Upstanding

CHAPTER 3The New Essential Core: Upstanding Character

“Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”

—Lao Tzu

Having a disengaged character is the same as having no character.

We all have our own definition of what character is—especially when it comes to personal character, the kind of character that is within each and every one of us. But I'm sure that our definitions of character are not all that different from one another. Generally, a definition of personal character will include traits such as honesty, strong values, moral excellence, integrity, compassion, and so on. Essentially, character is the code of conduct that we apply when we have choices to make—it's a framework for decision making. It's also the foundation of trust we need to build strong and lasting relationships with others.

When we talk about company character, I think there is a subtle, but significant, difference from the way we talk about personal character. As I mentioned earlier, companies with upstanding character embody empathy, courage, authenticity, honesty, integrity, respect, and so on—very much the kinds of things we expect people with strong personal character to embody. However, when you're talking about an organization, there's more to upstanding character than these traits. Upstanding character is informed by the values that an organization and its leadership, teams, and partners embrace and commit to that define their behavior.

I asked Yvonne Wassenaar—CEO of Puppet, a provider of ...