Micro-moments of character: attention, critical reflection, peer learning, and the practice of hard decision-making in management education

Managers are increasingly confronted with decisions, particularly in environments marked by uncertainty, ethical dilemmas, and competing priorities. These compressed, high-stakes “micro-moments” expose not only technical skills but also the deeper dispositions of managerial character. Yet, despite recognition of character as a vital dimension of leadership, research in management studies has tended to reduce it to traits or virtues, leaving underexplored how character is enacted and cultivated in practice. This study addresses that gap by examining how attention, critical reflection, and peer learning, embedded in a film-based pedagogy, foster the development of managerial character. Drawing on social learning theory, we position film as a pedagogical “safe laboratory” that immerses managers in vivid, emotionally engaging scenarios of hard decision-making, provoking dialogue and reflective inquiry without real-world consequences. Using a mixed-method design, including phenomenological interviews and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of survey data from 110 managers, we identify multiple causal configurations that lead to heightened motivation to apply new decision-making skills in the workplace. Our findings advance a processual view of character, showing it to be dynamic and socially constructed rather than a fixed attribute. We demonstrate how cognitive and relational mechanisms, particularly reflective dialogue and peer interaction, translate film-based experiences into the enactment of dispositional qualities such as humanity, humility, and integrity. For management education, this highlights the value of pedagogies that combine attention, reflection, and social learning to cultivate character in ways conventional analytical tools neglect. By reframing character as something performed and refined in micro-moments of choice, this study contributes both theoretically and pedagogically. It offers educators and organizations actionable pathways to prepare leaders capable of navigating ambiguity with judgment, resilience, and integrity.