Why You (Yes, YOU) Ignore What Matters Most in Leadership
I almost didn’t write this post.
The main reason is that it feels like most leadership writers have written on the content you’re about to read. If you follow a lot of ministry or leadership blogs, this may not even been the first article you’ve read on the topic this week.
So to be honest—and actually typing this out is for sure a writer no-no—I don’t have anything new to say to you on this topic. But I have to write about it because I believe it’s one of the least-heeded leadership principals, especially in the American church. Yet it might be the most important.
So here it goes: What matters most in leadership is your character, not your talent.
That’s the big idea. And there are many, many ways to write that line so that it sounds more interesting:
Who you are is more important than what you do.
Nobody pays you to work on your character, but character can cost you everything.
Competency can’t compensate for the lack of character.
Who you are when no one’s looking is who you really are.
But no matter which way you cut it, the principle remains simple, boring, and indispensable. So why do leaders spend so little time thinking about and working on their character? And to apply this to the lane I live in, why do pastors and ministry leaders—who should be most interested in the health of their souls—spend so little time thinking about and working on their character?
Most bosses don’t care about your character until it’s too late. When I think back to just about every interview I’ve had for a potential ministry role, I would guess that typically less than 20% of the process focused on getting a handle on my character. I’m not suggesting that churches and organizations shouldn’t also evaluate for competency, chemistry, and calling, but I believe far too many churches care more about what an employee can do for them than who they are.
Evaluating for character is hard work. If I want to know whether you can preach, I just need to watch a few sermons. If I want to know whether you can build teams, I just verify that the leadership experience you’ve put on your resume is all you’ve built it up to be. And if I want to know if you’re theologically astute, I’ll ask you to provide written answers to a few questions. But if I want to know who you really are at home, or how you treat the people who report to you…that’s going to take a bit of work. And it’s likely going to take a few frank conversations we’re not used to having in our culture. Unfortunately, most churches and hiring committees just check a couple of (cherry picked) references and hope for the best.
It’s true: No one will pay you to work on your character. Think about all the deadlines, tasks, and projects you are working on. In most jobs, there are consequences for not getting those done well and on time. But rarely will a supervisor ask an employee to work on their character, at least before an incident brings it up. So you don’t, until it’s too late.
Unfortunately, we just don’t care like we should. Let’s be honest: the American church has confused “results” with fruit. Now don’t get me wrong: we have been commissioned by Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), which often involves numerical growth. But in my experience, churches in their quest to find someone who can “get the job done” (gather more people, play better music, preach better sermons) all too often are not as interested as they should be in that person’s character.
You love praise, and people usually praise you for what you do, not who you are. This one hits really close to home for me. In my life, it is a continual fight to resist seeking the praise of people. Maybe you have the same fight, and you’ve discovered what I have: people usually praise you for how you perform, not they kind of person you are. If I preach a decent sermon, I might get a few encouraging text messages or emails. But no one’s following me around cheering me on when I resist the temptation to tell a white lie when I’ve dropped the ball on something, or when I am patient with one of my children during a tantrum.
So here’s the question: what can you do to stop ignoring what matters most in your leadership?