This article was written to teach leaders what the five most important qualities in a leader are so that they can practice exhibiting those qualities and thus become great leaders. The five traits listed in the article are: Honest, forward looking, competent, inspiring, and intelligent. The idea in the article is that if you can visibly display these characteristics well, then people will want to follow you. I find it very interesting that honesty is the first trait listed. It makes sense that in a world where pastors have been caught in all sorts of sin, that people do not immediately trust pastors. The best way to gain people's trust is by being honest with them. The article stresses the importance of not just gaining these five traits, but making sure everyone sees these traits in you. In this case, honesty is going to have to go a lot farther than not lying. Christian leaders must display honesty by being open with their followers about the state of the ministries they are leading. This is especially important when we mess up. We have the great opportunity every time we make a mistake to gain trust from our followers like never before. All we need to do is admit that we were wrong and apologize and move forward. Can we as leaders humble ourselves into a position where we are honest even in our weaknesses/mistakes in order to gain the trust of those we serve/lead?
In looking at the five traits of leadership I was intrigued to see what they were and I would think honesty is obvious but as you stated, the scandals and lies that leaders get caught in reminds us how much we need to be sure that we adopt this trait in our lives. In addition to being honest and transparent, leaders need to have vision for those God has called them to lead. If the leader has no vision then the ministry cannot grow. Forward looking is a good term to use because it signifies that no matter what has happened in the past, we must continue to look forward at what God is doing and being ready to move when God moves. Competency is a trait that I would not have guessed to be in the top five but serving and leading in ministry has shown me differently. As much as we are called, God is a God of excellence and he can equip us to do whatever He has called us to do but we have to be competent to perform the task. All of these traits seem to reflect some aspect of holistic leaving and as leaders how do we reflect these traits in our ministries?
ReplyDelete