Can someone of great character be successful in business and in life in general? This is a question that is raised by many people and something that I thought would be of value to look into. This past weekend I attended a seminar. The part of the seminar that hit me the most was when the speaker discussed a theory on leadership. This theory discusses the three basic traits that a leader must have. If someone is lacking in any or all of the three areas their leadership ability will suffer. The speaker encouraged everyone to look at the three traits of Character, Task, and Relationship and do a self-examination of which trait we could need to improve the most. After some self-reflection the area that I thought I needed the most improvement in is Character. The speaker happened to mention that Character is also the most important trait of the three.
What does Character really mean? Now I never thought I was someone that lied and deceived people a lot, but is that what having character means? Well after reading an article on a leadership blog about character one thing stuck out at me. Character is not just having the integrity to not do what is wrong, but it is also having the courage to do what is right. That is a profound paradigm shift from what our culture teaches character is. I was always taught integrity and character were interchangeable but it turns out integrity is only one variable of the character equation.
With this new definition of character I could now understand why I felt the Lord was leading me to work on my character. Over the course of three days I attend a seminar where I felt convicted to work on my character, I read an article on character, I read a chapter in the book I was reading on honesty (integrity) and one chapter on boldness (courage), and I while doing my devotions one morning I read a passage from scripture on character. I think the Lord knows he needs to be very obvious for me to get something! So I’m going to dissect the character equation, first starting at integrity.
What are qualities of integrity? Keeping commitments, telling the whole truth, not talking about anyone in a negative manner, these are all things to help us from doing what is wrong. I have heard it said many times that integrity starts with your alarm clock. If I do not have the integrity to wake up to my alarm when it goes off, which for most is a very small personal commitment, then I am training my subconscious mind not to keep any commitments. This is an area that I made a priority to do every time, it is a great step in helping to keep personal commitments. Now how am I at keeping commitments to others? Once I have improved keeping commitments to myself it is much easier to keep commitments to others or know when to not commit to something I know I will not be able to do. A bad habit of many that goes along with this is not being on time. If we are not on time it shows the other person that we do not respect their time. In the book I was reading called the Compassionate Samurai the author told a story about a very large business deal he was wrapping up with a customer. He had to finish the deal with one of the executives over a phone call at a certain time. The author called in five minutes late and the executive canceled the business, because he no longer could trust him. That is how important being on time and keeping a commitment can be in the world of business. This leads me into telling the truth. The Bible gives clear examples that God detests liars. Read the story in Acts 5 about Annanis and Saphira who both lied and God struck them dead on the spot! Revelation 21:8 says that liars will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur; that means hell! Telling the truth also means not exaggerating (one of my struggling points) and not leaving out important information. Another area that we commonly struggle is with gossip, which is talking negative about someone when they are not there. It is so easy to do but it is very harmful. It is first harmful to the person we are talking about because it erodes the trust others have placed in that person, and it is harmful to us because it shows we cannot be trusted with information about someone else.
The second part of the character equation is courage. Remember courage is doing what is right, always. Many people will do what is right, but only when it’s convenient to them. This is where I thought God was wanting me to focus my improvement the most. True character is being courageous even when it is not convenient to be. Maybe it’s standing up for someone at work when we could be fired over it. It might be taking a leap on a new path in life that we feel God is leading us. This is what my wife and I are currently experiencing. I have a good job and am living by all our friends and family. Then we felt that God was calling us to move overseas to New Zealand, about 9,000 miles away. We need to have courage by quitting a good job, moving away from everyone and everything we know and love to a new country, and go on faith that the Lord will lead our next steps. One of my favorite stories on courage is in the Bible story of David and Goliath. Goliath was bad-mouthing the God of Israel, David’s God. David had the courage to defend the name of the Lord against the slanderer, even though, not one of Saul’s soldiers had the courage to do something. David trusted in God to protect him in the fight because he knew God would reward his courage with victory. That is a key to courage I believe many books miss. When we base our life on the Lord and His Word and ask for courage He will give it to us. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus Christ says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find,” so if this is an area we feel that we are weak in, we need to bring it to the Lord in prayer. I believe our culture has beaten the courage out of most people, especially the men. Trust in the Lord, take responsibility and choose courage, do what is right every time, not just when it is convenient.
