A Case For Character

Equipped with a rich heritage detailing the content of human character, it would seem that Christianity is ideally positioned to address a culture where morality and personal character are set adrift. Contemporary Lutheranism has struggled with the place of morality and character formation, concerns often seen as at odds with the doctrine of justification. A Case for Character argues that Christian doctrine is altogether capable of encouraging character formation while maintaining a faithful expression of justification by grace alone.

In this dynamic look at the current state of character education, Alan Lockwood assesses its strengths and weaknesses and finds fault with leading advocates for failing to respond to sound critiques of their work. Lockwood argues that contemporary character education can be significantly improved by using key principles from established theories and research on developmental psychology. He offers numerous examples to support his recommendations while inviting character education theorists and practitioners to generate their own implications from his presentation. For anyone interested in improving the quality of values-based education for children and adolescents, this book: Elaborates an alternative view of values education that is critical to pursuing a mission to promote good citizenship. Explains what contemporary character education is, identifying its strengths and addressing its major criticisms. Offers recommendations for curriculum and instruction that systematically take into account developmental perspectives. Alan L. Lockwood is professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “Brimming with fresh insights on almost every page, Alan Lockwood challenges contemporary character education’s fundamental assumptions and proposes a coherent perspective to guide more defensible and effective programs. This is a significant addition to theory and practice in the field of character education.”—James S. Leming, Carl A. Gerstacker Chair in Education, Saginaw Valley State University

This is a revised an updated version of a book originally published in 2005.

Community Character provides a design-oriented system for planning and zoning communities but accounts for how people who participate in a community live, work, and shop there. The relationships that Lane Kendig defines here reflect the complexity of the interaction of the built environment with its social and economic uses, taking into account the diverse desires of municipalities and citizens. Among the many classifications for a community’s “character” are its relationship to other communities, its size and the resulting social and economic characteristics. According to Kendig, most comprehensive plans and zoning regulations are based entirely on density and land use, neither of which effectively or consistently measures character or quality of development. As Kendig shows, there is a wide range of measures that define character and these vary with the type of character a community desires to create. Taking a much more comprehensive view, this book offers “community character” as a real-world framework for planning for communities of all kinds and sizes. A companion book, A Practical Guide to Planning with Community Character, provides a detailed explanation of applying community character in a comprehensive plan, with chapters on designing urban, sub-urban, and rural character types, using character in comprehensive plans, and strategies for addressing characteristic challenges of planning and zoning in the 21st century.

"Character Counts" is an understatement. Character is crucially important for an abundant life. It is essential that we deepen our understanding of this fundamental truth and to discover how we grow strong in character. Our happiness depends on character. So does the peace of our souls. Our success in family and business depends upon our character. The strength of our nation's government and its economy rests on good character. In fact, character is the single most important building block for quality of life in any individual, company, team or nation. We need to "re-center" the character ethic in American Life. The Case for Character is an effort to help the reader understand what "re-centering" character means, in biblical terms. God's grace and our efforts to develop godly character are not in opposition but instead work together. Grace works through character, which we, in grace have a responsibility to develop.

We like to think of ourselves, our friends, and our families as pretty decent people. We may not be saints, but we are basically good, fairly honest, relatively kind, and mostly trustworthy. 0One of the central themes of 'The Character Gap' is that we are badly mistaken in thinking this way. In recent years, hundreds of psychological studies have been done which tell a rather different story. We have serious character flaws that prevent us from being good people, many of which we do not even recognize in ourselves. Does this mean that instead we are wretched people, vicious, cruel or hateful? Christian Miller does not argue that this is necessarily the case either.

Does the character of our leaders matter? You may think this question was answered long ago. Countless business authors and analysts have assured us that great leadership demands great character. Time and again, we’ve seen that truth play out, as once-thriving organizations falter and fail under the guidance of leaders behaving badly. Why, then, do so many executives remain skeptical about the true value of leadership character? A winning strategy and a sound business model are what really matter, they argue; character is just the icing on the cake. What’s been missing from this debate is hard evidence: data that shows not only that leadership character matters for organizational success, but how it matters; and concrete evidence that it leads to better business results. Now, in this groundbreaking book, respected leadership researcher, adviser, and author Fred Kiel offers that evidence—solid data that demonstrates the connection between character, leadership excellence, and organizational results. After seven years of rigorous research based on a landmark study of more than 100 CEOs and over 8,000 of their employees’ observations, Kiel’s findings show that leaders of strong character achieved up to five times the ROA for their organizations as did leaders of weak character. Return on Character goes on to reveal: • How leadership character is formed, how it creates value, and how that value spreads throughout the organization • How low-character leaders undermine the success of even the best business plans • How leaders at any level can develop the habits of strong character and “unlearn” the habits of poor character The book also provides a character-building methodology—step-by-step advice and techniques for assessing your own character habits and improving your performance and that of your organization. Return on Character provides the blueprint for building your own leadership character and creating a character-driven organization that achieves superior business results.