The following comes the book "Uncommon." written by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker. It is an outstanding book on the core beliefs that have made Coach Duny who is not only as a coach but as a person and, in effect, has formed the football teams that he coached. Today we look at some of Coach Dungy's thoughts on CHARACTER. How important is character to Coach Dungy? It was the first chapter in his book!For the Colts, character is a quality that can be measured just like height, weight, and speed. In fact, we put more emphasis on this area than we do in physical tools. Coaching ability or talent cannot make up for a lack of character. In the draft, there are only a few things that will knock a player out of consideration for our team, and this issue of character is one of them. We have a category on our evaluation form that is labeled "DNDC" - Do Not Draft Because of Character.
What you do is not as important as how yo do it.People who bend the rules to get ahead usually get caught in the long run. But even if they don't get caught, they will always know how they made it to the top. And at some deep-down level, they'll know that they're frauds and that maybe they didn't have what it took to accomplish such achievements on a level playing field.
My closes friends are people of high character -- and I don't hang around with people I can't trust.
Character begins with the little things in life. I must show that I can be trusted with each and every thing, no matter how trivial it may seem.
"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones," wrote Phillips Brooks, an American clergyman in the 1800's.
Character is tested, revealed, and further developed by decisions we make in the most challenging times.
Outwardly, character reflects an inner life committed to honor and uncompromising integrity.
Albert Camus once said, "Integrity has no need of rules."
