How Important is Character to Your Success?

by Dave Kahle

How Important is Character to Your Success?

One of the 25 most important lessons I’ve learned.

A refined character is the ultimate path to success and fulfillment. That is one of the 25 most important lessons I’ve learned.

           A little background.  I’ve been a consultant/speaker/trainer for over 30 years, having worked with more than 500 B2B sales forces.  Recently, one of my clients suggested that I compile a list of the 25 most important lessons I’ve learned and write about each.   Pursuing that idea, I came up with a long list. To narrow it down, I applied these criteria to the list:

           1. It had to be an important lesson – one which has the potential to dramatically affect a person, a sales team, or a business — not superficial or trivial.

           2.  It had to arise out of my personal experience.  In other words, not something that I garnered from a book, or borrowed from someone else. Something I’ve learned in the trenches.  

           3.  It had to have been tested in the caldron of real-world experience.  No blue-sky stuff.

           4.  I had to unwaveringly vouch for its validity.  These are concepts and lessons that I would stand behind.

           Using that process, I reduced the list to 25.  In no particular order of priority, I have finished several, and you can find the links at the bottom of this post.  Here’s the next on the list: “A refined character is the ultimate path to success and fulfillment.”

           Let’s begin by defining what we mean by a refined character.

Portrait of a Professional Sales Manager

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           Character, according to Google, is defined as “the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. ’ We often refer to these “qualities of character” as character traits.  These words refer to our habitual behavior, and consist of our thoughts, feelings, and attitudes, evidenced in the choices we make.   

           Think of one’s character as personality – the way a person habitually acts. So, one can be outgoing, for example, honest or deceptive, proud or humble, thankful or resentful, and so on.  The combination of the individual traits come together to form a person’s character. Everyone, therefore, has a unique character.

           While much of our character develops in our childhood, at some point in our development we can decide to intentionally acquire certain desirable traits. We are not bystanders in the development of our character.  If we are shy, for example, we don’t have to continue to be.  We can choose to change.

           But change is difficult and, unfortunately, most people don’t pursue it. James Allen said:

           “Men are often interested in improving their circumstance, but are unwilling to improve themselves, they therefore remain bound.”

            A refined character is a set of traits that have been intentionally built into one’s personality.  But not just any traits.  Over generations, wise and thoughtful people have defined a set of traits that are more admirable, more conducive to success and fulfillment than others. The Bible, for example, encourages Christians to develop a set of traits it calls the ‘fruit of the spirit”:

              ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians     5:22-23, NIV

           There are other lists, but this is a good starting point.  The idea is that these character traits will lead to a life of fulfillment and impact... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE