Three Essentials of Christian Leadership

William Heisler

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There are abundant treatises available to Christians who want to enhance their leadership skills. Many focus on a single aspect of leadership; others attempt to integrate a multitude of factors. Having read that literature fairly closely for thirty years, and having lived in the worlds of academia and industry for the same amount of time, it seems to me that time and again, three things emerge as real distinctives for the Christian who wants to be a God-honoring leader. From what I’ve seen, leadership success is the result of a leader’s commitment to a cause or goal, the personal character of the leader, and the extent to which the leader has real compassion for his or her followers. Here’s how you can cultivate each. 

Commitment to a Cause

Many people fail as leaders because they are not committed to anything of value or significance. For whatever reason, they have little passion for the world around them or what takes place in that world.

But even a cursory review of history validates that successful leaders have had a passion for certain outcomes or principles, and that they have been committed unwaveringly to pursuing that outcome or to furthering that principle. We have the U.S. Constitution, for instance, because its framers were committed to bringing forth a more perfect union. The United States achieved victories in World War One and World War Two because our nation, as a whole, was committed to defeating the tyranny that threatened us and others (such was not the case with the war in Vietnam). We excelled as a nation in space exploration because President Kennedy was able to rally support for his vision to place a man on the moon. Martin Luther King, Jr., advanced civil rights and human dignity because he had a dream and he was committed to its achievement.

In business, too, company greatness is often the result of the vision and commitment of a chief executive. Consider, for instance, the commitment-success connection of people like Jack Welsh, former Chairman and CEO of General Electric, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and Michael Dell of Dell Computers. And if we look at religious history, we reach the same conclusion. To take but two examples, look at the passion and commitment shown by Jesus Christ for carrying out the mission of human redemption given to him by his Father. And consider Martin Luther, who felt so strongly about the state of the church in 1517 that he risked all to post his 95 Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.

If you desire to get others to follow you, then follow the example of history. Be absolutely committed to a goal or a cause. Followers must see your passion and draw from it enthusiasm and confidence in their ability to achieve what has heretofore seemed unachievable.

Character

A second pillar of effective Christian leadership is character – who you are when everyone’s looking and when no one’s looking. Some object that we should separate a leader’s character from his or her actions. In the case of former President Bill Clinton, for instance, a number of people argued that his personal life (and character) had no relevance to his performance as President of the United States. But how is that possible? If one cannot be trusted to maintain the sanctity of the Oval Office, or to tell the truth with regard to his personal affairs, how do we know that he can be trusted in affairs of State? Values, interests, and motives come from within, giving birth to action. So behavior is clearly born of character 

In positions of leadership, integrity is foremost among the essential character traits. Leaders must be credible and their followers must be able to rely upon their word. Trustworthiness is crucial and it’s largely manifest in how well the leader “walks the talk.” Stephen Covey articulated this principle in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People when he wrote, “The real key to your influence with me is your example, your actual conduct. Your example flows naturally out of your character” (p. 238).

All too often, though, there is a gap between the talk and the walk in corporate offices. The corporate credo or statement of values is intended for others to follow, not for the corporate leaders. These credos serve as “mandates for the masses,” yet employees are quick to detect deviations from them in corporate behavior. And when they do, the organization is hamstrung by the hypocrisy. Productivity, innovation and morale all suffer as people comply with the dictates of leaders who lack credibility, but do not follow with enthusiasm or sacrifice.

The scripture is quite clear regarding character. When the walk fell short of the talk, Jesus labeled the offenders “hypocrites.” He railed against Jewish leaders who prayed publicly for display purposes, but had hearts of stone. He denounced them as whitewashed sepulchers – tombs that were immaculate on the outside but full of rot on the inside (Matthew 23). And it’s the inside that matters to Jesus. He taught that “out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19). The internal drives the external. Character drives action.

That truth works in the affirmative as well as the negative. “The credibility of leadership is what determines whether people will want to give a little more of their time, talent, energy, experience, intelligence, creativity, and support,” say Kouzes and Posner, perhaps the foremost experts on leadership of our day. Leaders of great character do great things!

Compassion for Your Followers 

Effective leaders create followers through their compassion – a genuine, heart-felt concern for the needs, feelings, and aspirations of those they lead. They are able to build effective teams – a community, if you will – because they care about those whom they are serving as much as they care about the goals they are seeking to achieve. Covey agrees: “No amount of technical administrative skill in laboring for the masses can make up for lack of nobility of personal character in developing relationships. It is at a very essential, one-on-one level, that we live the primary laws of love and life” (p. 202). Indeed, goal attainment, in the long term, is best effected if the leader cares about people in such a way that they are encouraged in heart and united in love.

As many of us know from painful first-hand experience, though, often, people in organizations are instead made to do things out of fear. But fear leads to compliance, not commitment. People working in fear are not committed to the leader’s goal or cause except in an instrumental sense: serving the leader avoids personal pain or economic loss. So followers often default to a “do the minimum” mind-set, discharging their duties and trying to stay off the radar screen.

Compassionate, relational leadership is far more effective. As Peter Scholtes notes in The Leader’s Handbook, “Where relationships are formed and sustained, leadership occurs.”  Jesus demonstrated this time and again in his work with his disciples. It was all about relationship – encouraging, sharing, loving, teaching, and when necessary, rebuking. But even the latter was acceptable because the disciples knew that Jesus cared greatly about them. His rebuke was for their growth and development.

In business, managers often seek administrative ways to maximize the performance of their people. What I mean is that they pursue the ideal form of performance appraisal, the ideal incentive package, the ideal organizational structure, etc., expecting that these systems will mechanically yield the desired results. That’s short-sighted. The true key to success lies not as much with programs and practices as with the quality of the relationship the leader develops with his or her followers. Almost any performance appraisal system will work if employees trust their leader and believe that the he or she truly cares about them. The same is true in the areas of compensation, promotion, and discipline. In their bestselling book, Credibility, Kouzes and Posner put it this way: “If we are reliable and others know that they can count on us, then our words and actions will have greater power to influence them. If we appreciate people and show that we take their interests to heart, they can trust us to lead. …On all fronts, developing the trust of their diverse constituents is critical to leaders” (p. 112).

Our Skill is Necessary but Not Sufficient

Indeed, leadership requires a lot more than these “three C’s” I’ve proposed. It requires situational knowledge, skills, and abilities, among other things. But while these latter attributes are necessary, they are by no means sufficient. Too many leaders – Christians among them – don’t seem to get that. All of us in leadership positions, and most especially those of us who seek to honor God in our work, would be well-advised to take inventory of our commitment to a cause, the content of our character, and the compassion in our hearts. These attributes, when coupled with our skills, will earn us loyal followers, enduring results, and God’s “well done!”

William Heisler, Ph.D. is a human resources consultant in Virginia. His background includes 20 years as a human resources executive with Northrop Grumman Newport News and faculty positions at the University of Notre Dame, Wake Forest University, the College of William and Mary, and Regent University. You can reach him at heisler_wj@yahoo.com.