Effective Leadership Requires Character Strength

It's not easy to lead a team. No two people are even close to being the same, and getting them to do their best while working as a team to achieve an important goal will challenge you to do things you didn’t know you’d ever have to do. You have to be strong to show up and be the kind of leader you want to be.

I’m talking about character strength, a widely misunderstood concept.

People talk about a person's “character” as if it’s a single trait. But it’s not one aspect of who you are, and it’s not a trait. Character strength is real only when it is manifest in action, and it is manifest in many different behavior patterns. Because these behaviors are observable and can be strengthened with practice, I call them character skills. When well developed, these skills can empower you to succeed in doing the hard things at work—doing what’s right, as well as doing what’s effective.

After studying, writing, and speaking about this for decades, I’ve settled on a description of character strength that includes 36 behavior patterns that most significantly contribute to character strength in three major areas of life:

Building a stronger self: Self-awareness, Self-development, Self-discipline, Self-confidence, Self-esteem, Humility, Optimism, Resilience, Rationality, Courage, Composure, and Patience.

Building stronger relationships: Honesty, Integrity, Tolerance, Forgiveness, Empathy, Compassion, Generosity, Fairness, Loyalty, Trust, Cooperation, and Service

Building a stronger work ethic: Commitment, Responsibility, Accountability, Initiative, Creativity, Proactivity, Decisiveness, Perseverance, Effort, Excellence, Open-mindedness, and Flexibility

As you scan the list, keep in mind that like any skills, with practice you can strengthen your capacity to use them. Focusing on one or two skills at a time and regularly applying them in your daily life, you can establish them and improve them.

I wrote the recently published book, Grow Strong Character, to guide leaders in this effort. Each of its 36 chapters describes one of the character skills and gives suggestions for applying it to make it stronger. It is a featulred resource in the new learning platform, GSL Skillbuilder.