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The Writer
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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