So much is now questioned about the CHARACTER of an individual. This has ranged from the character of the President, to someone running for public office and all the way to the character of someone being hired. But, what is it that CHARACTER means? My approach to explaining CHARACTER is to break it down to definable qualities. You’ll see from my thinking style is that I get struck on "C’s." So these are the "C’s" of CHARACTER from my point of view. Convictions – are values and beliefs that we have adopted and choose to live by. If we honorably live by our convictions we will have grounded principles to deal with our life’s dilemmas. If we don’t stand for something – we’ll fall for everything. Courage – is the degree of personal strength we have to live to the extent of our convictions. We should always expect to have our convictions tested. That’s just reality. Courage is the inner quality to overcome our fears in pursuit of our convictions even if it puts us in harms way. Confidence – is our ability to conduct ourselves in both familiar and unfamiliar situations assuredly. Presenting our qualities of self-regard, self-esteem and inner trust in our dealing with others. Capabilities – are our skills and talents. Some of these come from nature and some are nurtured. The challenge we must understand is that our current skills and talents may not be enough to deal with future problems. We must continue to develop our capabilities to challenge ourselves to grow and change. Commitment – is the promise we make to stay true to ourselves, to stay focused on our goals and determination to achieve results. Commitment is the key ingredient to doing an outstanding job. Civility – is the manner in which we treat and deal with others. It’ the demonstration of honor and respect for those we share even the briefest moment on time. Contentment – is being respectful and at peace with what we have accomplished and achieved. Being satisfied but not undeterred from further growth. So when your hear someone refer to another’s CHARACTER – ask them to give you their definition. If they don’t have one, share these qualities. |
