The Strongest and Weakest Character Traits

of Christian Leaders

From: The Barna Research Group (www.barna.org)

January 13, 2003

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The leadership scandals of the past year have raised numerous concerns about the character of individuals who assume positions of leadership, whether they serve in the business, government, non-profit or religious sector. Understanding the character strengths and vulnerabilities of leaders is critical toward protecting organizations and the people who rely upon them from being crippled by unethical decisions and immoral behavior.

A new study from the Barna Research Group of Ventura, California, provides an unusual examination of the character of church leaders. Using the data from the Christian Leader Profile(tm), a 177-question diagnostic that was completed by a national sample of 1344 leaders involved in Christian churches across the nation, the study examines four aspects of people's leadership: their sense of calling from God to leadership, the nature of their character, the strength of their competencies, and the aptitude they possess for leadership. Data released by Barna shows that the character of church-based leaders differs according to the position, age, gender, and leadership aptitude of the individual. The report also identified the character traits that are generally strongest among church leaders - as well as those that are most likely to be the weak links in their character.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strongest attributes associated with Christians involved in church leadership were having a conscience that is sensitive to sin, morality, godly demeanor, humility, values, faith maturity, and trustworthiness. Attributes that were not as strong included using appropriate speech, having a controlled temper, and teaching ability. The attributes that rated lowest on the scale were possessing a loving heart, modeling servanthood, and having godly wisdom.

Digging more deeply into the three traits that reflect the most common weakness of church leaders, the Profile data indicate that the problems associated with servanthood center around not feeling a sense of responsibility to those who are needy and an unwillingness to sacrifice what they have for the good of others. The most serious challenges related to having a loving heart included the unwillingness to go out of their way to help the disadvantaged or to generously share their resources, and failing to do what is right because of the potential for suffering or personal disadvantage. Wisdom ranked lowest of all 13 character traits evaluated. Among they key difficulties related to that attribute were reliance on personal ability and insight rather than godly guidance, struggles balancing spiritual and worldly forms of wisdom, and inconsistently listening to God.

Interpreting the Outcomes

The research offers both encouragement and challenges according to George Barna, who created the Christian Leader Profile(TM) and analyzed the data in the report. "It is affirming to realize that such a high percentage of church leaders have strong character in so many areas, especially dimensions such as values, conscience and morality. It is particularly pleasing to see that the character of lay leaders in the Church is just as reliable as that of the clergy."

The researcher expressed the hope that leaders would invest effort into growing in the areas in which their character is most vulnerable or least mature. "Character is not like competencies, for which it is acceptable to ignore your weaknesses and run with your strengths. Weakness of character will eventually undermine your strengths, no matter how strong they are. Identifying character vulnerabilities is helpful because it provides an early warning signal of pending disasters.

From: The Barna Research Group website, www.barna.org. Used by permission.