A Call To Character
John Maxwell says: "Leadership is Influence, nothing more, nothing less!"
Tim Elmore says: "The most introverted person influences at least 10,000 people in a lifetime."
This makes being a leader an awesome responsibility to shoulder. There are leaders born and made, but we all influence those around us, whether we like it or not, for good or for bad. That’s why it important we sit up and ask ourselves: What kind of a leader am I? Do I really want to replicate myself in those I lead?
When my daughter was 3 she said the most challenging thing that anyone has ever said to me. She said: "Mummy, when I grow up, I want to be just like you." From that day on, I have always evaluated everything I say and do with this yardstick. Do I want to replicate myself in my daughter’s life?
The other day, she was present when I spoke at a church gathering, and at the end of the talk, she said again: "One day I want to be just like you." That coming from a 25 year old, who said it first when she was 3, just reiterated that people watch us and want to emulate us, whether we like it or not. What she said made me take stock of my life once more, too!
Most leaders have someone who inspired them at an early age. Someone they wanted to emulate; someone they dreamed they would one day be like. Whether we are in a position of leadership or not, we only need to look around us to see that there are numerous people who are inspired by us, and we choose how we influence them. We choose if we lead them down the right path or the wrong, because they are going to follow us anyway.
This should be an eye-opener, and a challenge to cause us to make right choices. Therefore it is right to ask, what is the cornerstone of leadership? Is it Charisma or Success? Is it becoming an industry or political magnate, and having thousands of people at your beck and call? I think not. I believe the cornerstone of leadership is Character, and that is one of the rarest jewels to find.
It is said that Character is who you are when you are alone, without an audience. This is the question that faces us all. Who am I, really? Who do I project to be to those around me, and who am I when no one is around me? Do I wear a different mask for each different audience, or am I the same person in private as I am in public with any audience?
It takes a lifetime to build character, but one slip to tear it down. A very insightful proverb says: Like a fly in a perfumer’s ointment is a little folly to destroy a good reputation. To establish a reputation takes years of discipline and hard work. To be a person of character it takes intentional and consistent adherence to values, specially when push comes to shove. No one can evaluate my character but me. No one knows who I really am, but I. Can I honestly say: I am a person of Character? If I can face myself and say that, then I am.
That level of honesty brings a security into our leadership that no one and nothing can shake. When we can answer that question with a resounding and consistent yes, we don’t have to vie for position to lead others. We just be, and people look to us to be inspired and led.
I recently read a very interesting one-liner. It said: Aspire to inspire before you expire. This is my aspiration. I want to inspire as many people to develop character that is transparent, tenacious and tactile enough to be real. What do you aspire?