As a coach you are placed in a leadership position. Even when somebody simply says to a kid, “This is Coach _______,” they immediately put you onto a different tier and look up to you. I know there are many coaches who misuse the position and instead of leading they simply use people to win. This is also true of people in the workplace. People simply use others. There is leading, there is using. Both may achieve wins and results, however, when character isn’t present neither is leadership.
One of my personal heroes is Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. He was a man of many talents and wound up being our 26’th President. While there are many leadership lessons we can learn from President Roosevelt, one of the finest is when he said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
There is more to character than just caring for others, but it is an important step. Whether or not you care for others will be revealed when you are put into a leadership position. When you are actually put into a position of leadership (like coaching) your faults go on display for all to see. For me it’s communication. I can create the best strategies and have the best plans, but my team doesn’t always hear them because all my thinking is done internally. Trying to communicate everything seems trivial at times and then my team is caught unaware by some great plan I’ve developed in my head!
This is just an example of a fault that never would have come out if I didn’t take on a leadership role. Some of my other faults have also been shown, and some of my character flaws have also been brought to light. This always happens in leadership positions. It also means you have a chance to fix some of the character flaws you might have fought your entire life.
Being in leadership impacts your character because without character you won’t be in leadership. A quick search of the most important qualities of a leader will show a number of business leaders, coaches, and other influencers who believe that integrity is vital to good leadership. When people discuss someones character they are usually discussing whether somebody has integrity. You may have some struggles with this as you enter into leadership as you have never been in a space where your character was on display for many people to see. You may feel like people attack your character and you may feel at times as if you’re character is challenged by your own abilities. All of these will make you examine your character.
As you examine your character I hope you will recognize the character you already have! You would not be in a leadership position if people around you didn’t recognize character. My hope is you will also continue to work on your character. Let the fact that you have people following you impact your character and continue to refine it.