leader is manifested through “servant
leadership.” Previously, we discussed Jesus of Nazareth’s description of the
difference between the Roman leaders and the leaders in the “kingdom of
God.” The Romans leaders liked to lord it over people, ordering them
around. But Jesus said that whoever wants to become great must serve other
people. Ordering people around is not the spirit of a true leader. Are your
family members, employees, or colleagues afraid of you? If so, that fact
shouldn’t make you feel better about yourself. Likewise, you shouldn’t get
joy out of an ability to order people around. That is the wrong spirit. A
principled leader has an attitude, or spirit, of service.
When a leader is humble, he also has a healthy attitude toward the areas of
his life in which he still needs to grow in character. I’ve previously quoted
from the writings and sayings of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is an example
of a strong but humble leader. He was intelligent, wise, and perceptive. But
he was also unpretentious, even as president, and he would often express
that quality through his self-deprecating humor. On one occasion, a man
attempted to curry favor with Lincoln by informing him that his secretary of
war, Edwin Stanton, had called him a fool. Lincoln responded that Stanton
was usually right, and that he would give the comment some thought!
Lincoln was comfortable with himself, and he did not feel the need to
defend himself whenever criticism came his way.
Leaders who don’t understand their inherent purpose and worth have
difficulty being humble because they often need reassurance through the
praise of others. But leaders of principle have found something greater than
other people’s accolades—they have found a personal “assignment,” or
vision, and they are busy pursuing it. They are occupied with being who
they were created to be, so they don’t feel a need to be continually puffed
up by others.
Similarly, when we are genuinely humble, we are less likely to be
controlled by other people’s opinions of us. We can’t be leaders of character
if we are always afraid of what other people will think or say of us. Some
people mistake timidity for the quality of humility, but they are opposites:
Timidity is related to fear, while humility is related to peace—peace with
oneself and peace with other people.
When we are genuinely humble, we are less likely to be
controlled by other people’s opinions of us.
One way to gauge your fear of other people is to evaluate the way you talk
to your boss or someone else in authority when you have a problem or
concern. If you have an issue you want to discuss, do you tell your boss
exactly what’s wrong, how you feel about it, and what you recommend be
done to solve it? I’m not suggesting that you be argumentative but that you
have a reasoned, well-thought-out presentation. When we are afraid of
authority figures, we are often not honest with them, and we often do not
obtain the help and results we need. A fear of other people will undermine
our character and hinder the fulfillment of our vision and goals.
Perhaps the following scenario will seem familiar to you. When preparing
to discuss an issue with their boss, some people rehearse what they’re going
to say ahead of time, on their commute to work. They might go over their
statement again in front of the mirror in the restroom. But then, when they
get into their boss’s office, their fear of authority makes them either freeze
up or stumble over their words, so that they never say what they intended to
say. Instead, they might just tell him they came in to say hello and wish him
a good day. But somebody who has confidence in his own inherent worth
and abilities will not fear authority. He will approach him in a practical and
confident way.
There is a proverb that begins, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare….”3 A
snare, or trap, is something in which you are caught and from which it is
difficult to escape. We do not have to fear people just because they have a
certain title or hold a particular office. If you are afraid of authority, and you
haven’t been promoted at your job as quickly as you thought you should be,
perhaps the managers at your workplace see you as someone who lacks
confidence and would not be able to handle additional responsibilities.
Whatever the reason, you can overcome your fear of man by focusing on
fulfilling your inherent purpose and seeking to serve others.
Integrity
One definition of integrity is “incorruptibility.” If you are incorruptible,
you will not be enticed by your own desires or the pressure of other people
to violate your moral standards or to operate on the basis of self-interest.
Integrity was a quality exemplified by George Washington; he demonstrated
that he could not be corrupted by power.
At the time that the American Revolution ended, King George III of
England was having his portrait painted by artist Benjamin West. He asked
the painter what he thought George Washington would do now that the war
was concluded. West replied that he thought Washington would resign and
go back to his farm. A startled King George exclaimed, “If he does that, he
will be the greatest man in the world!”
To give up power voluntarily at the height of success and popular support
is a rare decision for a leader, making his action even more impressive.
Likewise, after Washington had served two terms as president of the United
States, he did not run for a third term, because he had accepted the office in
order to serve the people, not to garner power for himself. Washington was
so highly regarded for his integrity that a number of Americans of his time
would have supported the idea of giving him a life term as president, or
even making him king. Instead, he calmly passed the reins of office to the
next elected president. In doing so, he set a standard for all presidents to
come, and helped to stabilize the new nation.
