Municipal Monitor Q4 2016 | Page 13

COVER STORY

Organizations can make character more explicit in the hiring process by adding character to job profiles . For example , both the City of Calgary and the City of Hamilton have taken the initiative to include character into the description of what it takes to be a successful leader at the city .

An important avenue of ensuring that character resonates throughout an organization is to embed character in leadership development practices . We know that there are people who believe that character cannot be developed – that you either have it or you don ’ t . This belief is simply wrong . There is ample research that shows that character can be developed .

As humans , we have the potential to learn , modify our behaviours , adapt to changing environments and experiment as we make our way in life . We do not always act on that potential but it is always there to be seized upon . Individuals can choose to look for opportunities for learning and development . This includes things like taking advantage of stretch assignments and other opportunities provided by the organization .

Reflection plays a critical role in the learning process . There are two distinct kinds of reflection . The first is reflection on action : the conscious pulling back from our day-to-day activities in order to contemplate those activities and draw lessons from them . Reflection on action allows leaders to see patterns over time , and perhaps make adjustments in their approaches to leadership . The second is reflection in action : the real-time processing of the feedback loops between how we are behaving , how our behaviours are being interpreted by others and whether the behaviours need modifying in order for us to go where we want to go .

It ’ s always tempting for individuals to say that they don ’ t have time for reflection . We are always busy . But the opposite is true – leaders don ’ t have the luxury of failing to reflect .

Such reflection of course requires data or feedback . Everyone has lots of data . We get feedback on how we interacted with people after key meetings , in formal and informal appraisals and from conversations with mentors on the progress we ’ re making in our roles . We get feedback from friends and non-friends , from family and from colleagues . But this feedback is often fragmented , frequently contradictory and sometimes given in ways that are not conducive to development . But we should all remember that feedback is a gift . Some of it we expected to hear ; at other times , we are surprised by the candor with which people provided the feedback . cultures . Mentors provide a sounding board for individuals and an opportunity to share personal experiences in handling challenging workplace situations and the leadership lessons embedded in these situations . They hire and promote those who seem to demonstrate the appropriate behaviours , and sometimes fire those who disappoint along that dimension . They model the character they want to see throughout the organization . Finally , they provide the resources and personal engagement in character-based formal leadership development processes and programs that will contribute to creating a high-performing organization staffed by people of good character . Failure to address character clearly , systematically and aggressively leaves many leadership development programs merely scratching the surface of possibilities .

It is an understatement to say that the world craves better leadership . The need for better leadership is evident from headlines alluding to leadership failures across virtually all

“ There are people who believe that character cannot be developed – that you either have it or you don ’ t . This belief is simply wrong . There is ample research that shows that character can be developed .”

sectors of society . But whether the quality of leadership in our organizations improves or not depends on the efforts of many stakeholders – families , schools , clubs , religious institutions , boards , professional associations , senior leaders and so forth . Organizations are good at addressing leadership competencies . In contrast , character often gets ignored . It would be a far better approach to tailor leadership development programs to the needs of the organization and its people , so that they address both the competencies that leaders have to call upon and the character dimensions that they need to develop . Developing leader character is a lifelong journey . The possibility to develop character exists in every moment of every day .

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