Character or Competence?

[MUSIC] Hello and welcome to the Fit to Lead Podcast. I am Sam at the EME. There are some leadership fundamentals. I want us to consider character and competence. We usually demonstrate more value for competence because we want leaders to deliver results. However, we get to realize with time that character also matters. Character breeds trust. Trust is critical to the influence process. Remember, leadership is simply influenced. If we are going to build influence with people, then it will trust us. For them to trust us, we've got to have good character. We've got to have some integrity. We've got to be people that have known to be honest, people who keep their promises, and people who abide by the rules or policies of the team, or the group, or the organization. See? So when there is consistency in our behavior, then people can trust us. I mean, think of a particular chair that you've been sitting on for months, or let's even say yes. Think of the fact that whenever you want to sit on the chair right now, you don't press the chair, you don't push on it, you don't even check to see whether it would hold your weight or not. Because you have developed trust in the ability of the chair to hold your weight with time. That is exactly how it works with human relationships. That if a person has been consistent in the communication with you, in keeping promises with you, you get to trust them, right? So whether it's inconsistency, whether it's inconsistency in behavior, it is very difficult for trust to develop. And that inconsistency is actually a proof of something wrong with the character. In other words, we've got to learn to say the truth all the time. When someone has not been honest with people, the influence process is complicated, right? It's difficult, it's compromised. So trust is critical to the influence process. And that trust can be built where character is strong. This trust erodes the credibility of a leader and diminishes more real. So when the leader is inconsistent, especially where a leader has been found to not be honest, distrust builds with time when leaders make promises but don't keep them. Leaders don't say pay salaries, for example. And the leader is making the money. Maybe the organization is making the money. You know that kind of a thing when leaders are not accountable, when leaders are not transparent, when people feel like they are being deceived, that builds distrust, that distrust erodes the credibility of the leader. Leaders, we must watch out for hypocrisy. The people who lead should not perceive us as being hypocritical because I know hypocrisy erodes the credibility of the leader fast. So for us to be able to tell the truth, be honest, transparent, and say the truth all the time, you know, that requires self-discipline, doesn't it? Yes. So the development of character involves the development of values, strong values, and the development of the strength of character to abide by those values, to live by our own standards. Yes, let's put it that way. To be consistent in living by our own standards and by the standards of our group or team. Character, haven't been developed like that, breeds authenticity. Now, authentic leaders lead from strong moral values. That's the point. Authentic leaders live from the inside out. They don't want to be on the outside, someone that is different from who they are on the inside. When there is dissonance, in other words, the person you're trying to present to the public or to the people you lead is different from who you really are on the inside. That's going to create stress for you. Okay? Yes. That creates problems. And the lack of authenticity is going to show people are going to detect it with time. So, authentic leaders lead from strong moral values. They live from the inside out. They lead with heart. And that has great effect on their followers, or their organizational members. Honestly, being authentic has great impact on the people we lead. Now being authentic does not mean that we have to be perfect, but it requires us to be perfectly honest. That also implies that we are in touch with our strengths and we're in touch with our weaknesses. Nobody is perfect. Of course, we've got to make gradual progress towards perfection. Right? We're not perfect yet. So, authentic leaders are comfortable enough to admit their strengths and to admit their weaknesses. And it makes great impact on followers when leaders are authentic. So, building our character, you know, setting goals to develop good character qualities is a major part of our leadership development process. And I just wanted to draw attention to that. It's a journey that never ends. So, let us identify our strengths, identify our weaknesses, and then begin to cultivate new habits. That's it. Because at the end of the day, our behavior is down to habits. So, when we identify what we need to strengthen, then we set daily goals, right? For replacing some habits with some other ones. And the more, you know, we do the right thing every single day, the stronger we feel, the stronger our moral muscles are. Awesome. So, let me say this though, at the root of good character is empathy, genuine love for people and caring for people. Honestly, I strongly believe that if you really care for me, you will not lie to me. If you really care about me, you will not steal from me. You see what I mean? So, we have a strong moral motivation for building good character when we genuinely love people. When we have empathy for people, when we genuinely care for people, every human deserves to be loved, just like we deserve to be loved. When leaders love people, people love them back. When leaders, are generally devoted to people, then people are generally devoted also to the leaders. Alright, thank you for being a part of our podcast. Till I see you again next time, all the best.