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A simple Google search on what makes a good leader gives tons of qualities, traits, and skills the ideal person should possess. The main ones include people skills, vision, confidence, humanity, accountability, and business acumen. A person may have an excellent combination of all these qualities and fail to lead effectively if they lack good character. While largely overlooked, character is fundamental in leadership because it cultivates trust and credibility and encourages loyalty. This article defines character and explains why it helps you stand out in leadership.
What is a Good Character?
There’s no single correct definition of good character, and authors and scholars have made different propositions. Generally, a person who exhibits good character acts, thinks, and feels in a manner aligning with commonly accepted values such as being responsible, fair, honest, respectful, and responsible. A good character can earn you a good reputation and raise your productivity significantly.
Fred Kiel, a renowned adviser, leadership researcher, and author, provides an interesting definition of character in his revolutionary book, Return of Character. He contends that a leader of good character portrays good morals like compassion, responsibility, forgiveness, and integrity. The opposite of a leader with a good character is a dubious one, often selfish, untrustworthy, dishonest, and unempathetic. Such a person is inconsiderate and uncaring and even punishes well-intentioned people when they make mistakes.
John Maxwell, an internationally recognized thought leader, author, and speaker proposes four building blocks for creating a solid character. First, you must have core values that direct your actions and behavior. Second, identity is fundamental; know who you are and what you believe in.
Third, be a person of integrity and live out your values. Lastly, a leader with a good character is courageous and self-disciplined. They do the right thing and stand for what is right, regardless of what others feel. From these traits, we can deduce that a good character is a choice to do the right thing, even in challenging moments.
How a Good Character in Leadership Makes You Stand Out
Build Trust
Almost everyone agrees that a good leader should be trustworthy. A trustworthy person is truthful, reliable, honest, considerate, bold, and prioritizes others. Without trust, you won’t have followers; without followers, you have no one to lead. Some talented leaders start strong but don’t go far because people perceive them as untrustworthy and fail to follow them.
Trust is earned, and leaders must work to get their people’s trust. A good character is among the traits that help you win your followers’ trust. You send a message that you have everyone’s interests at heart, offset any worries and apprehensions, and create a sense of security and confidence.
Make Shrewd Decisions
Good character is the lifeblood of good decision-making. Poor decisions do not always emanate from a leader’s incompetence or personal weakness, but from failing character. For instance, misconduct in workplaces –theft, abuse of power, sexual harassment, and drug use primarily emanates from poor morals, not a lack of skills or knowledge.
Leading with character means you will not feel intimidated when a follower or employee respectfully challenges your decision. You are open to discussing why the decision is not right and willing to amend it. Similarly, it takes character to challenge other people’s decisions and offers contrary thoughts. In all these scenarios, the goal is to make insightful decisions with the best possible outcomes for the common good.
Become a Great Leader
Good leaders appeal to people with their capacity –talent, skills, and expertise, while great ones have a magnetic personality –values and virtues that attract people. While there’re many good leaders in society today, most never get to the level of greatness. Some leaders are willing to sacrifice character in a quest for results and success. But, a great leader with a high moral score will never do this.
The legendary social activist Martin Luther King Jr. once said a person with reason but no morals is dangerous. He reasoned that intelligence should go hand in hand with character. While leadership dictates what actions a leader should take, his character determines how and if he acts.
Leaders with high moral standards outperform their counterparts with low character scores. Research conducted among executive leaders in organizations over two years revealed some bitter truths. CEOs with high character ratings scored higher in average return on assets (ROA) -9.35% compared to those with low character ratings -1.93%.
Motivate Followers
A good character is a perfect motivator for your followers. It is not uncommon for followers to look up to leaders with a strong moral code and admire their integrity, respect, fairness, inclusion, and transparency. Ethical leaders promote open communication, lead by example, shun bias, admit mistakes, and are supportive, encouraging followers to work harder to accomplish shared goals. They inspire, guide, and nurture followers, creating a win-win for everyone.
A good character reinforces the leader-follower relationship, enhancing productivity, performance, and morale. It also acts as a unifying factor as followers respect the leader’s values and morals.
Skills and competencies are insignificant in leadership when the person lacks character. Great leaders combine competence, character, and commitment to stand out and take their followers to great heights. Embrace the principles of integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness discussed above, and you will be a step closer to leading with character.
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