In Miles Monroe's book, Becoming a Leader, he makes this statement in chapter 8:
"The quality of your character is the measure of your leadership effectiveness. Effective leadership is essentially built on the foundation of inspiration that breeds confidence in one's character. In its truest form it is the perfect balance of competence, vision and virtue. Competence or knowledge without vision breeds technocrats. Virtue without vision and knowledge breeds ideologies. Vision without virtue and knowledge, breeds demagogue. True leadership cannot be divorced from the basic qualities that produce good sound character. It involves the total person and therefore cannot be relegated to a professional compartment of our lives."
In the next few blogs, we'll focus on the character necessary for effective leadership in politics, management and in our personal lives. Effective leaders must demonstrate they are worthy of the trust of followers. Followers will react negatively or positively to a leader based on a number of factors but, most importantly, they will react based on whether they think they can trust the leader's character. Further, a follower's personal belief system will influence his/her decision to trust a leader. In other words, the more a follower believes, thinks and acts like a leader, the more they are likely to trust him or her.
In previous blogs, I've discussed the effects of our past experiences and heart wounds on our behavior and on our integrity. In the same way our personal behavior and integrity have been shaped by our past experiences, so is our evaluation of a leader's character. For example, if we have strong administrative abilities, we usually like and trust a leader that is administratively strong. If we like to be merciful and gracious to others, we like a leader that is the same. If we believe that most people are honest and good, then we'll likely trust a leader based on what he or she says. If our life experiences make it difficult to trust, we'll usually look beyond the leader's words before we extend our trust. And so on.
From recent political history we can see some cases on point. After the sexual indiscretions of a U.S. president were made public, many people commented that these events didn't affect his ability to run our country. Numerous politicians have been found guilty of violations of law, lately the tax law, and still appointed or elected to their offices without any public outcry. An eloquent public speaker such as our current president seems to be trusted based on his words, even though the many of the laws and actions being enacted have been tried and failed in this country and others. Some believe many people trust and follow a leader based on his promises in the hope they will be true. This brings us back to the opening words by Miles Monroe expressed this way, effective leadership is the perfect balance of competence, vision and virtue.
Retiring after several terms served, a U.S. senator stated that he could no longer be part of a system that required compromise of one's integrity and values to succeed. On the other hand, some people believe that some influence of a person's character (a senator in this case), even if compromised by the system of government, is better than no influence in their absence.
What do you think? Does a person's character, their integrity and honesty, influence their work and personal lives? What do you believe? What is the foundation of your belief system?
Yeah I think a person's character does influence their work life. If people can not be trusted in their more personal lives, such as their family, how can they lead a larger area such as a workplace or a nation.
ReplyDeleteThe foundation of my belief system is my faith in Jesus Christ. He lived out his belief systems perfectly. Although it may be impossible to live that perfectly it is, I think, a good example to emulate.
This would include such qualities as honesty, integrity, sympathy, justice and servanthood as well as a lot of compassion, grace and love.
Amber