People confuse character with reputation. Reputation is what people think of you; character is who you really are. It takes years to establish a good reputation, but only minutes to destroy it.

Major League Baseball’s Pete Rose invested a career achieving greatness on the field but lost it all as a manager by gambling on his sport. Ken Lay led Enron to energy fame — smoke and mirrors included — before seeing it collapse in a free fall of corporate greed and financial manipulation. Elliot Spitzer won acclaim for his efforts as New York’s state attorney general and, later, governor, only to lose it all through involvement with a call girl. Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer in history, built an impeccable reputation as an icon in the sport only to fall prey to multiple marital affairs and self-proclaimed shame.

Examples like these are endless and tragic. Leaders risk losing everything they worked so hard to achieve by falling prey to lapses in character, often stemming from a sense that they are above the law. Abraham Lincoln said it this way: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Character is our inner self, our total being, even — or perhaps especially — when no one is around. Great character almost always leads to great results because people of character are introspective. They are aware of their strengths and their shortcomings. They know how to look deep inside to find the value of virtue but are not swayed by personal power or influence or the lure of self-importance.

Better than you may think, followers know your character. They watch you over time and form opinions based on what they see. Those opinions, which are rooted in your character, are reflected in your reputation.

Character counts. Guard it carefully.

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