Here is a list of things I am committing to do over the next month to improve my character:
1. Keep commitments to myself
a. Wake up when my alarm goes off
b. Complete the tasks that I listed for the day
2. Keep commitments to others
a. When someone asks me to do something no matter how small, make sure I write it down and do it in a timely manner
b. Always be on time
c. Speak only what is 100% truth, don not exaggerate
d. Do not talk negative of anyone and do not allow others to talk negative of anyone while I am present
3. Take action upon what is right – ie. Have courage
4. Speak what I believe and defend my faith, doing it in a loving manner
What does Character really mean? Now I never thought I was someone that lied and deceived people a lot, but is that what having character means? Well after reading an article on a leadership blog about character one thing stuck out at me. Character is not just having the integrity to not do what is wrong, but it is also having the courage to do what is right. That is a profound paradigm shift from what our culture teaches character is. I was always taught integrity and character were interchangeable but it turns out integrity is only one variable of the character equation.
With this new definition of character I could now understand why I felt the Lord was leading me to work on my character. Over the course of three days I attend a seminar where I felt convicted to work on my character, I read an article on character, I read a chapter in the book I was reading on honesty (integrity) and one chapter on boldness (courage), and I while doing my devotions one morning I read a passage from scripture on character. I think the Lord knows he needs to be very obvious for me to get something! So I’m going to dissect the character equation, first starting at integrity.
What are qualities of integrity? Keeping commitments, telling the whole truth, not talking about anyone in a negative manner, these are all things to help us from doing what is wrong. I have heard it said many times that integrity starts with your alarm clock. If I do not have the integrity to wake up to my alarm when it goes off, which for most is a very small personal commitment, then I am training my subconscious mind not to keep any commitments. This is an area that I made a priority to do every time, it is a great step in helping to keep personal commitments. Now how am I at keeping commitments to others? Once I have improved keeping commitments to myself it is much easier to keep commitments to others or know when to not commit to something I know I will not be able to do. A bad habit of many that goes along with this is not being on time. If we are not on time it shows the other person that we do not respect their time. In the book I was reading called the Compassionate Samurai the author told a story about a very large business deal he was wrapping up with a customer. He had to finish the deal with one of the executives over a phone call at a certain time. The author called in five minutes late and the executive canceled the business, because he no longer could trust him. That is how important being on time and keeping a commitment can be in the world of business. This leads me into telling the truth. The Bible gives clear examples that God detests liars. Read the story in Acts 5 about Annanis and Saphira who both lied and God struck them dead on the spot! Revelation 21:8 says that liars will be cast into the lake of burning sulfur; that means hell! Telling the truth also means not exaggerating (one of my struggling points) and not leaving out important information. Another area that we commonly struggle is with gossip, which is talking negative about someone when they are not there. It is so easy to do but it is very harmful. It is first harmful to the person we are talking about because it erodes the trust others have placed in that person, and it is harmful to us because it shows we cannot be trusted with information about someone else.
The second part of the character equation is courage. Remember courage is doing what is right, always. Many people will do what is right, but only when it’s convenient to them. This is where I thought God was wanting me to focus my improvement the most. True character is being courageous even when it is not convenient to be. Maybe it’s standing up for someone at work when we could be fired over it. It might be taking a leap on a new path in life that we feel God is leading us. This is what my wife and I are currently experiencing. I have a good job and am living by all our friends and family. Then we felt that God was calling us to move overseas to New Zealand, about 9,000 miles away. We need to have courage by quitting a good job, moving away from everyone and everything we know and love to a new country, and go on faith that the Lord will lead our next steps. One of my favorite stories on courage is in the Bible story of David and Goliath. Goliath was bad-mouthing the God of Israel, David’s God. David had the courage to defend the name of the Lord against the slanderer, even though, not one of Saul’s soldiers had the courage to do something. David trusted in God to protect him in the fight because he knew God would reward his courage with victory. That is a key to courage I believe many books miss. When we base our life on the Lord and His Word and ask for courage He will give it to us. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus Christ says, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find,” so if this is an area we feel that we are weak in, we need to bring it to the Lord in prayer. I believe our culture has beaten the courage out of most people, especially the men. Trust in the Lord, take responsibility and choose courage, do what is right every time, not just when it is convenient.
Here is a list of things I am committing to do over the next month to improve my character:
1. Keep commitments to myself
a. Wake up when my alarm goes off
b. Complete the tasks that I listed for the day
2. Keep commitments to others
a. When someone asks me to do something no matter how small, make sure I write it down and do it in a timely manner
b. Always be on time
c. Speak only what is 100% truth, don not exaggerate
d. Do not talk negative of anyone and do not allow others to talk negative of anyone while I am present
3. Take action upon what is right – ie. Have courage
4. Speak what I believe and defend my faith, doing it in a loving manner
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