”Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.  But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” — Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf

Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence.

Excellence is “being all that you can be” within the bounds of doing what is right for your organization. In order to reach excellence, you must first be a leader of good character.

Character can be defined as “admirable qualities or acknowledged reputation; moral force or influence.” Character is something that develops over time. Many think that much of a person’s character is formed early in life. However, we do not know exactly how much or how early character develops. Character is heavily influenced by the environment in which a person is raised and the people after whom that person molds themselves.

Junior Master Horseman announces the brand new Level Three curriculum, coming in July. Learn more, plus get your copies of Levels One and Two today!

The following are Six Pillars of Character as stated by Josephson Institute, Center for Youth Ethics:

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship

Organizations will not achieve excellence by figuring out where it wants to go by having leaders do whatever they feel they must in order to get the job done, while hoping their leaders acted with good character. Pursuing excellence should not be confused with accomplishing a job or task. Excellence is comprised of leaders of good and strong character; those with integrity.

Trevor Ashcraft
AQHA Youth Intern