Welcome Baywalk readers to the December edition of Creating Success Viewpoint on Baywalk.com. This month we begin the first of a multi-month series on leadership. I hope you enjoy: "Are you who you think you are?"

Greetings. I thought December would be a good month to start a series on individual character and leadership. Our organizational leadership is largely shaped by our personal character. Those that insist that they act one way at work and another at home are either members of a unique component of society, or employ exceedingly clever mind tricks to convince themselves of their allegedly differing personalities.

For most of us, our character was influenced during childhood by our Christian upbringing, celebrating the birth of Jesus the Christ at Christmas and integrating the teachings of the bible into our lives. As adults, we rarely spend much time considering our character, as we pretty much operate on autopilot through out the year. It is during December that we are most likely to spend time reflecting on whom we are, evaluating our behavior during the past year and making resolutions for the New Year. The spirit of Christmas affects all of us, reawakening those aspects of our character that focuses on people other than ourselves, resulting in a time of giving, caring, and sharing, the likes of which are often not seen during any of the preceding months of the year.

For many, the Christmas through New Years time period marks the pinnacle of character enhancing experiences for the year. However, as we are confronted with challenges to our character during the year, we often fall back on our December experiences to reassure ourselves of whom we think we are. Perhaps the greatest challenges to our internal character image are the confrontations that we face as leaders, whether in the home or at the office. Leadership is the most challenging and humbling roles of a man or women's life.

During this holiday season, I would ask that you would dedicate time for a sincere reflection regarding your character and your leadership. To answer that most important question, as a leader, are you true to your character in your actions and decisions? Sometimes individuals within our circle of influence impart a significant pressure on our leadership decisions, often placing us in conflict with our character. It is at these crossroads of life that our character is challenged and our leadership decisions are questioned.

As you spend time reflecting on character and leadership, integrate the following:

Character is defined by Webster's College Dictionary as the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of a person or thing.

Integrity is the uncompromising adherence to your moral character.

When it is all said and done, a man or woman has only one thing that can not be taken away from them by their critics: Integrity.

Have a blessed holiday.

See you next month!