It is said that Napoleon Bonaparte, the famous military leader and former
emperor of France, made a telling comment as he sat out his second exile
on the island of Elba, lamenting his fall from power. He said that the people
of France had “wanted him to be another George Washington.” But he
could not do it. Because he loved power, he never would have given it up of
his own accord.
Responsibleness
Leaders of principle also act responsibly, and they eagerly accept
responsibility. One of the Creator’s first laws is that if we are faithful over
the smaller jobs and tasks we have been given, we will be granted even
greater ones.4 This is the process by which leaders grow into increasingly
responsible positions.
The process usually starts with the leader’s own initiative to assume
responsibility. Some people are annoyed by the thought of having to work.
They don’t want people to ask them to do anything—whether it’s helping
out with chores at home, doing the “grunt” work at a volunteer
organization, taking care of the paperwork related to their job, or something
else. Frankly, many people are lazy. But a principled leader loves
responsibility. He welcomes the opportunity to be productive and often
looks for useful work to do.
In this regard, let’s look at one more example from the life of Joseph.
Joseph successfully interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, which was a message to
the ruler and his nation that seven years of plenty would come, but they
would be followed by seven years of famine. When Pharaoh heard the
interpretation, he immediately said to Joseph:
Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning
and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people
are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be
greater than you.…I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.5
If there ever was a time when Joseph might have felt he could delegate his
work and finally take it a little easy, this would have been it! Instead, he
worked diligently in his new role, preparing for the days of famine:
And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout
Egypt. During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully.
Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance
in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in
the fields surrounding it. Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like
the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records
because it was beyond measure.6
In contrast to Joseph’s responsible attitude, some people seek to avoid their
boss, the head of their volunteer organization, their pastor, their parents, and
so forth, because they don’t want to be put into a situation where they will
be asked to do something. However, though many of these people will
avoid working at smaller tasks, they suddenly appear when an important
and exciting opportunity comes along. Then, they are often the first to say,
“I’ll go!”
How about you? What do you do when somebody gives you a job to do?
Do you feel sorry for yourself, or do you get started on it right away?
Responsibility is good training for leaders of character. We need to be the
kind of leaders who are eager to take on responsibility. Those are the
leaders who are useful to others, and whom others can depend upon. If you
have made progress in developing the quality of responsibleness, you’re on
your way to being a leader of character.
A woman was in the process of cleaning out several boxes in her attic
that had been stored there for years—ever since she and her husband had
moved into their home to accommodate their growing family of four
children, who were now adults. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a
box half-hidden behind the chimney. It was covered with dust and was still
taped shut.
I wonder what’s in there? she thought. After carefully brushing away the
dust, she pulled the yellowed, wrinkled tape off the center groove of the box
and opened up the flaps. Inside, she saw several pieces of red cloth,
imprinted with an intricate design, wrapped around some unknown objects.
Suddenly, a memory flashed into her mind, taking her back three decades,
and she instantly remembered what the items in the box were: several jade
objects from China that a friend had given her, which she had inherited
from her father. The woman had forgotten all about having received them;
she had not given them a thought in years.
The next week, she had the items appraised, and she was stunned to find
out they were comparable in age and quality to an eighteenth-century jade
collection that had been featured on the television program Antiques
Roadshow several years earlier. The items in that collection had been
valued at as much as one million dollars.
A Long-Forgotten Treasure
In many ways, character in our contemporary culture has become like the
long-forgotten treasure the woman in the above scenario found inside the
dusty box. She hadn’t known what a precious heirloom was in her own
house, because she’d abandoned it to a corner of her attic for decades.
Likewise, our society has increasingly relegated values and moral standards
to the “attics” and “basements” of our culture. Many people don’t realize
what a treasure our society has lost, because it is out of their moral range of
vision. The only way character can come back into their line of sight is for
them to see a clear manifestation of it in the lives of leaders like you and
me. Then, they will be able to recognize the infinitely valuable gift that has
been waiting for them all along, so they can receive it and manifest it in
their own lives.
It is up to us to initiate the process of restoring character to our culture.
Jesus of Nazareth said that “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.”1 Similar to the merchant who
sold everything he owned to obtain the pearl “of great value,” we need to
make the reintroduction and development of character our number one
priority.
