Character Over Charisma: Unlocking Your True PotentialSample

Charisma is what gets your foot in the door. A surface-level charisma will draw people towards you. Character, however, will keep those people near. The cover of a book compels a reader to pick it up, but the pages cannot be blank. As a business leader, I have hired individuals solely on the charisma that they displayed during their interviews. Charisma can be blinding at times, but character can and will shine through once this ether has worn off.

When we think of the word “character,” many different things come to mind. Reputation, morality, and legacy are all often determined based on the character of an individual. Character and integrity are almost synonymous, and cutting corners on the cultivation of your character cannot be patched up with charisma.

When I was a young salesperson, early in my career, I didn’t fully grasp this. I was told by a mentor once that God didn’t look at my talent or charisma. People did. People noticed these things and were impressed. God, however, looked past my talent and charisma to look at my heart. The Lord sees our heart. He is much more concerned with who we are, not what we can or cannot accomplish.

Matthew 6:1-2 says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. ”

This verse holds a powerful weight that many of us do not fully comprehend. Here, we are instructed to do the good deed not because we want others to be impressed with us. This is our ego and wants for acknowledgment talking. Instead, shirk the want for charisma, and do good because it is good, and only because of this.

A person with character does what they know that they should. They seek to help others for no benefit of their own. A person who relies only on charisma, however, will do what is good if they feel that those around them will be further drawn to them upon seeing the good deed.

You see, intention is important.

God sees not only what we do, but the reasons for our actions.