Edited from Lifestorming by Marshall Goldsmith and Alan Weiss Most of us think of leaders as people of character. They aren’t people who live vicariously through others, but people who live their own lives and lead by example. What exactly do we mean by character? Character evolves; circumstances change; what worked in one situation is unsuccessful in another. We take our definition from Robespierre, who claimed that, “No man can step outside the shadow of his own character.” And we add to it that we believe the shadow changes because of our growth and the angle of the light.