November 2005
Billy's Initiative
The next day, Mrs. Adams walked into the utility room to find her young son standing on a stool he had pulled over next to the washing machine. Billy had an empty laundry detergent box in his hands, and the small piles of detergent in the surrounding vicinity bore witness to his youthful industry.
When Billy saw his mother, his face lit up. “Look Mommy, initiative!” Billy’s mother smiled as she thanked Billy for his help…and explained how he could improve by addressing a few details he had overlooked.
Turn the Key
An automobile cannot run without someone turning on the ignition and engaging the starter. When the starter fails, a person can start some vehicles by pushing them down the road.
Initiative acts as the starter in a person’s life. In practice, this habit requires a person to recognize the situation and take appropriate action. Someone who does not exercise initiative will become a drag on others. Thus, if you want to become an asset to those around you, or if you do not enjoy being pushed, show initiative.
Whatever your position, do not allow organizational inertia or coworkers’ apathy to prevent you from taking necessary action. Ask yourself, “What should I do in this situation?”
Take the initiative to recognize and acknowledge your part of family conflicts. Ask for forgiveness of those you have treated unfairly, and invest in their lives, regardless of their responses.
At work, operate within the spirit of the mission, policies, and processes of your organization. If you have questions, ask your leader to clarify the goal.
When you see another department has or will have a need that you and your department can meet, contact the proper individuals and do what is necessary to prevent the need from slowing down the organization. Do not, however, neglect your current responsibilities or infringe on others’ ability to fulfill their duties. If you see a customer has a recurring need, communicate those needs to the appropriate people and help to work out a solution.
Initiative ultimately communicates that you care about your job and about those around you. If you see a customer who needs help, take the initiative to help the person. Waiting to be told or constantly asking what to do next will strain both managers and coworkers, but when each person takes proper initiative, the whole team can function more smoothly.
When a supervisor, coworker, or family member demonstrates initiative, make sure they know you appreciate their efforts. Acknowledging a person can inspire that person to continued productivity and provide others a real example.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your initiative! And help your family, your organization, and your community move in the right direction.
The World Needs Character
Colégio Batista Mineiro in Brazil has used Character First! Education curriculum in its K-12 classes for one year.
Approximately 7,000 students attend the school’s campuses in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Chaplain Rubens Cordeiro translates the curriculum into Portuguese and coordinates the program.
Cordeiro writes: “With the support of others, we continue translating the material into Portuguese. At the same time, we are implementing the monthly character qualities when they are finished. All the school is involved. In fact, we are living our best moment in the implementation of Character First!”
“One example of this effort is what happened during our Student Games. Every team used a special shirt with the phrase, ‘The World Needs Character,’ and one quality printed on the front. The shirts were well made, and the students wore them with great
happiness as you can see in the photos.”
“After the Games, the physical education teachers said they have never had such peaceful games in all the school’s history. This, in my opinion, is a consequence of Character First! helping our students develop good character qualities.”
Challenge your students to make character a part of their world.
For more information about Character First! in other countries or to help sponsor international projects, please write to info@characterfirst.com.
By Robert Greenlaw
Orangeburg Set to Influence U.S.
Communication, collaboration, and connectiveness. According to Orangeburg County Community of Character President Nancy Ayers, these key components have made the OCCC initiative successful.
“We would not have gotten moved at all were it not for communication,” Ayers said. “We did not have any 'this is my area' or 'this is your area'—we came together in the name of Community of Character, and we have been moving ever since.”
One of only four counties in the nation, and the only county in South Carolina, to have all of its municipalities involved as Communities of Character, Orangeburg County hosted neighbors from across the state and a few from throughout the Southeast during the first proclaimed South Carolina Community of Character Conference, September 27-28.
“I'm here to take a look at the program, look at the merits of it, to see if it's something Dorchester County Council could embrace and start in the county,” Dorchester County Councilman Larry Hargett said.
Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash presented a session on the role community relationships play in restoring law, order, and peace in the neighborhood. A couple of years after he introduced character education to sheriff's office employees in 1997, Nash said the office saw a 30 percent decrease in crime.
“We've seen increased morale, reduced complaints, reduced internal investigations, reduced turnover, reductions in worker's comp claims, and most notably, we've seen a reduction in crime,” Nash said.
“It's all about building relationships,” he said. “The stronger the relationship between the police and the community, the more effective you are in fighting crime.”
“We're really proud of what Orangeburg has done. What we have done, on a small scale, Orangeburg has done on a much larger scale.”
More than 100 individuals converged on Orangeburg for the opening session of the conference, each eager to learn from other municipalities about the work with character education.
The program included messages from Orangeburg Mayor Paul Miller, Orangeburg County Council Chairman John Rickenbaker, and the keynote address from Ernest Finney Jr., the first black chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court since Reconstruction. Last year's Community of Character honorees were also recognized during the opening session.
Attendees were then invited to Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College for sessions on character in policing, early-childhood through secondary education, the faith community, and the media.
“What it has done for Orangeburg is provide a common philosophy we can all put our arms around,” said Pastor Nate McMillan, founder of Petra Community Church and chaplain of the Orangeburg County Community of Character Board of Directors. “It's the one thing that will keep us moving forward.”
Orangeburg County Community of Character initially launched in August 2000 through the collaborative efforts of the Orangeburg County Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Orangeburg Revitalization Association, the Orangeburg County Development Commission, and The Times and Democrat.
Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh Jr. planted the idea of community character education in the minds of Orangeburg leaders. He said he is proud of the progress made in Orangeburg and the steps the group is now taking to promote good character countywide.
Aiken, South Carolina, began its program in 1999, and school officials have recognized more than 2,000 kids for exemplifying character since the program's launch.
“We still realize we are only scratching the surface of what can be done,” Cavanaugh said.
The conference also featured Community of Character K.I.D.S.: Practicing Character in Daily Stuff" for sale for the first time. This animated comic book uses animal illustrations to give young children a heads-up on character traits, such as cleanliness and responsibility. The book was written by Orangeburg's Barbara Randall Clark and Frank Martin and illustrated by Lee Stillinger, under the artistic consultation of Donald Jones.
The purpose of the book is “to start teaching them character traits early,” Clark said. “That's when you want to reach them — when they are most impressionable.”
“Character is being developed every second of the day in everything you do, either good character or bad character,” said Steven Menzel, director of the International Association of Character Cities in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Menzel also shared about different character issues and trainings taking place across the nation.
Mary Anne Martin, executive director of the Character Council of Alabama, attended the conference in order to learn from her Southeastern neighbors how they are implementing character education in their communities.
“I'm always picking their brains,” she said. “I really think that Orangeburg is set to influence all of the United States, if we get the message out.”
“We're living in different times in our country. Americans are facing a lot, and I just believe we need to come together in unity and make our community better. I think character education is a good way to do that.”
Laura Hibbits, former president of DORA and one of the founding partners of OCCOC, said the program is one of the best things that could have happened to Orangeburg.
By Wendy Jeffcoat, Times and Democrat Staff Writer
Reprinted with permission from The Times and Democrat, September 28, 2005
