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CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS CHARACTER?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

—Martin Luther King Jr., March on Washington, August 28, 1963

Dr. King's most famous line from his most famous speech implores us to judge people not by superficial appearance but rather by a more substantive measure: their character. How many times have you thought that a politician or a celebrity or a star athlete didn't seem particularly admirable because of how they looked or what they said or what they did? What most likely bothered you, even if unconsciously, was a lack of some character trait such as honesty, integrity, or courage that we all can instinctively recognize. It's like the old saying: I may not know about art, but I know what I like.

Polls consistently show that most Americans believe our country is headed in the wrong direction and that national unity is in jeopardy. People know that something is wrong and they are looking for guidance on how to get America back on track.

This book will offer such guidance by helping you identify leaders who display the essential traits of character and suggest role models to use in your own lives. The United States and indeed the world are in urgent need of leadership in virtually every area: politics, business, social direction, nonprofits, and more. That leadership will be marked by "character," and this book will offer vignettes of men and women who reflected this quotient.

But what exactly is character?

The dictionary defines it as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, the distinctive nature of something, the quality of being individual in an interesting or unusual way, strength and originality in a person's nature, and a person's good reputation.

But beyond these definitions, we know that character is manifested in leadership, innovation, resilience, change, courage, loyalty, breaking barriers, and more. Character drives the best traits in our society, such as honesty, integrity, leadership, and transparency, and it drives others to exhibit those qualities.

While many of these characteristics seem to be missing in today's society, including in its leaders, all of you can elevate society by recognizing and incorporating the lessons of these vignettes into your own lives, which will inspire the lives of those around you.

I almost always, sometimes unconsciously, observe and judge the character of clients, employees, and even friends. I don't give demerits or merit badges, but I do find it useful to know who I'm dealing with, the level of trust I can bestow, and in the case of friends and employees, drop some helpful hints to help them build character. In many cases, I can make the right decision myself, leading by example, to show them how to solve a problem or resolve a crisis the correct way.

It's often said that bad luck or adverse circumstances help one build character. We learn from our mistakes or when bad things happen. Indeed, many of the diverse group of people we're going to examine were afflicted by disease, found themselves in war, imprisoned for political beliefs, or suffered personal or business setbacks from which they bounced back. But character doesn't always arise from adversity; it is fundamentally the choices we make in our lives that determine our character.

This book will examine the lives of thirty-one individuals who exhibited outstanding character in fields as diverse as politics, religion, medicine, business, sports, entertainment, and the military. Their stories will highlight their attributes and achievements, which have shaped our age. They will also offer a blueprint for future leaders to display much-needed character at a time when it seems lacking in many of those fields.

This is a big problem, and it defies an easy solution.