Building Character
Building Character
One of the most important gifts we can give to our family, friends, co-workers and ourselves is to be a person of character.
David Brooks, in his book The Road to Character, examines the lives of a diverse set of people who have exemplified a life of character. Brooks identifies a pattern that recurs in each of their lives – “They had to go down to go up. They had to descend into the valley of humility to climb to the heights of character.”
All of us can think of someone in our lives who has strong character. They exhibit a cohesive sense of authenticity, wisdom and humility that has been developed through a full life of leadership and service to others and have learned from joy and pain. Ironically, many of these people exist in the backgrounds of our life.
Brooks goes on to identify the difference between “resume virtues” – skills that help us achieve wealth, fame and status –and “eulogy virtues” – traits such as kindness, bravery, honesty and faithfulness by which we will be remembered. A person of character makes sure that their resume and eulogy virtues are in proper balance.
One of our core values at North Group is building character. It is our desire to grow in our individual character as we interact and relate with each of you.
Building character is a life-long pursuit that is well worth the journey. I encourage you to think of people who have impacted you through their character. How has their example enhanced your relationship with those around you?
Thanks for sharing your insights from this book. Really like the distinction between resume values and eulogy values. And also yours and North Group’s willingness to acknowledge the importance of the eulogy (character) values. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very successful – with BOTH sets of values – year in 2017.
Josh