eLearning CE: Activity 3 Darryl Leong (15)

Leaders all have excellence. Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence. Excellence is "being all you can be" within the bounds of doing what is right for your organization. To reach excellence you must first be a leader of good character. You must do everything you are supposed to do. Organizations will not achieve excellence by figuring out where it wants to go, then having leaders do whatever they have to in order to get the job done, and then hope their leaders acted with good character. This type of thinking is backwards. Pursuing excellence should not be confused with accomplishing a job or task. When you do planning, you do it by backwards planning. But you do not achieve excellence by backwards planning. Excellence starts with leaders of good and strong character who engage in the entire process of leadership. And the first process is being a person of honorable character.

(Source: Big Dog and Little Dog - Character Traits in Leadership)

Leaders must have a good character. Character develops over time. Many think that much of a person's character is formed early in life. However, we do not know exactly how much or how early character develops. But, it is safe to claim that character does not change quickly. A person's observable behavior is an indication of her character. This behavior can be strong or weak, good or bad. A person with strong character shows drive, energy, determination, self-discipline, willpower, and nerve. She sees what she wants and goes after it. She attracts followers. On the other hand, a person with weak character shows none of these traits. She does not know what she wants. Her traits are disorganized, she vacillates and is inconsistent. She will attract no followers.

(Source: Big Dog and Little Dog - Character Traits in Leadership)

A Good Leader knows how to keep calm, dream big, and has a persevering attitude. For example, Nelson Mandela was thrown in jail for 26 years. But he still persevered in where everyone would have given up. In 1994, Mr Mandela became the President of South Africa, elected by the people's choice. The WWII Hero Lim Bo Seng, did not really become a leader but was one in the people's hearts. He sacrificed himself for his beloved country and gave up his food and belongings to other prisoners and hostages. As a result, the Lim Bo Seng Memorial was set up in his memory.