129. Moral Character
A way to have a good moral character is to train our children when they are young.
-Simon kong
To an organization, choosing a leader it can be easy tasks when it considers 4C of leadership trait i.e.: Confidence,Competency,Compassion and Character.
Confidence: Look for his/her confident level which is a measurement of self-esteem. Give him an unknown task. The ways he/she respond will determine his/her confident level.
Competency: Look for his/her competency level. The competency level is different from knowledge level. He might not have appropriate knowledge at the beginning but the competency level gets him through the challenge. The competency level is the ability to learn, the ability to accept setback and the ability to recognize priority.
Compassion: Look for his/her compassion. Compassion is linked to life experience. Check what independent life experience one has before deciding his/her other credentials. Remember Future Potentiality and IQ test can be very misleading indicators.
Character: Look for his/her character. His/her ability of holding on basic human principles over his/her personal gains. The character trait can be misleading because when the assessment is by how well he can speak or how good is his people oriented skills. The safer way is to assess his intention. His intention will be Congruent by his long term action over periods of time.
Again in military services, civil organization, business entity and not-for-profit organization they may have their own culture of selecting future leaders. But 4C leadership traits provide universal guiding principles for effective leadership roles.
There is one exception in politic arena. A commitment to serve can match 4C of leadership roles because one is possessing 4C Leadership traits does not make him/her a good political leader without being committed to a good course and serve.
In summary: Moral Character and the Commitment to serve are up-bringing issue. To Parents, do you buy this idea? If you do, review your other intensive programs for your kids in a more perspective manner. Train them in their formative years in moral character building, bring out the best in them.
