CHARACTER AND REPUTATION

The two most important elements of a person, is their character and reputation. Your character is made up of distinctive traits, qualities and or abilities that describe/represent who you are. Your reputation is the estimation in which you are being held. In essence, your reputation stems from your character. Which means you cannot have a reputation without character and you cannot have character that does not produce some sort of a reputation. Your character is your daily display of who you are to the world even when no one is looking.
We sometimes seem to forget the importance of good character and reputation. Why is good character important? Character is like a church bell that rings very loud and grabs everyone attention. It is like a sign plastered on your forehead for everyone to read. Everything you do and say is a reflection of your character. The problem with society is that, we are so eager to look for talent rather than character. Or even talent and character. We want the best singers, doctors, politicians, actors, community organizers, professors, scholars and so much more, but do we ever think of their character. We ask questions in auditions and interviews like, "How long have you been singing" or "What experiences do you have in public relations?" But what about questions like, "Are you compassionate, and if so tell me why" or "What would you do if no one was looking?" We do not need talented or intelligent individuals with bad or no character at all. John Luther states," Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece ,by thought, choice, courage and determination."
Our society needs people who are intelligent and talented enough to be in the best professions and positions life has to offer and who are also thoughtful, compassionate, empathetic, moral, ethical and possess integrity and honestly. We do not need lawyers who lie, investment bankers who steal or politicians who cheat. We get upset when situations like Enron happen or people like Madoff come along...because we never cared to know if they had good character to begin with. The only way we can be an effective, successful and productive society is if we have a body of talented individuals with good character who are willing to take a stand.

Stay Inspired
Uhanan Mimi