Posts tagged Character
Why Spain are so far ahead of England at football
This whole article offers a great insight into why the Spanish are so far ahead football-wise of the English (and indeed the rest of the world). As someone who has long been an advocate of character as being a critical ingredient behind all true success, it is not at all surprising to see the talk of humility in the context of the Spanish team as a telling factor.
Spend any time in the company of Roxburgh and Martinez and the word “humble” peppers their conversations. There is a humility to this great Spanish team. “Vicente Del Bosque is so humble – like most of his players,’’ said Roxburgh. “Vicente told his players on Sunday: ‘You are only football players – but you represent the face of Spain.’
“The Barca players are noted for their humility and it shows in the work-rate and the way they behave to other people. That all comes from the youth programme.’’
Giving up the things you enjoy to achieve your goals
I have to say I was delighted to read earlier that Danny Care - the England rugby player - has given up alcohol. Not that I have anything against alcohol; I was simply sad to see a young guy throwing away his career due to not being able to control himself after having a few drinks.
Danny has been in the press far too often in recent months getting arrested and banned from driving due to alcohol induced offences. The way the same thing kept happening was making me reach the conclusion that his career was as good as over. You can’t keep making the same mistake over and over and expect to succeed.
Thankfully he’s finally realised that the best thing to do is quit alcohol all together. And, hopefully, that will free him up to pursue his dream of playing for England again.
The truth is that we all will need to give up things we enjoy if we are to achieve success. Each of us has vices that trip us up and hold us back. It’ll take strength of character to give it up completely. But we must. Our future success demands it.
Mark Driscoll is becoming an increasing embarrassment to the church
Mark Driscoll is becoming an increasing embarrassment to the church. It’s sad to see a church leader with so much influence doing so much harm with it.
Now, of course, nobody is perfect, but the pride, arrogance, manner and, in this case, blatant chauvinism is frankly despicable and not acceptable for such a high profile leader.
Talent is one thing, character is another. Talent gets you there. Character keeps you there.
Why do leaders known for integrity and leadership engage in unethical activities?
Bill George in the Harvard Business Review:
Before anyone takes on a leadership role, they should ask themselves, “Why do I want to lead?” and “What’s the purpose of my leadership?” These questions are simple to ask, but finding the real answers may take decades. If the honest answers are power, prestige, and money, leaders are at risk of relying on external gratification for fulfillment. There is nothing wrong with desiring these outward symbols as long as they are combined with a deeper desire to serve something greater than oneself.
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When leaders focus on external gratification instead of inner satisfaction, they lose their grounding. Often they reject the honest critic who speaks truth to power. Instead, they surround themselves with sycophants who tell them what they want to hear. Over time, they are unable to engage in honest dialogue; others learn not to confront them with reality.
This is a really great article and a must read for all leaders. We all need to be reminded of our fallibility and the importance of staying humble and keeping the right motivations on a regular basis.
Stop trying to find yourself, it's time to lose yourself
David Brooks in the New York Times writes about the world that this year’s graduates are entering into and challenges much of the conventional wisdom about how to live:
Most people don’t form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling.
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Today’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. Most of us are egotistical and most are self-concerned most of the time, but it’s nonetheless true that life comes to a point only in those moments when the self dissolves into some task. The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.
This is a US centric article but it has a broader western relevance. It’s a good challenge to the self-centred worldview that most of us are being shaped by.
The New Humanism
Fascinating article by David Brooks in the New York Times opinion pages.
When we raise our kids, we focus on the traits measured by grades and SAT scores. But when it comes to the most important things like character and how to build relationships, we often have nothing to say. Many of our public policies are proposed by experts who are comfortable only with correlations that can be measured, appropriated and quantified, and ignore everything else.
Yet while we are trapped within this amputated view of human nature, a richer and deeper view is coming back into view. It is being brought to us by researchers across an array of diverse fields: neuroscience, psychology, sociology, behavioral economics and so on.
This growing, dispersed body of research reminds us of a few key insights. First, the unconscious parts of the mind are most of the mind, where many of the most impressive feats of thinking take place. Second, emotion is not opposed to reason; our emotions assign value to things and are the basis of reason. Finally, we are not individuals who form relationships. We are social animals, deeply interpenetrated with one another, who emerge out of relationships.
