Character: The leader’s key performance indicator: Leadership in Action Series

Leadership is essential for the change as well as the transformation of any enterprise, institution, community and nation. However, change and transformation start first within the internal sphere of the leader, in his or her character.Character is the most decisive factor in the development and growth of leadership. It is also the area in which leaders are able to generate the most influence as well as transcendence on their followers. It’s neither talent, nor charisma, nor intelligence, nor knowledge that best defines a leader, but his or her own character.This necessitates the addressing of the subject of character as the key performance indicator in this first delivery of the Leadership in Action Series.In the first chapter, character is approached as a constitutive and definitory factor in the life of the leader, providing helpful definitions and characterizations for the conceptualization of character as the intrinsic condition of the leaders who change the world.The second chapter discusses the leader’s habits as a generating and consolidating force of his character, focusing on the importance of developing life-long disciplines as an indispensable requirement for changing, adjusting and forging habits of effectiveness. The third chapter portraits trust as the fruit of having an integral and congruent character as a leader. The leader’s reliability is the decisive factor in generating trust around followers, and trust is the fuel of leadership. Without reliability, there’s no trust, and without the followers’ trust, there is no leadership.In the fourth chapter, character is defined as the capacity to decipher and face the demands of reality, as the foundation of the effective performance of the leader.We hope that this book contributes to the discussion and deepening of this fundamental aspect of the leader’s performance which is the character.

Dr. Jesus A.Sampedro. Leadership strategist, marketplace ambassador and globaltrainer. Professor of Leadership at IESA and MACU. Author, speaker andcertified coach-trainer. President at Global Leadership Consulting &Director at CBMC International. Married to Gaby, father of Ana & Eva.
 
Dr. Arnoldo A.Arana. Leadership expert and psychotherapist. Author, speakerand certified coach-trainer. Experienced manager and business professor LUZ andUC. Senior Director at Global Leadership Consulting. Married to Ana, father ofthree sons.