Inner Character or Outer Guidelines?

I'm posting old Members' Library Home Page articles here to serve as an archive. This one was first published June 15, 2009, at http://members.characterfirst.com.

Luke Kallberg

What is character, really? Is it everyone doing what they think is right? The powerful forcing their standards on the weak? A set of rules you must follow or be punished? Often people don’t realize how subtle beliefs like these can affect their everyday behavior. Outward rules can clarify what is expected, but there’s still something missing.

Character First! works to create an environment in which people talk clearly and easily in terms of right and wrong. As this culture develops, we will find ourselves conforming not so much to outward guidelines, but to the inner values we are coming to recognize in life. In a way, what Character First! seeks is well-informed consciences. Outward guidelines are important–but ultimately only as they educate our inner character.

We hope that, through the presentations in the monthly bulletin and here in the Members’ Library, you are becoming more and more comfortable talking in terms of character every day.

• Examine the Members’ Library definition of Character. Do you consider yourself to be a person of good character?
• As you look at each history article, note how the historical figure was governed internally. What would be different if they required external guidelines?

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Luke Kallberg manages website content for the Character Training Institute.

Plausibility Structures

I'm posting old Members' Library Home Page articles here to serve as an archive. This one was first published June 1, 2009, at http://members.characterfirst.com.

Luke Kallberg

People who face an environment hostile to what they believe will “plausibility structures,” an organization, group of people, environment, information source, or something similar that tells him his belief is plausible¹. Certainly we all gravitate toward social groups, movies, news sources, and other “structures” that reinforce our thoughts about the world.

These tendencies often become both a cause and an effect of our values and beliefs. The question is how purposeful we will be in building our plausibility structures?

Character First! is rooted in the belief that there are right and wrong decisions. Your use of this website and related resources can be part of a plausibility structure of good character. You can use these resources purposefully in your organization or family to reinforce the belief that character is the way the world works.

• Do you try to apply character to your life because someone tells you to, or because you are personally motivated to?
• Have you found a historical character with whom you can identify in your ongoing effort to develop integrity?
• What is your purpose in accessing the Members’ Library? Do you have ideas for using these values to help those around you? The Key Concepts often involve our relationships with others.

Reference:

¹Nepstad, S. (2004). Persistent resistance: Commitment and community in the ploughshares movement. Social Problems, 51(1), p.43-60.

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Luke Kallberg manages website content for the Character Training Institute.

Deliverables

I'm posting old Members' Library Home Page articles here to serve as an archive. This one was first published May 18, 2009, at http://members.characterfirst.com.

Luke Kallberg

We often demand deliverables from others. We get specific promises, and then we hold others to “deliver” on those commitments. If they don’t, we will probably go to someone else next time.

What do you expect your character emphasis to deliver? No program will succeed if it’s not an expression of what you already want for yourself and those around you. Take a moment to examine your heart and make sure you have the right goals.

Is Character First! one part of your larger desire to benefit your people, or are you hoping the program will inspire good behavior without too much effort? Are you the driving force, or are you hoping that Character First! will be the driving force? Character First!’s goal is for you to pursue character development, not simply to implement a program.

• Look at a quality’s Key Concepts. Don’t think first about whether you and those around you are doing them. Think about the reasons for practicing them, and other motivations. How weighty are these things in your mind and the minds of those around you?

• Consider the “How to Praise” section. The essence of praising for character rather than achievement is to recognize the good motivations behind good behavior, and genuinely appreciate them. Are you developing this appreciation?

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Luke Kallberg manages website content for the Character Training Institute.

What People Want

I'm posting old Members' Library Home Page articles here to serve as an archive. This one was first published May 4, 2009, at http://members.characterfirst.com.

Luke Kallberg

When I was studying for a business degree, I took a course titled “Organizational Behavior,” in which the class learned that there are major differences between the ways cultures approach problems. People from some cultures tend to look for the solution by changing or improving something in themselves, while others tend to look for the solution by changing or improving something around them. The American culture falls into the latter group. Our mindset tends more toward conforming the outside world to what we want.

One place I’ve noticed this mindset is in the development of Internet searches. Google in particular has advertised the model of the perfect search engine: when you only get one result–the exact thing you were looking for. This goal helps us to efficiently get what we want, but we also need to remember the value of encountering a world that adds to and changes us. We can change and control many things, but the more we change, the more vital it becomes that we recognize what must remain stable.

We need to avoid becoming like children who get their own way too often. There is great value in encountering a world that is not just what we desired; but that adds to and changes our desires. As we continue the onward march of discovering how to affect and improve the world around us, we must retain openness to things like character–things that define how the world works. Even as we seek to change the world for the better, we must allow the realities of the world to change us for the better.

• What areas in your life do you hope “good character” will help you in? Are you sure that what you want in those areas is what is right?
• As you read the key concepts for each quality, are there things that surprise you, or new thoughts that appear?
• Look at the In Balance section. One perspective is rarely sufficient for a right choice–we naturally need multiple factors informing us.

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Luke Kallberg manages website content for the Character Training Institute.