Why do you follow the leaders you choose to follow? The key word in that question is “choose.” We all make a deliberate choice to follow who we follow. No one follows a leader by accident.
It’s interesting to note that we can quickly rattle off a few traits in leaders we least appreciate and would not follow. This is true because those traits evoke a more visceral emotion, often attached to a negative experience. Perhaps a boss, teacher, or even a spiritual leader that led poorly.
Traits in a leader we would not follow, such as arrogant, controlling, self-serving, irresponsible, insecure, or lazy would be among the most common examples.
The positive traits, however, take a little more thought because they are not noticed as quickly as a negative trait. Negative traits jump out, but we must be looking for the positive ones.
We often list positive traits like, visionary, strategic, and problem-solver. Or, compassionate, resilient and generous. All good examples to be sure, and the potential of a list like this is easily 25 traits or more. The important note here is that no leader can excel in all of them, we must each lean into our unique design.
And our unique design as a leader requires us to accept our limits as readily as our strengths.
As leaders we all have a different set of skills, gifts, strengths; and mixed with our experience and passions they make us highly unique. When understood and embraced, they become the best version of our true selves.
But is there a set of virtuous traits of a leader that serve as the foundation for most all others? A set we would all be wise to seek in our own lives?
I don’t know that I have “the” answer, but I’m going to take a risk by presenting the three I believe are the foundation.
3 (Foundational) Virtuous Traits in a Leader
1) Wisdom born from experience and the voice of God.
“For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.”
Proverbs 2:6-8
God is the source of wisdom and we are instructed to ask if we are in need. James 1:5-6.
Wisdom is rarely gained on the run, skimming the surface, in the autopilot nature of daily life.
Acquiring wisdom requires a slowing down and thoughtful process of pursuing something more priceless than gold and silver and a willingness to apply it intentionally.
Wisdom is not instant; it’s a cumulative process of layer upon layer. It’s like a bank account of great value, but investments must be made. It does not come without discipline and a willingness to reflect in quiet and wait while continuing to lead.
A great deal of wisdom is accumulated first from God, and then it’s up to us to press through problems and not give up. Solving problems is central to effective leadership and requires the practice of applying wisdom.
Therefore, we learn to practice wisdom as we lead. If we are not facing problems, engaging difficulties, and working on solutions, wisdom has no place to take root and show fruit.
2) Humility as part of one’s nature rather than something we practice.
Pride is the great destroyer of wisdom; humility and courage are its protectors. Pride can not only block your receptivity to wisdom; it can destroy the wisdom you do have.
Pride is the enemy of your soul, and the ripple effects always hurt others.
Humility is the gateway to the kind of character that God can trust with his wisdom.
Humility isn’t a skill, it’s a disposition of the heart, it’s a way of life. It’s not something you get better at, it’s a virtue you embrace.
In other words, we don’t set a goal to be more humble, we purpose to see ourselves exactly like God sees us, nothing more, nothing less. When you live and lead from that version of you, the real you, neither false humility, or foolish pride creeps in.
Another way to see it is that humility is based more on the idea that you don’t feel superior or better than others because of what you have, or your status or power, and equally, it’s not about feeling inferior to others.
Humble leaders live for others more than they live for themselves. Humble doesn’t mean insecure. Don’t confuse the two. Humility is an attractive virtue, insecurity is not. Humility is directly connected to strength, insecurity is tied to fear and our weakness.
This does not suggest that humble leaders never struggle with insecurities, but they recognize that humility is based on strength not weakness.
3) Strength that enables us to do the right thing even when it’s difficult.
We can serve from our brokenness, but we lead from strength. The two connect together in humble confidence that comes from God.
Part of that great prayer for the Ephesians by the Apostle Paul speaks of the inner strength we need and receive from Christ.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. … ”
Ephesians 3:14-17
- We need inner strength to make the right decisions.
- We need inner strength to continue in prayer.
- We need inner strength to stand and speak up when others are silent, even if alone.
- We need inner strength to respond well to criticism.