There must be a rediscovery, reprioritization, and resurgence of character
among the leaders of the world’s emerging and industrial states alike, so
that we can begin to see the restoration of a culture of character in
leadership. Teachers, professors, and educational administrators—from
grade schools through universities and other institutions of learning—must
reprioritize their programs and curriculum to teach students how to develop
and refine their character and to understand why character is essential for
individuals, communities, and nations.
We need to make the reintroduction and development of character
our number one priority.
We must likewise see a commitment among leaders in all fields of
endeavor to transform their own conduct, rededicating themselves to high
standards and noble values of genuine leadership. Consequently, we need a
new breed of leader who will embrace and manifest a culture of
accountability—to himself, to his constituency, and, most important, to the
Creator Himself, who extended to us the privilege of representing Him as
leaders in the earth.
The streets of history are littered with the remains of wasted lives—the
lives of powerful, talented, skillful, and educated leaders who collapsed
under the weight of their achievements, success, notoriety, influence, and
power because they lacked an ethical foundation that could have carried
them to their destiny. Many of these onetime great leaders undervalued the
priority and power of character in their lives. They traded faith for fame,
principles for power, and moral respect for reputation.
It is tragic to observe the dishonorable descent of such leaders who, by
their own indiscretion, irresponsibility, lack of discipline, and abuse of
privilege sell their integrity for temporary pleasures and destroy their
character. Sadly, I have personally known and observed many leaders, with
great potential to impact the world for good and make a difference in their
generation, disintegrate right before my eyes as their outstanding leadership
talent and skills dissolved in the murky waters of a life without noble
character. Many of them believed that their past accomplishments,
achievements, and reputations could compensate for the trust they had lost,
but they were greatly mistaken.
Human beings are thus prone to succumb to the lure of power, fame,
notoriety, and the adulation of the masses, and many people fall in disgrace
by neglecting to secure a strong, durable character. Consequently, we need
to ask the following questions: Can a leader survive and recover from a
character failure? Is there a way back to the road of leadership success?
Leaders are normally trained in how to succeed, but they are rarely taught
how to fail effectively—by learning from their mistakes and making
changes to avoid repeating them in the future. They fall down, but they
don’t know how to “fall up” after failing.
When a leader fails, he is often rejected by those whom he has been
leading because of this breach of faith. Although a leader’s legacy can be
dismantled by defective character, one of the greatest tragedies in the world
is when someone with tremendous potential fails morally and then feels he
can never be restored. Failing in leadership is not as grave as failing to deal
with that failure effectively. If you’ve fallen, you must make personal
changes that will enable you to “fall up,” transforming your life from the
inside out.
Remember that a leader’s ability to function successfully in his role of
influencing others for a great cause in the interest of humanity is what I call
the “trust factor.” Trust is the currency of true leadership and is the power
that is deposited into the leader’s influence account. The only way to
protect this deposit of trust is to establish strong character. If an individual
wants to secure his leadership, he must make protecting and maintaining his
account of trust his principal responsibility. It can take years for a leader to
build this account—but only minutes of irresponsibility to deplete it and
even cancel it.
The following are the steps to restoration, reconciliation, and reclamation
after you have experienced a moral failure or otherwise “fallen” in your
leadership role:
1. Admit your need for help.
2. Confess your violation of trust.
3. Identify a true and reliable authority in your life to be
accountable to.
4. Practice complete submission to that authority without
condition.
5. Obey the advice, counsel, and instruction of that
authority without condition.
6. Accept full responsibility for your fall.
7. Agree never to attempt to defend yourself or your act of
indiscretion.
8. Agree to allow the authority to represent and speak on
your behalf to your constituency and the greater
community.
Chapter 1
1. Sentencing transcript, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, June 29, 2009.
2. Proverbs 22:1.
3. “Lunch Ladies In Court, Accused Of Stealing $94K,” KDKA news, February 25, 2013,
http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2013/02/25/lunch-ladies-in-court-accused-of-stealing-94k/.
4. “Jesse L. Jackson Jr. Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison,” The Washington Post, August 14, 2013,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/jesse-l-jackson-jr-set-to-be-sentenced-in-dc-federal-
court/2013/08/13/ac5e8296-0452-11e3-88d6-d5795fab4637_story_1.html.
