The Power and Example of Character Driven Leaders

I often wonder why adults often have expectations of kids that they do not have of themselves. Over the years, I have found that so many children are told to be respectful, show care and consideration for others and most importantly, honor your parents and those in authority. A kid who follows this model is one who is revered by teachers, parents and society as a whole. The ones who do not are considered rebellious and bucking authority. I often wonder what kind of society we would live in if many adults would live up to same expectations they have of kids. To treat people with respect, exhibit leadership ability, honor people in authority and have compassion for others. There are times when I conduct professional development events that many of the attendees sit in the back of the auditorium or the back tables in a training setting. Many of them are doing this as a way of protesting the authority that asked them to attend the training. Unfortunately, it provides a poor example of leadership. Let's look at this from a national perspective. I am convinced that President Obama is by far the most vilified President in modern history. He is attacked maliciously and people have seem to forgotten that the man has only been in office for 9 months! But we tell our kids, show respect for those in authority while so many of us proceed to bash anyone who we disagree with philosophically. Our kids really have bad examples of respect, honor and integrity today. I say that not to be disrespectful but to highlight the fact that there is a serious dearth of character taking place in our nation. If we ever expect our kids to be respectful, diligent and exhibit leadership characteristics, it is high time more people become examples of these traits. Being an adult is no excuse for lacking character and integrity.

Our country is in desperate need of leaders with character. Character driven adults provide an example that so many of our youth need to see in our schools and homes today. Adults who are willing to respect the opinions of others. Adults who exhibit self control. Adults who are willing to communicate with a child even if that child can be somewhat challenging. This shows that we are the bigger people.

The example established by this model, if implemented correctly, can change the negative environment that is steeped in many organizations and homes today. Let’s get over the paradigm of vitriol that has proliferated so many people. If you care for youth, we need to become the example of what we expect. This is, and always will be, the best way for youth to develop character.

If you are finding that your organization, school, business or home environment is impacted by pessimism, share this E-zine. Please feel free to forward it to someone you know who could benefit from this information. We cannot expect our youth to change if we do not change first. Please call the office toll free at 1-866-426-2243 if you would like to discuss a professional development program for your business or organization or life coaching (parents, managers, etc.) dealing with the power of character driven leadership. We offer coaching programs for individuals or group coaching for organizations.