Strength of character is leader increasingly important quality for a modern leader . "Strength does not come from physical power, but from an unyielding will." This is how Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is quoted. The Indians reverently call him "Mahatma," the "great soul." What an example of strength of character. "The price of greatness is responsibility." Together, these two sentences form a great chain of character development for me: will – responsibility strength – greatness.
Of course, not everyone can or wants to be a new Gandhi or Churchill or embody this strength of character—but now we ask ourselves:
What characteristics define a wise character school?
Let's start with the two extremes of "stubbornness and fickleness. " Like a terrier, the stubborn person clings to their point of view, regardless of the circumstances and consequences— leader hindering trait for a leader . Those who sow the seeds of wise change with their arguments will reap a storm. The counterexample is provided by many weak-willed politicians: they change their opinions faster than a chameleon changes color. These slick string-pullers form alliances depending on their mood and the direction of the wind. Overall, however, it doesn't matter whether you're a bulldozer or everybody's darling: both extremes bleed people dry and have little to do with strength of character.
Puppet masters have long been a feature of the business world. In the past, leader were expected to leader ahead, recognize opportunities, make mistakes, learn, and ultimately succeed. Today, they prefer to protect themselves against pitfalls, as the pressure not to make mistakes has increased dramatically. Competition and the pace of change are enormous. Laws and a strict compliance culture ensure that mistakes can be prosecuted for many years to come. That's a good thing. leader with weak characters try to get out of the line of fire in advance by "flying the flag in the wind." The pursuit of security beats the pursuit of opportunity, and weakness of character beats strength of character.
Active and passive responsibility a question of disposition and character
What can we learn from this? A corporate culture is first made visible by leader, their characteristics, and their behavior, and then by employees. This means that passive responsibility dominates in organizations lacking in character. Organizations with strength of character live active responsibility. Passive responsibility for requests. It is governed by an informal dynamic of cliques that think less in terms of corporate purpose and customer values and primarily see their own limited advantage. The behavior is justifying and avoids any personal risk. Active responsibility lived in the opposite way: it is sought, found, discussed, defined, and sensibly distributed on its own initiative.
The extremes of "stubbornness and fickleness" are to be rejected, but they help us understand. When active responsibility becomes responsibility , it can end in stubbornness and go beyond strength of character. Unfortunately, some brilliant founders end up there in their old age. What worked excellently in healthy doses becomes deadly when overdosed. Passive responsibility also responsibility sense in the right doses, because those who constantly raise their hands are easily taken advantage of. "The dose makes the poison," as Paracelsus rightly said.
The pendulum: How leader characteristic can dominate everything, as with the leader
It's clear: companies with people full of strength of character are customer-oriented results factories with guaranteed success. Active responsibility passive responsibility. Employees usually take on tasks themselves instead of letting them be dumped on them because they didn't duck quickly enough. Both forms of responsibility important! However, the larger the organization, the easier it is for the passive form to dominate. This is where the danger of weakness of character lies. It is not a question of either/or, but rather "which is more common?" If 70 percent are active and 30 percent passive, everything is fine. If the pendulum swings in the other direction, organized irresponsibility reigns.
Don't take on too much or too little responsibility: 70 to 30! Make sure that enough others understand and apply this principle of strength of character. This is a culture in which top talent enjoys working and which leader strong leader .
That's why you're not really happy.
Why success and fulfillment have nothing to do with each other.
Image source: ©Antranias Pixabay
