ABSTRACT
The importance of leader character for both well-being and sustained excellence has now been well established (Bright et al., 2006). The next frontier is to understand what it takes to develop character and by doing so, gain further understanding of what character is and how it functions (Crossan et al., 2019). While Aristotle's teachings conveyed the value of virtues and that exist between deficiency and excess, there has been little examination of the development of the virtues, taking into account the vices of deficiency and excess. We offer a process model of leader character development that builds on the interconnected nature of dimensions of character and how they can operate in deficiency and excess. The interconnected character dimensions work together to inform judgment, or what Aristotle referred to as practical wisdom. Virtuous behaviors optimize judgment, while deficiencies or excess vices compromise judgment and manifest as behaviors associated with the dark side of leadership. The cross-disciplinary literature of character, exercise, and habit development sheds light on key practical applications to support the practice of exercising strong character to inform optimal judgment and reveals a set of antecedents that deepen our understanding of what character is and how it is embodied.
