“Talent is a gift, but character is a choice.”
-John C. Maxwell
The Law of a Leader's Character: Character is a choice we make. It is not a skill we are born with initially. If a person demonstrates good character and ethics, we put our trust in them. However, when our character lacks credibility and ethics, it will obliterate everything we have done to build our reputation. While character isn’t essential to our success, a lack of it will destroy us. A good reputation requires the right choices to build.
Sacked in Vegas
Last month, National Football League coach Jon Gruden was released from his job coaching the Las Vegas Raiders. An article came to light in the New York Times about emails sent to the Washington Football Team while they were being investigated for ethical violations. The emails had absolutely nothing to do with the investigation of the Washington team, but once the emails from Gruden were published it took a mere 3 days for him to be jobless. Social media and fan reaction was swift in condemning his comments, even though almost everyone agreed he had been a good coach.
Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl victory. The Buccaneers leadership responded to the controversy by permanently removing his name from their “Ring of Honor” in the stadium. The producers of the popular Madden Football video game removed him from the program that has sold millions of copies.
His skills have been very good in coaching. Nobody would doubt his abilities to build and motivate a team to victory. He has a winning record as a professional coach. But the one skill he couldn’t master was good character. And it came out. No matter if it was written in private emails, it came out. As you read this today, his life in football and the public eye has ended with a thud. It will take years to undo what he wrote… if at all.
Here’s what I know about your character. Good character doesn't automatically make you a great leader, but a person with bad character will be destroyed by that lack in their life. It will bring you down immediately. In the blink of an eye, regardless of your stature, celebrity status, connections or influence, your lack of character or ethics will wreck your life, career and reputation. It is as simple as that.
“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”
John Wooden
What do you want in a leader? I heard John Maxwell say this in my training to be a certified speaker and trainer with his organization,
“Most people ask three questions of every leader:"
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