5. Ryan J. Reilly, “Jesse Jackson Jr. Sentenced For Defrauding Campaign,” August 14, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/jesse-jackson-jr-sentenced_n_3752476.html.
6. Matthew 16:26.
7. Raymund Flandez, “Livestrong Tries to Move Beyond Armstrong Doping Scandal,” The
Chronicle of Philanthropy, February 28, 2013, http://philanthropy.com/article/Livestrong-Tries-to-
Move/137621/.
8. Hitendra Wadhwa, “The Wrath of a Great Leader,” http://www.inc.com/hitendra-wadhwa/great-
leadership-how-martin-luther-king-jr-wrestled-with-anger.html.
9. Diana B. Henriques, “Madoff Is Sentenced to 150 Years for Ponzi Scheme, The New York Times,
June 29, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/business/30madoff.html.
10. Diana B. Henriques and Al Baker, “A Madoff Son Hangs Himself on Father’s Arrest
Anniversary,” December 11, 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12madoff.html.
11. Carol Kuruvilla, “Andrew Madoff continues battle with stage-four cancer, receives donor
lymphocyte infusion,” New York Daily News, August 9, 2013, http://www.nydailynews.com/new-
york/andrew-madoff-continues-battle-stage-four-cancer-article-1.1422947.
Chapter 2
1. Proverbs 18:16 (nkjv).
2. “Notes for a Law Lecture,” circa July 1850, quoted in John P. Frank, Lincoln as a Lawyer (Urbana:
University of Illinois Press, 1961), 35.
3. Editor’s note: For more on discovering personal leadership and gifting, please see The Principles
and Power of Vision and The Spirit of Leadership by Myles Munroe.
4. Lewis Copeland, Lawrence W. Lamm, and Stephen J. McKenna, eds., The World’s Great Speeches
(Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1999), 753.
5. Roy P. Basler, ed., Abraham Lincoln: His Speeches and Writings, 2nd ed. (Cambridge, MA: Da
Capo Press, 2001), 578.
6. “An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die,” April 22, 2007,
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/23/nelsonmandela.
7. Winston S. Churchill, ed., Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill’s Speeches (New York:
Hyperion, 2003), 229.
8. Numbers 13:33.
9. Dan Bilefsky and Jane Perlez, “Vaclav Havel, Former Czech President, Dies at 75,” December 18,
2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/europe/vaclav-havel-dissident-playwright-who-
led-czechoslovakia-dead-at-75.html.
10. Matthew 15:14.
Chapter 3
1. Proverbs 23:7 (nkjv).
Chapter 4
1. “More Leaders Adopting ‘Intimidating’ Leadership Style,” https://www.leadershipiq.com/white-
papers/more-leaders-adopting-intimidator-leadership-style/.
2. Carol Stephenson, “Leaders of Good Character,”
http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/departments/from-the-dean/leaders-of-good-character.
3. Matthew 6:33 (nkjv).
Chapter 5
1. Matthew 6:21.
2. Matthew 15:17–19.
3. Hestie Barnard Gerber, “10 Modern-Day Heroes Actively Changing the World,” May 31, 2013,
http://listverse.com/2013/05/31/10-modern-day-heroes-actively-changing-the-world/.
4. 1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (nirv).
5. 1 Samuel 24:13.
6. See 1 Samuel 24, 26.
7. Proverbs 1:19.
8. See 2 Samuel 15, 17–18.
9. See 2 Samuel 11.
10. See 2 Samuel 12:1–24; Psalm 51.
Chapter 6
1. Talatu Usman, “Nigeria: 120 Million Nigerians Lack Access to Electricity Supply—Power
Minister,” June 6, 2013, Premium Times, http://allafrica.com/stories/201306060981.html; “Power
Minister Says Nigerians Now Enjoy 16 Hours of Electricity Supply,” July 23, 2013, Channels
Television, http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/07/23/power-minister-says-nigerians-now-enjoy-
16-hours-of-electricity-supply/.
2. http://www.redcross.org/what-we-do/international-services.
3. http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/the-company/.
4. www.fda.gov.
5. www.fdic.gov.
6. www.bbb.org/us/mission-and-values/.
7. http://www.fdic.gov/about/mission/.
Chapter 7
1. http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/primarydocuments/Vol2/540228RediscoveringLostValues.pdf.
2. Luke 6:47–49.
3. Genesis 1:26–27.
4. Merrill F. Unger and William White Jr., eds., “Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old
Testament,” in Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985), 244.
5. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, electronic version, copyright 1980, 1986, and
assigned to World Bible Publishers, Inc.
6. Genesis 2:7.
7. “Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament,” 137.
8. Malachi 3:6.
9. James 1:17.
10. Exodus 3:6.
11. Isaiah 44:24.
12. Leviticus 11:45.
13. Psalm 9:16.
14. Exodus 23:1–6.
15. 1 John 4:8, 16.
16. Lamentations 3:22–23.
17. Genesis 1:26 (kjv, nkjv).
18. Genesis 1:26.
19. Genesis 1:28.
20. See Genesis 3.
21. James 3:11–12.
22. James 1:6, 8.
23. Matthew 3:17.
24. John 10:30.
25. John 1:1–4, 14.
26. Colossians 2:9.
27. John 3:5.
28. See John 14:6.
29. Mark 1:15.
30. Matthew 20:25–28.
Chapter 8
1. Psalm 119:4.
2. Psalm 119:93.
3. Psalm 2:1–3.
4. Psalm 2:4.
5. Psalm 119:45.
6. Psalm 119:99.
7. Proverbs 6:6–11.
8. Luke 6:41–42.
9. See Genesis 2:16–17.
10. Psalm 119:45.
Chapter 9
1. Hebrews 13:8.
2. See James 1:8.
3. Matthew 13:33.
4. Luke 23:34.
5. See Numbers 14:24.
6. See Genesis 37, 39–41.
7. Genesis 39:9.
8. Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hypocrisy.
9. Matthew 6:2.
10. Matthew 23:25.
11. Churchill: The Life Triumphant, compiled by American Heritage Magazine and United Press
International (American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.), 93.
Chapter 10
1. Romans 5:3–5.
2. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, electronic version, copyright 1980, 1986, and
assigned to World Bible Publishers, Inc.
3. Hebrews 12:11.
4. Luke 22:33.
5. See Luke 22:31–32.
6. Matthew 4:1.
7. Matthew 4:2–10.
8. James 1:13–14.
9. 3 John 2 (nkjv).
10. See, for example, Exodus 20:15; Romans 13:9.
Chapter 11
1. Genesis 41:15.
2. Genesis 41:16.
3. Proverbs 29:25.
4. See, for example, Matthew 25:21, 23.
5. Genesis 41:39–41.
6. Genesis 41:46–49.
Chapter 12
1. Matthew 13:45–46.
2. Matthew 6:21.
3 Proverbs 4:23.
Character Development Worksheets
We have covered in close detail the building blocks of solid character and
the process by which they are developed in the life of a leader with
integrity. We have examined the various steps of the progression from
beliefs to convictions, to values, to morals/principles, to discipline, to
ethics, and, finally, to a lifestyle that reflects sound character. But all of
these principles will remain mere words on a page until you apply them to
your own situation—until you think through your personal set of beliefs and
values, articulate the resulting convictions you hold, and explore the degree
to which your behavior reflects them. Only through honest, objective self-
assessment will you arrive at a true picture of your character, as it is now, so
that you may plan how to refine it into the character you ought to have.
The following pages provide an opportunity for you to do just that. Each of
the worksheets poses a prompt to promote self-reflection, as well as room to
write out your responses, so that you may refer to them later and remind
yourself of what you have committed to stand for.
Beliefs
What Are Some of My
Foundational Beliefs and Guiding Principles?
(See pages 69–73.)
Example: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
(Acts 20:35)
Example: Every person on earth is intrinsically valuable
and deserves to be given respect and justice.
Convictions
What Are Some Strong Convictions Based on My Beliefs?
(See pages 54–55, 73.)
Example: I have a responsibility to help relieve the needs
of people who lack food, water, and shelter.
Values
On What Ideas, Principles, and Qualities Do I Personally
Place High Worth?
Moral Standards
What Are My Personal Principles for Living?
(See pages 99–103.)
Example: Because I value generosity, one of my personal
moral standards, or principles for living, is to give a
certain percentage of my monthly income toward meeting
the material needs of others.
Discipline
How Does My Conduct Reflect the Priorities I Have Chosen to Direct
My Vision and My Lifestyle?
(See pages 103–106.)
Example: To fulfill my personal principle of giving a
certain percentage of my monthly income to meet other
people’s material needs, I eat out at expensive
restaurants only when celebrating a very special
occasion, such as occurs once or twice a year.