- We need inner strength to continue with consistency in the strategy to accomplish the vision.
- We need inner strength to confront with truth and hold to our values and convictions.
- We need inner strength to keep going when things are going well.
I’m sure you could add several more.
This means we lead from strength, but ultimately, it’s not our own. We do have personal human strength, but when the load gets big enough and the pressure rises far enough, we need strength from God.
What about leaders who are not faith-based? Don’t they lead from their own strength? Yes, they do, but it’s limited, and we lead in the realm of the supernatural, where our strength alone isn’t enough.
I wrote a devotional just for leaders connected to this idea. The title is Leadership Alone Isn’t Enough. This book may be helpful to you.
I pray the wisdom, humility and strength of Jesus upon you!
Which one would you want to focus on most this year?
Absolutely NAILED it!!
Means much from you my friend!
GREAT column Dan! As many pastors and leaders are preparing and delivering their vision for the new year th I s is a good place to start…thanks!
Glad it landed for you Kevin!
A blessing as always, thank you Dan Reiland.
“-A great deal of wisdom is accumulated first from God, and then it’s up to us to press through problems and not give up. Solving problems is central to effective leadership and requires the practice of applying wisdom.
-Humble leaders live for others more than they live for themselves. Humble doesn’t mean insecure. Don’t confuse the two. Humility is an attractive virtue, insecurity is not. Humility is directly connected to strength, insecurity is tied to fear and our weakness.
-We can serve from our brokenness, but we lead from strength. The two connect together in humble confidence that comes from God.This means we lead from strength, but ultimately, it’s not our own. We do have personal human strength, but when the load gets big enough and the pressure rises far enough, we need strength from God.”
-Dan Reiland
….
I want to add what are call the ‘Ps’ to the list.
Prayer,
Purpose,
Priorities,
Peace,
Patience,
Positivity,
Perseverance.
Thank you for the great add!
Going through my own discovery (translation: WAR!) with pride and humility now. Your discussion of the topic is VERY helpful! Thank you, Dan!
Robby,
Thank you for sharing this with me. I’m so glad this was meaningful to you. And I pray that your discovery leads to greater health, productivity and joy!
Dan, I like this article. Wisdom, Humility, Strength of Character. The humility section particularly made me think and I would like to hear more of your thoughts on that. I completely get the point you make; humility is a disposition of the heart, a virtue you embrace.
The statement that made me really think was “it’s not something you get better at.” I don’t think I agree with that entirely. I guess it depends on how you define humility. I don’t think any of us are truly humble by nature. It is part of the transformation process that takes place over time as God transforms us into his nature. When God convicts me of my lack of humility, then my Response – ability is to obey what God tells me and be intentional about practicing true humility, at first simply because God says this is right. As I continue to practice, then humility becomes more and more part of my nature, because I am growing in godly character. Am I wrong about this? I can’t see humility any differently than wisdom; it is a cumulative process. Am I missing something?
For me, this statement nails it: “Another way to see it is that humility is based more on the idea that you don’t feel superior or better than others because of what you have, or your status or power, and equally, it’s not about feeling inferior to others.” But this doesn’t happen over night and there are times when we have to stop ourselves in our tracks and intentionally choose to reject the temptation to be prideful and choose to be humble.
Eddie,
Thank you for your insightful questions and comments.
“it’s not something you get better at” — I can see how that might be confusing, I thought about a good bit before landing there. It is something, as you say, that is part of our transformation… something that God grows in us as we cooperate with His Spirit. And you are not wrong about growing in Godly character… part of the same idea. For me, I think I wanted to land that it’s not a “skill” but more a disposition. It’s not like practicing communication or recruiting, it’s a matter of the heart. But does it improve as we mature? Yes.
As for wisdom, I do think we can practice the use the cumulative development of wisdom.
YES. That makes so much sense. What clicked with me in your response was “skill verses disposition of the heart.” I can’t treat humility the same as learning how to teach or learning how to use management tool. With skills and talents I will have strengths and weaknesses and I’m not going to be good at everything. But humility is more associated with character. If I have a weakness in my character then I must work at making that better, otherwise I cannot be trusted.
