It is how we are known. And these values and beliefs feed the assumptions that shape the culture of our communities. And, as Edgar Schein argues persuasively in Organizational Culture and Leadership, culture shapes everything the organization does consciously or unconsciously. Leaders communicate culture when they act out of their character. Who we choose to be is felt throughout the organization.
Leaders are responsible for organizational culture.
But that is another topic. Character is lasting Who we are matters because our character lasts forever. Psychologists tell us our character becomes hardened as we get older. What we choose to value and believe becomes more fixed and less flexible as we age. We become lasting expressions of our character as we get older, for better and for worse, and often that character is etched on our faces.