Searching for a leader with character

Character is a quality that is mandatory in a leader.  Without character, the leader will not be effective.  He will not be able to lead.  How can you follow someone who is lacking in character?  How can we follow after so-called leaders who say one thing, yet do something completely different?  How can we follow leaders who tell us that we need to act a certain way, yet they have no intention of acting in that same way?

Some have said that character is who you are when you think that no one is watching.  In other words, character is who you are, not in public and in front of others, but in the privacy of your home, when no one is around to watch you.  Anyone can put on a good show in public.  But is that who you really are when the people go away and you are no longer on the forefront?

Many years ago, in my freshman speech class in college, we learned the rules of the effective speaker.  The first rule is "The effective speaker is a person whose character, knowledge, and judgment command respect."  In other words, if you have character, you can have a commanding presence and can be a truly effective speaker and leader.  However, if you lack character, it will be extremely difficult to lead others, because you will lose trust with those who you are trying to lead.

Many Americans today are looking for leaders with character.  We often complain about the lack of character in our elected officials.  We complain about the lack of character in athletes.  We complain about the lack of character in entertainers.  Yet, many times, we do nothing to promote people of good character.  Instead, we continue to promote people of questionable or bad character.

As I watch the current candidates run for President, I am reminded of our nation's ongoing search for a leader with character.  We all want someone who can lead, but not everyone desires a leader that has impeccable character.

Why is that?  It is because there are people who do not value this important trait of character in a leader.  Some want a leader who will promise them a life where the government will give them whatever they want.  Some want a leader based on political party alone.  Some are content voting against someone instead of voting for someone.

But as I have observed the conventions over the past couple of weeks, I have seen a marked difference in character in the two men running for President.  I do not hide the fact that I am a conservative Republican, and some may think that I am biased in my analysis.  But I believe character is one of the most important, if not the most important, trait that our national leaders must possess.

During the Republican convention, many people spoke about Mitt Romney and his quiet way of helping others through difficult times.  He helped others as the were going through difficult financial times.  He helped families who were going through difficult health problems.  And he did so without drawing attention to himself.  He did it because he had the means to help.  He did it because he wanted to help.  He did it because he knew it was the right thing to do.  He does not like to talk about the ways he helped others, because to him, it is a way of life.

In contrast, President Obama does a lot of talking about helping others.  Yet, we never hear about how he has taken time to actually help others on an individual basis, before or after he became President.  He is very good at telling us that we need to help others, but where is his example?  His idea of helping others is to have the government help them, not get his own hands dirty and help them out.

It seems to me that Mitt Romney holds true to the motto "Actions speak louder than words."  He knows that you can say whatever you want.  However, you cannot be effective as a leader and be viewed as a man of character unless your actions back up your words.  If your actions do not back up your words, you will quickly be labeled a hypocrite (well, Republicans will be labeled as hypocrites, Democrats will not).

In contrast, it looks like the President lives by the motto "Do as I say, not as I do."  This is not an effective way to lead.  He is a man whose words speak louder than his actions (actually, they speak louder than his inaction).  The President says good things.  However, he fails to live them out in his own life.  If he does indeed live them out, why are we not hearing about it?

Character is important.  We need to judge our leaders based on their character.  Is Mitt Romney perfect?  No, he is not.  But in my view, he displays so much more character than the person who currently occupies the Oval Office.  And we need to take this into account as we head toward the voting booth in November.