Character First

April 26, 2002

By Jerry Osteryoung

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I frequently mention character in these columns when I refer to hiring new associates and sustaining character within a business. Character is just as important in business as it is in other areas of life! Of course, character is one of those words that everyone uses, but we are not really too sure what the word really means. Well I went to the old fashioned dictionary and it said that character is defined as "The stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual's life which determine his response regardless of circumstances." It is these traits or qualities that define character that are the important elements we need to talk about when dealing with character.

An organization called Character First!â has come up with a very successful system for teaching character traits to business, educational, and governmental groups. Recently, I had the good fortune to attend a staff meeting of a business that had adopted the Character First! program. This engineering firm has implemented the program with amazing success. Company morale has dramatically improved. Employee absenteeism and turnover are way down.

The overall process of Character First! involves exploring one of their 49 character traits each month. During the staff meeting I attended, the character trait of the month was resourcefulness. Numerous fun activities during the staff meeting highlighted this character trait. A brief test over the contents of a monthly, very well done periodical was given and reviewed. Associates delighted in the candy bars they caught as these rewards were tossed for correct answers. Groups were assigned to come up with examples of resourcefulness and how, during the past month, they were able to use this attribute in their job.

Another aspect of the program is to recognize outstanding employees. The entrepreneur didn't just announce that an associate was receiving an award for lasting five years; but embellished his remarks and praised the associate's longevity with some of the 49 character traits of the Character First! program. Traits such as flexibility, discretion, truthfulness and sincerity really complimented the associate. The president of the company commended one employee for his determination and diligence over his five years of employment. This public celebration of the character of these outstanding employees really seemed to rub off on all of the associates in the audience.

While character is stressed (along with the necessary company information) at these monthly staff meetings, character is also promoted in the business daily. This gradual, persistent effort instills character drop by drop. What a wonderful gift for your employees!

Character First! was established by Tom Hill in 1992 as part of his attempt to put character into his very successful company. Character First! Is under the umbrella of the nonprofit Character Training Institute and has a very well done web site that provides an overview of the Character First! material at www.characterfirst.com.

Obviously, to introduce Character First! to your existing employees and to use this program in your hiring process you need training. Visit their web site for reasonably priced one and two-day training seminars located throughout the country.

I was so impressed with this program that I am going through this training on May 1 in Tallahassee and I plan to implement this program with our associates. I know the most important attribute to look for in hiring and keeping great employees is character. Now we have a great way to promote this concept.

Jerry Osteryoung is the Director of Outreach of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Florida State University; the Jim Moran Professor of Entrepreneurship; and Professor of Finance. He was the founding Executive Director of the Jim Moran Institute and served in that position from 1995 through 2008. He can be reached by e-mail at jerry.osteryoung@gmail.com. All of Dr. Osteryoung's articles can be found in a searchable form at www.jmi.fsu.edu/Entrepreneurs/Resources/Jerry-s-Articles.