Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Integrity
Last week I posed the question: What characterizes true leaders? The word true is important because it makes a distinction between those who are merely positional vs. functional leaders. True leaders are recognized as such regardless of title or position. Most of us would agree that at the top of the list of qualities of effective leaders is integrity, which stems from a strong spiritual life. Competency, commitment, and even giftedness are not valid substitutes for this attribute in a leader. It is hard to prioritize the characteristics beyond this. However, high on my list is good judgment, which includes decision making ability and sound reasoning in resolving problems. People with good judgment operate responsively rather than reactively to situations. As a result they can be trusted to handle challenges in a reasonable way. Some of this can be learned, but many people, regardless of age or experience possess this trait. I am interested in your thoughts on this.
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Wayne,
ReplyDeleteI agree integrity is very important but as you said good sound judgment is very vital. But beyond good judgment a leader needs true discernment. I believe discernment is a gift from God.
Don
In my experience most leaders have poor judgement and are mostly positional leaders! So when there is a leader that has judgement and discernment he stands out and it is very noticable. These are the people that are most effective. I have a supervisor who is positional and terrible at what he does! He stunts peoples growth because of it! Ben
ReplyDeleteWayne,
ReplyDeleteYou've made some good points here and I agree with you specifically as to the supremacy of integrity and the distinction between true leaders and positional ones. I would add one item to the list - and that is the ability to recognise the gifts of others and to encourage them in exercising those gifts. This takes great discernment and humility, for to encourage often requires service.
John