I have often been intrigued by this very word "CHARACHTER". I am a student of this word because if you are developing one , you first need to be a good student of your own self....Going inwards is the first step to understand your own & other people's CHARACTER..... Hope you like this piece too.....

1. What does Character mean today?
One of the things we don’t often talk about in LEADERSHIP Circles
is“CHARACTER”.
We talk about ATTITUDE, BEHAVIOUR, ABILITY, TEAMWORK but we often forget
where it all starts. Let me illustrate what a CHARACTER is all about.
When the eagles soar in the sky higher than any species, they show CHARACTER.
Being BOUNDARYLESS is their CHARACTER.Let me state that CHARACTER can be a
tool for reaching your PURPOSE of life. It can be your MESSIAH or your CURSE.
When we are born, we have nothing. While we live, we act, we move &grow and
when we die we take nothing back. However people remember us not for anything
else but our CHARACTER.
Character building starts from INFANCY& goes on until DEATH. CHARACTER does
not need success to be built up. Infact the more tougher the circumstances, the
more STRONGER can be the CHARACTER.
Under Adverse circumstances, some people break records & others break down.
JFK said – “Mark of a Character is how well it behaves in Adverse Circumstances.”
Adversity reveals a person’s TRUE CHARACTER.
We don’t unfold or discover ourselves, we infact create & build ourselves into the
kind of person we want to be. There is a RUSSIAN Saying a Hammer shatters glass
but forges steel. Are we made of STEEL or GLASS? It is the same hammer. The
hammer in this case can be our whole life.
CHARACTER – INDIVIDUAL FABRIC
CHARACTER takes shape in an individual’s life over years put together and it takes
your parent’s guidance, your friends, your teachers to shape it up.
Character is the sum total of a person’s values, beliefs, persona& personality. It is
reflected in our behaviors & our actions. We demonstrate CHARACTER in
everything we do or we don’t ever do.It is in every choice we make – RIGHT V/s
WRONG.
Character is not absent when we decide the WRONG? It is infact a part of making
that choice. Characters don’t have a religion/ sect/nationality unlike the way we
decide & infer on it in our SOCIAL DEFINITIONS nowadays.
We have so many labels, so many categories defined or un-defined, conscious or
un-conscious. We have put these labels & associated them with a NEGATIVE/
POSITIVE CHARACTER based on highly subjective parameters of SOCIETY, which
every individual gets affected with as well.

2. Today, people have started to resort to any means to getting work done. Somehow
the philosophical bent has shifted from Being RIGHT to Being SUCCESSFUL. Being
successful at what COST? That to me is a billion dollar question.
Honestly I believe to be a WINNER in all aspects takes CHARACTER. George
Washington said – “I hope I shall possess firmness & virtue enough to maintain
what I consider the most valuable of all titles, - The character of an HONEST
MAN”
It is CHARACTER, which combines THOUGHTS with ACTION. A real test of
Character therefore, is doing what's right when nobody's looking.
CHARACTER – CRITICISM
However there is another interesting facet which is a TEST of CHARACTER – We all
know, that it is human for many people to love achievements & but hate/ envy
ACHIEVERS. Whenever one person rises to the top, there are plenty others who
couldn’t reach there & they try to pull this person down by CRITICISM, CYNISISM &
TACTICS. Remember, the more you accomplish, the more you risk being criticized.
No one likes to be criticized but we learn & grow from honest criticism. Just as it
takes CHARACTER not to be disheartened by CRITICS, it also takes CHARACTER to
listen to CRITICS. It is very important to be able to distinguish honest criticism
from jealously inspired criticism.
POSITIIVE CHARACTER instills confidence in SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE to ask for
CRITICISM from those whose opinions they TRUST. They ask – How am I doing?
Remember, we can always fake ourselves in front of others by showing a
different facet of our CHARACTER; you still can’t fake the person you see in the
mirror.
CHARACTER – BEING SUCCESSFUL
You will seldom see a very SUCCESSFUL PERSON with no CHARACTER. Even the fact
that you believe he/ she succeeded without CHARACTER, is wrong. Remember
CHARACTER can be invisible to the naked eye and can be deeper than you can see
into a person.
However, more difficult than success itself is how we handle success. Many people
know how to succeed but when they do so, they don’t know how to handle it &
eventually they fail.
That is why comes one last facet in this piece i.e. ABILITY. Your ABILITY will
get you SUCCESS; but it is your CHARACTER which will keep you SUCCESSFUL.
Here's wishing you a life filled with Great Character. Amen!!!!