Character Always Wins Part 2

Your character is your greatest treasure in the bank of life, it is the strongest defense against every attack of life, it is your fortress when all seems lost.

The Power of Character

“If you lost money you lost nothing, if you lost your health, you lost something; but if you lost character you lost everything”

Billy Graham

“At the point of death, a man, Tom Smith, called his children and he advised them to follow his footsteps so that they can have peace of mind in all that they do. Sara, his daughter said,

"Daddy, its unfortunate you are dying without a penny in your bank. Other fathers that you tag as being corrupt and thieves of public funds, left houses and properties for their children; even this house we live in is a rented apartment. Sorry, I can't emulate you, just go, let's chart our own course." Few moments later, their father joined the choir invisible.

Three years later, Sara went for an interview in a multinational company. During the interview, the Chairman of the committee asked,

"Which Smith are you?"

Sara replied,

"I am Sara Smith. My Dad Tom Smith is now late."

Chairman cuts in,

"O my God, you are Tom Smith's daughter?"

He turned to the other members of the panel and said,

"This Smith man was the one that signed my membership form into the Institute of Administrators and his recommendation earned me where I am today. He did all these free of charge. I didn't even know his address, he never knew me. He just did it for me."

He turned to Sara,

"I have no questions for you, consider yourself as having gotten this job, come tomorrow, your letter will be waiting for you."

Sara Smith became the Corporate Affairs Manager of the company with two Cars with Drivers, A duplex attached to the office, and a salary of £1,000,000 per month excluding allowances and other costs.

After two years of working in the company, the MD of the company came from the United States to announce his intention to resign and needed a replacement. A personality with high integrity was sought after, again, the company's Consultant nominated Sara Smith.

In an interview, she was asked the secret of her success;

With tears, she replied,

"My Daddy paved these ways for me. It was after he died that I knew that though he was financially poor, he was wealthy in integrity, discipline and honesty".

She was asked why she had tears on her face since she is no longer a kid as to miss her dad after a long time.

This was her reply,

"At the point of his death, I was rude to my father for being an honest man of integrity. I hope he forgives me wherever he is now. I didn't work for all these; he did it for me, I only walked in".

So, finally she was asked,

"Will you follow your father's footsteps as he requested?"

And her simple answer was,

"Now, l adore my late dad, I have a big picture of him in my living room and at the entrance of my house. He deserves whatever I have after God".

I read of a man in ancient Babylon who served three consecutive governments as a result of character even though he was brought into the Kingdom as a slave. The man’s name was Daniel and he didn't just serve these administrations but played major roles that influenced the seat of government. Character is the key to influential leadership that will positively affect our nations.

The world does not have political, social, marital, intellectual or financial problems. What the world has is character problems. Character bankruptcy causes break down of law and order, failure of marriages, ineffectiveness in governance; break up of churches, war and civil unrest, rape, cultism and many more. Many years ago there was a fall in the financial market and it was traced to sharp and dubious practices of executives and officers in the financial sector. There is massive character erosion in our generation.

The cancer of today’s leadership is character deficiency.

The future is not a destination it is the continuous manifestation of an attraction over a period of time. What comes to you is a function of whatever you do – privately or publicly. Your deeds are the seeds in the field of your future. It might surprise you to know that even the injustice meted out to you by certain people in positions of authority is a function of who you are. Do you realize that there are certain people that are treated differently from others even though they are in the same social strata, economic canvas or professional/academic demography? Who you are will flow out in what you do and what you do or how you do what you do influences how people will treat you. I see that a lot of times introverts are taken advantage of by more aggressive personalities as though it’s a crime to be gentle; easy going people are most times pushed around by the more outgoing personality types; on the other hand, it is the introverts that oppress the extroverts through superior logic or some perceived edge or taking advantage of people’s weaknesses.

Until your integrity is in place your destiny is at risk. If you must stand out in life stand in the place of character and the world will see you clearly. Character always wins.

This is your finest hour.

You are a success.

I love you.