Reputation is what people think you are; character is what you really are. If you’re of strong character your reputation will take care of itself. Consistent exemplary behaviour even means that insulting remarks about you will be meaningless because nobody will believe them. That character is judged by how we live our lives is a lesson I learned first-hand while still a teenager.
I was working with a gentleman by the name of Brian Williams, a common name but a most uncommon person. One winter day, just after a snowstorm, we were going to a curling bonspiel at a fairly isolated suburb of Toronto. Brian was a relatively new driver with a relatively old car. He was inching his way along a slippery stretch of road when he lost control and skidded into the side of a parked car. This was back when bumpers actually absorbed bumps, so there was no damage at all to Brian’s car; but the driver-side door of the other car was badly dented. The car he hit was the only one parked on the shoulder of the road, and it was obvious from the amount of snow on it that it had been there for quite a while. There wasn’t a person within sight and there were no houses close enough for anyone to be able to read Brian’s licence number. But Brian cleared away the snow around the driver’s-side windshield wiper and left a note with his name and telephone number under it.That’s character.
How people behave when they think no one is watching reveals a lot about their character. People of character don’t change their ethics according to circumstances.Those who would have left a note on the damaged car if they thought someone might have gotten their licence number, but wouldn’t have done so in Brian’s circumstances, are not in his character league.
Another good measure of character is how people behave when they’re wrong. People who upon realizing they are wrong quickly admit it are people of strong character. The most successful people I’ve known never had a problem admitting they were wrong, a character trait that not only saved a lot of time, but always enhanced their reputations.
Character is much easier kept than recovered. I obviously formed a very high opinion of Brian’s character on that wintry day. But suppose he had just left a blank sheet of paper under the other car’s windshield wiper and then said, “Anyone watching will think I left my name and number.” How many future demonstrations of ethical behaviour on Brian’s part do you think it would have taken for me to reach the same level of respect for his character as I did in the actual circumstances? I seriously doubt he would ever have recovered my respect.
It’s often said that playing sports builds character. This may be true in some small respect in the case of children playing team sports during their formative years. But based on my own playing, coaching, and officiating days, and my extensive experience in dealing with professional athletes, when it comes to adults it’s more accurate to say that playing sports reveals character. Temptation, adversity, power and fear all test and reveal character; all are present in sport and all are present in everyday life. How people act in these situations reveals their true character.
Reputation may occasionally open a door, but character is always welcome everywhere.