Leaders are trusted when their lives are in alignment with their convictions.

Elections come and go, but one thing is certain, questions about the leader’s character always arise. One does not have to be a political scientist to understand why, character not only matters in leadership, it is essential. People do not support and follow those they do not trust. “Character is the only secure foundation of the state,”-Calvin Coolidge.

Leaders and followers for that matter, are not machines, but humans, who are expected to make constant judgements about trust and confidence. There seems to be an instinct in all of us, to gravitate toward those we can trust, and who inspire our confidence. We look to those whose lives are in full alignment with their convictions. Character matters, because without it, trust, justice, freedom, community and stability, are probably impossible to achieve. However, if we simply reduce character to a meaningless word used to evoke positive feelings, we are not likely to find the real thing in those we lead either

So, the leader’s responsibility in essence then, is to deal with himself, as character is indispensable to credibility, and credibility is essential to leadership. When our lives are shown to be at odds with our convictions, we destroy everything we have sought to build.

Leaders of character, produce organisations of character, for character like conviction, is infectious. Followers are drawn to those who character attracts them, as something they want for themselves.