Thank you, Dan Reiland, for this very thoughtful piece you dropped here. I believe that the Spirit of God inspired you to put his down. The 3 virtuous traits are apt and timely. I strongly believe that humility isn’t a skill but a disposition of the heart. I will share this piece with my Team as a leadership and character development method. Thank you.
Hi Paul,
I trust you are right about the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. I pray for that every post i write. I hope this is helpful for your team!!
Hello there, I’m Natalie from Social Buzzzy , your guide in the exciting world of Instagram growth. I’ve stumbled upon something extraordinary for skyrocketing your Instagram popularity and I’m thrilled to share it with you!
Social Growth Engine unveils a groundbreaking service that catapults your Instagram engagement to new heights. It’s effortless:
– Focus on crafting captivating content.
– Extremely affordable at just $36/month.
– Utterly reliable (no password needed), incredibly powerful, and the ideal Instagram companion.
I’ve witnessed outstanding results firsthand, and I’m certain you will too! Elevate your Instagram presence today: http://get.socialbuzzzy.com/instagram_booster
Best wishes,
Natalie
Hello, I’m Natalie from Social Buzzzy here. I’ve found a revolutionary tool for Instagram engagement and couldn’t help but share it with you!
Social Growth Engine introduces an extraordinary tool that boosts Instagram engagement. It’s simple:
– Keep focusing on producing incredible content.
– Cost-effective at under $36/month.
– Reliable, powerful, and compliant with Instagram.
Having seen fantastic results, and I believe you will too! Upgrade your Instagram game today: http://get.socialbuzzzy.com/instagram_booster
Cheers your success,
Natalie
I’m really loving the theme/design of your site.
Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility issues?
A couple of my blog readers have complained about my blog
not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari.
Do you have any tips to help fix this issue?
Just want to say your article is as astonishing. The clearness in your post is simply
cool and i could assume you are an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission let me to grab your
feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks
a million and please continue the rewarding work.
I was recommended this web site by my cousin. I’m now not positive whether this
publish is written by way of him as nobody else know such targeted about my difficulty.
You are amazing! Thanks!
This is my first time pay a quick visit at here and i am truly happy to read everthing at
alone place.
I enjoy what you guys tend to be up too. Such clever work and reporting!
Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my personal blogroll.
Greetings from Carolina! I’m bored to tears at work
so I decided to check out your site on my iphone during lunch
break. I love the information you present here and can’t wait to take
a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my phone ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow,
wonderful blog!
hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up
something new from right here. I did however expertise several technical
issues using this website, since I experienced to reload the web site many
times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering
if your web host is OK? Not that I’m complaining,
but slow loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and
can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Well I’m adding this RSS to my e-mail and can look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing
content. Make sure you update this again soon.
bookmarked!!, I really like your web site!
I just like the helpful info you supply to your articles.
I will bookmark your blog and check again right here regularly.
I am quite certain I’ll be informed plenty of new stuff right here!
Best of luck for the next!
Good day! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you
knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form?
I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one?
Thanks a lot!
My spouse and I stumbled over here coming from a different web address and
thought I might check things out. I like what I see so i am
just following you. Look forward to looking into your web page yet again.
I’m really loving the theme/design of your site.
Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A handful of my blog audience
have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer
but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any tips to help fix this problem?
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a colleague who
has been conducting a little research on this. And he in fact bought me lunch simply because I found it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanks for spending some
time to discuss this matter here on your website.
A motivating discussion is definitely worth comment.
I do believe that you should publish more about this subject matter, it
might not be a taboo matter but usually people do not speak about such issues.
To the next! Many thanks!!
I feel that is one of the most important info for me. And i’m glad studying your article.
However want to remark on some general things, The site taste is great, the articles is truly excellent :
D. Good job, cheers
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book
in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message
home a bit, but other than that, this is excellent blog.
An excellent read. I’ll definitely be back.
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and
found that it’s truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels.
