Principles of Succession Planning

Character Development

Speaker: Dr Peter Asiamah

Introduction
The greatest threat to your life, destiny and calling is your character.
You cannot transcend your character.
Character protects your gift and calling. We must have a holistic approach to character development.               

We need to draw a line between ministry achievement and character development.
Character is what God does in us as Objects of His Grace, while ministry concerns what He does through us as vehicles of His grace. Like anointing (spiritual gifts) and Christian maturity - Luke 2:52—Jesus
1 Samuel 2:26

Developing ministry without developing character is like hitting the rock. The contents of Apostle Paul letters to Timothy were about 80% addressed to his character development and 20% to his ministry.
Character creates a foundation upon which the structure of your life and ministry are built.  The strength of you  inner life is more important because that is what will sustain you in times of storms.
Jesus said you shall know them by their FRUITS –Mat 12:33 (character).
FRUIT often represents godly living which is Strength,Beauty,Blessedness,Quality of life,Virtue,Rich life,Attitude,Greatness,Productivity,Attractiveness,Prosperity.
A noble character produces consistency in your life, enabling you to make  good choices, it lets you have positive influence, and will bring you longevity.

Definition
Character is the combination of emotional, intellectual, and moral qualities that distinguishes a person.
The word character is the aggregate of distinctive qualities or characteristics of a breed, strain or type; the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group or nation.
Hence, a noble character will give you a REPUTATION that makes you HONORABLE, DIGNIFIED, GLORIFIED, RESPECTED and held in HIGH ESTEEM.

In Greek = kharassein- To engrave, Inscribe or sketch.
In other words, character means qualities that are internally engraved in people, and have therefore become an integral part of them.
These qualities are then reflected in a person’s pattern of behavior.
Leaders’ behavior reflects what they stand for and what their core nature is.

Leadership character is all about behavior. A leader’s behaviors are a combination of his or her attributes, traits, skills and qualities.
Leadership Character is defined as behaviors that have a positive influence on others that determines your reputation and good name.
Leadership behavior refers mainly to conduct in the presence of others, actions, comments, nonverbal signals, and personal mannerisms, as well as general demeanor, deportment and comportment.
What is equally important is how the leaders consistently communicate in a positive manner, solve problems, make decisions, resolve conflicts, discipline others, build teams or cast vision.
Your character should be such that it enables you to follow a consistent standard of behavior in any context.
Relationships, stresses, and personalities may vary but your character does not.
Character is developed in early childhood and through adolescence experiences.
Also influence of the input from authority figures.                                                        Such contacts and exposures determining people’s patterns of behavior, value system, personal moral code, creed convictions and principles.
Character can be developed or changed through an ongoing, continual process of growth, maturation and improvement.

Keys for character Development

1/Self Discipline 
A/Discipline is a systematic training under direction and control.

B/ A method or rules employed in regulating the conduct and behavior of a thing or person.
C/ A state of order maintained by training and control.

D/ A particular system of regulation for conduct, instructions and exercise designed to train to proper conduct or action.

 

To summarize it;

Discipline is the process of training that is designed to produce specific desired patterns of behavior, intended habit, and attitudes that lead to successful performance in various areas of life.

If you do not have discipline you do not have anything. Discipline is what you need to get you to where you want to go.
Because if you do not have discipline, no plans, no focus. Success is not possible without discipline.
Discipline is not somewhere waiting to be discovered it is created.
It is one thing to praise discipline and another to submit to it.
A person of discipline does what is right even when he/she does not feel like doing it?
Setting yourself a set of rules and adhering to it without external supervision

 

How to develop a discipline life.

 In order to believe in yourself you must overcome any obstacles in your path -environment, habits, personality, your decision (making ability preempts them all).
The resulting view or your perception of life is what gives you your firm values which are the basis of your discipline.
Your firm values which are the basis of your discipline comes to you through your perception of life

God has put within us certain dreams and ambitions, as well as the ability to overcome any challenges we might face. However, getting where we want to go will require the discipline of setting and reaching our goals.
We need to take a personal responsibility to make our dreams a reality.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
One approach to this is preparing yourself slowly and purposefully to out serve others (the Ant theory proverb 6; 6)
Clear priorities help you to sharpen your focus by defining your dream and preparing you to hit your goal.

4. PERSISTENCE
The ability to stick with something until it is thoroughly finished is of paramount importance.
Power of persistence whether you feel like it or not.
Applying yourself to goals at hand-proverbs 23; 12
=Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of a field in hope that the cow will back up to them—Elbert Hubbard=

       Create your own inspiration because that will truly motivate you. When you have a personal drive from within to accomplish your goal, you have results, not accidents.
Man must be disciplined for he is by nature raw and wild.
Once discipline gets in your system, it becomes a natural part of all you do.
That is of utmost importance because if you have discipline, you can have anything you set out to achieve.

       5.  CONSISTENCY. It means maintaining the habitual positive behaviors that are key to winning trust and respect and to achieving overall effectiveness.
Being seen and known as a pillar of dependability and reliability, requires that you do not modify or compromise your moral principles as a result of opinion polls, internal disapproval, or external condemnations.
Consistency also means that a leader’s behaviors and character are holistic not compartmentalized between work and personal life.

 

 

2/ Core Values-                                                                                                                        Our core values are the principles we live by everyday. They define what we believe and how we live. We are to write down our personal core values for use as a reference to guide us.
‘The man who has no inner life is a slave to his surroundings’

3/Sense of Identity
‘Who am I’-provides the motivation to practice self discipline. It is fundamental for the identification of core values. It helps to establish emotional security; our sense of security often drives what we do. Becoming kind of person you are supposed to be is part of your calling or mission on earth.
He who understands himself is wise.
A compelling image will increase your church advertising results.
A professional image invigorates church members with enthusiasm
Your community makes judgments about your church based on the image they see.

4 Integrity
Is the alignment of your values, thoughts, feelings and actions.
1 Sam 12: 1-5

5/Adversity/Trials
Count it all joy when you go through trials, tribulations, persecutions and difficulties
“There is a saying that everybody wants to go heaven but no one wants to die”
This process involves Breaking, Melting, Molding, Filling and Using.