Leadership & Character | London, England

A group of Wake Foresters gathered over dinner in London, England on January 25, 2019 to discuss Leadership & Character.

Overview and highlights of our Call to Conversation:

• People have both good character and bad character. We do not reject a person because of one instance of bad character or wrongdoing. Even though media often highlights the bad in people, we still see the good and recognize that “bad” people can contribute in many ways and show the ability to sacrifice for other people.
• We discussed whether we reject people’s professional successes because of their unacceptable acts of bad character. Do we refrain from watching a movie or listening to a piece of music because we do not approve of the actor/actress or the musician? Do we reject groundbreaking scientific results because the researchers involved have bad characters?
• Respect or fear for faith can often lead to good characters in people, but faith is not equivalent to religion and people do not necessarily need faith to have good characters. We do agree that many aspects of good character are celebrated by various beliefs and religions, and these aspects of good character have been passed down to younger generations who are not as religious as the older generations. We wish more people could adopt lifestyles of good character because of their intrinsic will rather than fear of serving consequences suggested by their faiths.
• We agree that the best way to encourage kindness is to lead by example, because actions speak louder than words. We wish kindness could be seen as a strength, which would help make it more prevalent in the business world.
• People’s character can change gradually over time or immediately because of dramatic life-changing events. People who grow up in the same culture, family background, or beliefs can still develop different characters.