Character

So many entrepreneurs, and if fact so many professionals, think that what they do during their working hours has no impact on who they are outside of work. They believe they can lead a divided life, treating people one way in their work and another in their personal life.
The truth is, however, that every act, every decision we make, in some way shapes our character. If we act a certain way once, we are more likely to do it again. This is true for good behaviors as well as bad behaviors. If we lie to customers as part of our everyday business, we are more likely to lie to our employees. And if we lie at work, we are more likely to lie to our families and friends.
Virtue is nothing more than a habit. And so are vices. The more we act in a particular way the more it becomes ingrained in who we are — it becomes part of our character.
In the fast paced world of starting and growing a business we often have to make snap decisions and act quickly to take care of a parade of challenges and crises that seem to endlessly pass by. We can lose site of the consequences of these acts and decisions. And they happen so often and so quickly that it is easy to disconnect our daily decisions and actions from our core values — of what we believe in our heart is really right and wrong.
But each time we do this is shapes our character in some small but significant way.
All the decisions we make contribute to our character formation. Here is a short quote from the new book I am finishing up on with my co-author Mike Naughton:

So when an entrepreneur works, he affects the inner landscape of his character. The issue is not whether he changes himself, but how he changes himself. And the key to understanding the significant revealing of the entrepreneur’s personhood is not found in the amount of revenues he has generated, or the percentage of market share he has captured. Rather, the moral and spiritual character of the entrepreneur will be captured in the responsible relationships he has forged with others in the actions of running his business. More specifically, this can be shaped by the opportunities he pursues, who he chooses to do business with, who he hires, decisions he makes about products and markets, decisions about whether and how fast to grow, the corporate culture he builds, and his engagement with the community as a leader and/or citizen.

It is important to take time and reflect on who we are becoming through our work. If we are not careful, we might not like who we see in the mirror.