True Greatness in Leadership

In his book titled Good to Great, Jim Collins lists two distinctive character qualities shared by leaders of ‘great companies.’

First, these individuals possessed incredible professional will – they were driven to endure most anything to make their organization a success. Note: the drive is not for self-glorification, it is to ensure the organization is successful.

The second trait these leaders had in common was their modest demeanor. Collins writes, “the good-to-great leaders never wanted to become larger-than-life heroes. They never aspire to be put on a pedestal or become unreachable icons. They were seemingly ordinary people quietly producing extraordinary results.”

Those who worked for these leaders continually used words like humble, quiet, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing, understated, did not believe his own clippings.”

HUMILITY!

This makes no sense . . . or does it?

C.J. Mahaney brings the point to bear in his book titled Humility: True Greatness. Listen to what he writes:

Individuals motivated by self-interest, self-indulgence, and a false sense of self-sufficiency pursue selfish ambition for the purpose of self-glorification.

Serving others . . . is the genuine expression of humility. (And I would add, a genuine expression of leadership.)

For those of us who provide leadership in the Church, humility must be a foundational attribute of our character and leadership. Consider this:

Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness . . . John Calvin wrote, “It is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look at himself.”

Enjoy the journey . . .