Leadership & Character | Washington, D.C.

A group of Wake Foresters gathered over dinner at the Wake Washington Center in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 2019 to discuss Leadership & Character.

Overview and highlights of our Call to Conversation:

• In summary, we shared very similar thoughts about leadership and character, while sharing stories about a variety of leaders in our own lives. I would simply like to summarize our conversation with key words about leadership and character that came out of our discussion: admitting mistakes, unpopular stands, fairness, go with true and honest despite response, character taught by example, selfless, generosity, conviction, mercy, outcome above needs, personal/organic relationships, feeling or intuition.
• We had great discussion as to when and how character is developed and whether it can develop over time. We also discussed the idea of individual character versus collective character (team, organization, etc.).
• We all agreed that great leaders have an authenticity and sincerity. They do not do anything focused on themselves but more so for the good of the group, cause, or future.
• One surprising and unexpected takeaway from our conversation was that we see leadership in a variety of different people – from the top to the bottom. The types of examples we gave were: principal, teacher, professor, mentor, pastor, judge, parent, defendant/client, co-worker.