In politics it is clear that an individual’s character is the defining dynamic between winning and losing. Recent presidential elections in the United States have become increasingly fought over the integrity of the candidates rather than their policies.
Sports coach Vince Lombardi said ‘Character, rather than education, is a man’s greatest need and man’s greatest safeguard, because character is higher than the intellect’
Character sums up the whole being, the complete package that an outstanding leader offers.
The criteria J.F. Kennedy was judged upon before being accepted for high office included the attributes of availability, compatibility, public reputation, experience, appeal and personality. Quite clearly these are what we should aspire to if we are looking to be the ‘real deal’. Achieving success in all these disciplines is partially through the natural aptitude an individual displays, but equally can be gained with the ability to apply your thoughts and actions in the right way.
Elbert Hubbard says ‘Character is the result of two things: mental attitude and the way we spend our time.’ Both of these are within your influence!
Your personal character will directly influence your success. Leadership is how effectively you achieve the commitment of others to carry out the work and deliver results – you cannot do it all yourself. The key to effective leadership is achieving the ‘buy-in’ that ensures your team really want to achieve success on your behalf. How you ensure that motivation is reflective of your own personality and how you have defined your character. It requires an outstanding manager to really lead and motivate their team to offer their best efforts, and go on to achieve substantial success.
In a sports or military context the leadership style is far more autocratic that a business manager could ever dare to be. The participants are far more focussed on their personal stakes, even when team performance and team unity are pressed home. A professional sports star often accepts a great deal of verbal criticism from their manager whilst in front of their team mates, because the drive to achieve greater performance from their body and the rewards that success will bring is the overriding factor. A soldier accepts the hard line management style of their superior as it may mean the difference between life and death.
In business the majority of your team is much less likely to be in a position to achieve these more obvious ‘rewards’ and are therefore far less motivated by them. When self-motivation is less of an incentive, external motivators come into play. People understand they need to support their company in its attempts to be successful, as it provides job security and all the benefits this provides them with.
An outstanding leader can inspire on a personal level if they are respected and trusted by those individuals upon whom they rely.
‘Eisenhower’s political success rested on the force and effectiveness of his personality’, said a perceptive John F. Kennedy. Kennedy himself was praised for his personal character by a close friend who said: ‘the longer I live and work with him, and the more I talk with him, the more confidence I have in him’. Respect and trust are created by a leader’s actions, but even more by their values and integrity.
Commitment to an individual leader is the greatest influence any one person can provide to a successful business. Yet the most outstanding leaders consistently underline the need for their team to commit to the company itself. Leaders cannot individually provide job security, job satisfaction and career progress, but ultimately a successful business can. It is the clarity of understanding that this is the role of a leader, which enables them to play the role to greatest effect and become outstanding in the way their team responds to their leadership. Great leaders have a clear message: ‘Trust me and I will empower you, follow me and I shall support you, work for me and I shall reward you, and when we succeed we shall celebrate together’
Character really does matter. It influences everything. Only you can change or influence your own character. It was Mahatma Gandhi who said ‘We must become the change we want to see’. Maybe we should be driven to change to be what others want to see, because we shall only be outstanding leaders when others see in us something worth following.
