In their new book, authors Jeffrey Cohn and Jay Moran attempt to tackle the question, “How can we as leaders do a better job of selecting new leaders?” Their book, entitled Why are we bad at Picking Good Leaders? was written to equip leaders in this selection process. In a recent blog on Leadership is Now, Michael McKinney discusses the 7 essential attributes that Cohn and Moran write that leaders must possess in order for them to be successful and helpful as leaders. The 7 essential attributes include integrity, empathy, emotional intelligence, vision, judgment, courage, and passion. What was most interesting to me in reading through this list was that even though the list was compiled by secular authors, it seems to look very similar to a list that would be made by a Christian. In fact, if one had told me that this was a list compiled by John Maxwell or Bill Hybels, for example, I would believe it. The fact that integrity remains number one on this list is another reminder that those who are leading, whether they are Christians or not, need to lead and exhibit a high degree of integrity in whatever they’re doing. I also like that Cohn and Moran put emotional intelligence high on the list. To lead others, we must be aware of our own strengths and shortcomings, and we should be weary of asking those with a low level of emotional intelligence to lead.
Christian Root has selected a resource that sounds excellent. Hopefully the writers elaborate on some of the suggestions for good leader selection. One may wonder why chemistry is not included on the list? How important is the chemistry between the leader and the place in which they will lead? Would a person need to "fit" with the current pool of leaders in an organization whether it be a church or a business? If a person has passion do they also need to have follow-through with the passion in order to complete a task. Someone once said a leader may not be more intelligent than the people that they are leading, but the person has more responsibility. Could a person surround themselves with people that are more intelligent than they are in order to be a good leader? Maybe that topic is discussed under emotional intelligence.
ReplyDeleteOnce a board of directors replaced an executive director of a non profit agency. An interim director was hired from the Center of Non Profit Excellence. The Interim helped the board of directors determine what characteristics would be best for the organization. What a great list to start with in selecting a good and effective leader.