The Importance of Character in Leadership | Jordan Peterson

"There isn't a lot of emphasis in our education system on characterological development, and that's very, very surprising to me."

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➤➤Speaker:
Jordan B. Peterson

➤➤Video Sources:
Biblical Series XIII: Jacob's Ladder - Jordan Peterson

Pexels Video

Videvo

➤➤Music:
"The Waking" by Whitesand

➤➤Editor:
WordToTheWise
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➤➤Transcript (Partial):
I've talked to lots of business people about leadership, and there's a literature on leadership, but it's not a good literature. It's—it's pretty shallow. Partly 'cause it's not that easy to define leadership and partly 'cause there are different, you know, people have different temperaments and different temperaments can be leaders. They just do it in different ways. Now there's something in common about being a leader, though, and I would say one is that if you're an actual leader, you actually know where you're going. Right? ‘Cause what are you gonna do? Lead people in circles? It's like, maybe they'll follow you, but you're not a leader, you're just a charlatan. So you have to know where you're going, and then you have to be able to communicate that and then people have to trust you. So you actually have to be honest ‘cause people aren't that stupid, at least not for a long period of time. And then where you're going has to have some value because otherwise, why would anyone want to go along with you? And then you might say, well, what—what are the attributes then that make you a leader? And I would say, well, they're characterological, fundamentally. And this is not naive optimism or casual moralizing. It has nothing to do with that. You know, we know, for example, that conscientiousness, the personality trait, is a good predictor of long term success in most occupations, not all, but most. And that one of the things that's associated with conscientiousness is that people keep their word. They're trustworthy. And that's certainly one element of a leader, especially across any reasonable amount of time. You have to be able to trust the person. They can even be harsh, right? It doesn't matter 'cause you can see harsh leaders and kind leaders. But as long as they do what they say they will do, then you can follow them. And you know that the future payoff is—is secure, something like that. So the idea that characterological development is more important to leadership than being a first born, that's a very crucial psychological realization, that it's characterological development that makes you favored of God. You know, and I do think we've forgotten this in many ways because there isn't a lot of emphasis in our education system on characterological development, and that's very, very surprising to me. I think maybe it's partly because in our fractured society, we can't agree on what constitutes a reasonable characterological goal. So we just throw up our hands and don't educate our kids to any degree at all, especially in schools about what an admirable person is like or even let them know that, well, maybe you should actually try to be one. You know, that that's actually the most important possible thing that you could learn. Right. So and I also think and I—I think this is laid out very thoroughly in the biblical stories as well—is that if there are enough people who are admirable, then things work. And if there aren't, then things... things are terrible. You get wiped out. You remember when Abraham is bargaining with God with regards to Sodom and Gomorrah, he—he asks God to save the city if there's like 40 admirable people, right? Respectable—but let's say admirable, right? I don't want to—I don't want to say good, because "good" is being corrupted in some sense by casual usage. I mean, admirable, noble people, right?...

For the full transcript:
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[paulmg]

“If you’re going to be a leader you need to know where you are going” the simplicity in this is genius

[MichaelDavis-cjyj]

Saving typically results in you earning a lower return but with virtually no risk. In contrast, investing allows you the opportunity to earn a higher return, but you take on the risk of loss in order to do so. Not reaching a million before retirement feels like an unfulfilled retirement.

[respecteternalbenefits]

Christlike character is crucial. He was loving, kind, merciful, gracious, inspiring, literally man of his word, gentle and robust.

[if-not-now]

I’m so grateful someone like Peterson exists

[bryanessing]

I love this man's speeches. It pertains to everything that I do.

[izawaniek]

Every sentence is brilliant and contains incredible wisdom. So true! Thank you.

[jaanapettersson]

I can relate to this. So accurate and important to incorporate in life.
All of what you speak of feels true to me.
Thank you Dr. Peterson.

[tomh]

Good that new videos coming out, I come back once in a while and I like to listen to older videos. Peterson really is the modern Carl Jung or Nietzsche, he offers a solid perspective where many people feel deep inside there is truth contractionary to the absolutely bizarre society we live in nowadays. If you like him or not, it is worth listening.

[mesutdoyurucu]

The greatest thinker of our time.
Bless you brother Jordan..

[marcuslong]

I think we are at war, but in a sense of nobility. I think the general consensus these days is that whatever you do, you must be seen. Real nobility is to do, but not care about being seen in doing it.

Being obsessed w being recognized by others is vanity and greed. And you can't convince me otherwise.

[mrj]

Bless this man. I live life by these standards.

[KataholosYoutubeChannel]

Great to hear about the importance of trust and how that creates safety and an expectation of good character in a leader.
There is a lot of wisdom in the words here ☺️👍

[olgacarmenforsythsanchez]

Thank You for All You do 🙏 Praying for You JP 🙏 May God's blessings Be upon you 🙏

[thinker]

I really like your vidoes. Please keep it up!

[MuscleMan]

I have a feeling one of your next videos will easily reach 1m views, good luck brother

[azeezayotunde]

This is a masterpiece of an inspirational video. Well done, WTTW.

[fredlynnsmith]

I have made this statement many times. I have had to tell my daughters as we have had to have conversations about what they want to in life. I have told them that you cannot send anybody out to do a job you aren't willing to do yourself. This comes from a formation of faith because through Christianity a true leader is a servant. Sometimes to get respect you have to prove that position. That's why I have those conversations with my daughters because being a leader is a very hard job.

[decipher]

The best ‘Leader’ I ever had the honor to work for; a) did not have a ‘set goal’ b) didn’t make any promises accept for ‘I will have your back’. His Leadership constituted of having the courage to make decisions knowing we might need to make adjustments along the way, empowering the people he served, letting them ‘win or learn’ and have their back when needed. What JP describes here sounds more like Authority and Control than Leadership to me.

[hashimsytc]

Very true, totally can relate to that. The stories in the Qur'an are very similar and based on more or less the same prophets

[nischalthapa]

part about conviction is very important imo.