I will be grateful if you continue this in future.
Numerous people will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
I all the time used to read paragraph in news papers but now as I am a user of net thus from now I am using
net for content, thanks to web.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you could do with a few pics to drive the
message home a little bit, but other than that, this is wonderful blog.
A great read. I will definitely be back.
Hey there, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog site in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer,
it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, terrific blog!
Thankfulness to my father who stated to me on the topic of this
weblog, this webpage is genuinely awesome.
Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer
for your blog. You have some really great articles and I believe I would
be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d really like to write some articles for your
blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please send me
an e-mail if interested. Regards!
Great beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your site, how can i subscribe for a blog site?
The account aided me a acceptable deal. I have been a little bit
acquainted of this your broadcast provided brilliant transparent concept
Every weekend i used to pay a visit this site, because i want enjoyment, for the
reason that this this web page conations genuinely pleasant funny information too.
I believe that is among the so much vital information for me.
And i’m happy studying your article. However wanna statement on few basic issues, The
website style is wonderful, the articles is really nice : D.
Just right task, cheers
I am not certain where you are getting your information, but good topic.
I needs to spend a while finding out much more or understanding more.
Thank you for wonderful information I used to be searching for this info for
my mission.
whoah this weblog is fantastic i like studying your articles.
Stay up the good work! You already know, a lot of persons are hunting round
for this information, you could help them greatly.
Its like you read my mind! You seem to know so much about this, like you
wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit,
but instead of that, this is magnificent blog.
An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
Spot on with this write-up, I absolutely think this site
needs far more attention. I’ll probably be returning to see
more, thanks for the information!
Hey! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay.
I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
I am regular reader, how are you everybody?
This article posted at this website is genuinely nice.
continuously i used to read smaller articles or reviews which
as well clear their motive, and that is also happening with this paragraph which I am reading at this time.
Hey! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Thanks
Hey! This is my first visit to your blog!
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have
done a marvellous job!
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert
that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I
achievement you access consistently rapidly.
If you wish for to improve your knowledge simply keep visiting this website and be updated with the hottest gossip posted here.
My partner and I absolutely love your blog and find nearly
all of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for.
Do you offer guest writers to write content in your case?
I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write regarding here.
Again, awesome weblog!
If you are going for most excellent contents like me, just pay a visit
this web page all the time because it gives feature contents, thanks
I get pleasure from, lead to I discovered just what I was taking
a look for. You have ended my four day long hunt! God Bless you man.
Have a great day. Bye
Now I am going away to do my breakfast, later than having my breakfast coming over again to read other news.
Simply want to say your article is as surprising. The
clarity in your put up is just excellent and
i can think you are knowledgeable on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to snatch your
RSS feed to stay updated with imminent post. Thank you one million and please continue
the enjoyable work.
Hello, I wish for to subscribe for this website to get newest updates,
so where can i do it please assist.
Hi! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate
a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble
finding one? Thanks a lot!
I’m curious to find out what blog platform
you are utilizing? I’m experiencing some small security problems
with my latest website and I would like to find something more secure.
Do you have any solutions?
Hello just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Opera.
I’m not sure if this is a formatting issue or something
to do with browser compatibility but I figured I’d post to let you know.
The design and style look great though! Hope you get the issue solved soon. Kudos
Hi, this weekend is fastidious in support of me,
as this moment i am reading this enormous
educational paragraph here at my home.
Hi, just wanted to tell you, I enjoyed this post. It was inspiring.
Keep on posting!
An impressive share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a
colleague who has been conducting a little research on this.
And he in fact ordered me lunch due to the fact that I found
it for him… lol. So let me reword this…. Thank YOU for the meal!!
But yeah, thanks for spending some time to talk
about this issue here on your internet site.
I just couldn’t depart your site prior to suggesting that I extremely enjoyed the standard information an individual provide for your guests?
Is gonna be back often in order to check out new posts
Terrific article! This is the type of info that are supposed
to be shared across the internet. Disgrace on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Come on over and talk over with my web site . Thanks =)