The Risk of Disagreement

There were times when I wanted to quit and not finish our new book. At first I wanted to quit because the writing was a challenge to me. Then I wanted to quit because I did not have enough time. Then my reason for quitting shifted to the expense of self-publishing. All these are real reasons but the core reason for my hesitancy was that I did not want people to disagree with my views and have that disagreement occur publicly.

I am still a bit nervous about the public aspect of the book but that is a risk I am willing to undertake to get the topic of character inserted into leadership discussions. Becasue leadership is driven from character it is critical that we talk about it in ways that are encouraging not condeming and that are open rather than caustic.

The book will be out tomorrow and I can only hope it will spur a positive dialoge. Join me for that discussion.

Character and Leadership At Work

Who you are as a leader is based in who you are as a person. That may seem self-evident to many but the importance of this simple fact cannot be overlooked. The challenges we face in all sorts of organizations can be traced to the failure to challenge and encourage leaders to focus on building their character.

Because of the intimate and inextricable connection of character and leadership, we went looking for a definition of character in order to help leaders be successful. We uncovered an ancient model of character that includes seven elements. We profile this model in the new book, The Character of Leadership: An Ancient Model for a Quantum Age. (www.characterofleadership.com)

Faith is at the center of one’s personal character and our model.. This element is the core of your belief system, how you view the world, and what motivates your behavior. From this core, the remaining six elements, Justice, Temperance, Hope, Wisdom, Love, and Courage emanate and eventually give rise to the leadership we see displayed on a daily basis no matter your occupation.

I am excited to inject this ancient model back into leadership discussions and look forward to your comments and stories.

How have you seen character and leadership demonstrated? Connect with me via our blog, Facebook or Twitter. I can’t wait to hear your story.