“Don’t mistake personality for character.” ~Wilma Askinas

So many times, we are attracted and follow leaders based on their personality. They may be charismatic, smart, engaging, passionate, or just simply likeable, but when it comes to leadership, nothing can replace character. Character is a key requirement, because in order to lead there needs to be trust and confidence in the leader. People who follow need to know without any question or doubt that the leader will not disappoint and let them down.

Too often, we hear about a leader who lacked character and did something that completely destroys the trust and confidence of the people who supported and followed him or her. After this, trust and confidence cannot easily be rebuilt. It takes time even when there is a strong bond such as marriage or family, but even in those circumstance once the trust is lost, it takes a long time and vary incremental steps to rebuild. One could even argue that trust is never restored to the same, full degree.

Character is a key requirement of leadership.

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The writer, Henry James, is known for a great many novels, novellas, and short stories that covered consciousness and morality.  So who better to quote about character in leadership than a man who wrote prolifically about it?

Leadership quote from Henry James:
“What is character but the determination of incident, what is incident but the illustration of character?”

In Novels

The basic outline for writing a story is I) Setting, II) Conflict, III) Sequel.  You start the story by describing the setting – the place, the characters, the situations; you build the story to what happens – the conflict; and then you follow through with what happens after – how it resolves.  Not every story follows this basic outline, but most writers start with this basic beginning.

In Life

Life is a lot like stories, we have the setting – where we live, our friends, family, and associates, and, on a day-to-day basis, what happen may not necessarily be conflicts, but the incidents are still where character shines or diminishes.

In Leadership

Incidents and conflicts are the moments that leaders lead for.  The moments when their wisdom, knowledge, experience, and leadership are beneficial to others are the moments when leadership is grounded in the character that is only developed with time and experience.  You have to build the foundation for leadership by starting with building your character and learning how to deal with and how not to deal with incidents.

To start, learn how to create a foundation for developing your leadership potential.

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