Character On Display
Imagine what it would be like to be led by a person who understood what Duty is and then did their Duty. Duty is not a term used outside of the military very often. But if more people did their Duty, our workplaces and our lives would be significantly different.
What is Duty in 12 Words or Less?
Taking action based on our assigned tasks and moral obligations.
How do Leaders of Character display this sense of Duty? How can any of us develop the Habit of Character we call Duty in our daily lives?
Doing My Duty
Leaders of Character believe …
- If I say I am going to do something, I will do it.
- If I say I will be somewhere at 10 a.m., I will be there.
- If I say I will complete a project by a particular date, I will complete it.
- If I see something that needs to be done, I will do it.
- If I can help someone improve, I will push them to grow.
- If I tell my kids I will be at their school play, I will be there.
- If I accept a paycheck from my employer, I will do my job to the best of my abilities.
- If I do not do the things listed above, I will own my failure, fix it, and do better next time.
Who wouldn’t want to be around a person with that sense of Duty? Who wouldn’t want to follow that leader? Trust would never be a question, would it?
Character on Display
So how do you get there? How do you become that Leader of Character who has developed the habit of Duty to such a mature level? You start with the small choices: the smaller day-to-day decisions that help you form a Habit of Character that will prepare you for the larger tests.
For instance, you pick up a random piece of trash on the street without giving it a second thought. You volunteer to complete a report for your boss when he is behind. You clean windows at home or do the dishes without expecting anything in return. You don’t make excuses for your shortcomings. You don’t try to manipulate reality so you do not have to own your mistakes. You accept the fact that you screwed up and that you need to do the work of finding solutions.
You do not give up, because you know that giving up is not doing your Duty. There is no excuse adequate enough to justify your giving up. You will not stop at plan A or B. You will find a way to persevere. You will go from plan A all the way to plan Z if need be in order to follow through on a commitment.
You coach everyone with an equal determination to make them better. You have difficult conversations when they are needed. You model the Habits of Character and understand people are paying more attention to your actions than to your words.
The Bottom Line:
A Leader of Character is not selective when it comes to doing her Duty. She does it because she has developed it into a Habit of Character through intentional and consistent exercising of her Duty muscles. She breaks a sweat in practice so she is ready for game day.
“Duty is the sublimest word in the language; you can never do more than your duty; you shall never wish to do less.” – Robert E. Lee
Duty is a Habit of Character. It is a habit formed over time. We all have a Duty. We have a Duty to our spouses, our children, our parents, our teams at work, our country, our environment, and our world. Exercising our Duty in one of these areas bleeds over into the others.
Each time we take action like the ones we have talked about above, it makes it easier for us to do the same thing the next time. As the weeks and months pass, we will find that we have stopped thinking about what our Duty is; instead our habits will have taken over and we will be doing our Duty without thinking about it. Our Duty will have become another facet of who we are.
Question:
Which of these Habits of Character tie into the topic of Duty?