Selecting Leaders: Character

#1 CHARACTER

Adolf Hitler. Bill Clinton. Joseph Stalin. Saddam Hussein. Fidel Castro. Osama Bin Laden.

These men had great leadership ability but their character was horribly flawed. Skill and natural ability will only get you so far. What is most important is what a leader is like on the inside.

A great illustration is an iceberg. You can only see 10% of an iceberg. The other 90% is under water.The power of an iceberg comes from the bottom 90% and what you cannot see. Remember the Titanic???

It’s the same with people. Just like the iceberg much of our influence and power come from the qualities that are unseen. People usually only see what is on the outside but what matters most of all is what is on the inside. Jesus prioritized the inside over the outside.  Read John 6:43-45.

When a leader has glaring character flaws or stubbornness against doing the right thing it will come back to haunt you as the leader of that team. Leaders without character lose their influence quickly or influence others in the wrong direction.

I always make sure that my leaders have no major sin issues. Examples: Gossip, lying, addictions, sexual immorality, etc. I Timothy chapter 3 has some great stuff to say about the qualifications of an overseer. I want my leaders to be able to have the confidence in themselves that the Apostle Paul had in I Corinthians 11:1 “Follow me as I follow Christ.” I want to set them up to succeed.

When we are trying to add new leaders to our team we have a application process and an interview process where we ask pointed questions about their character. We also Facebook stalk them. Don’t judge me…

Questions To Ask:

• Are they defensive? Prideful? Lazy?
• Are they self-disciplined in doing what is right?
• Are they dependable?
• Do they tell the truth?