The Qualities of Leadership

I ask people the question, “Who are some of the leaders you admire and think had a significant impact on others and why?” The range of answers I usually get is pretty broad.

Gandhi. He was one of the most prominent political and spiritual leaders of India.
Thomas Jefferson. He wrote our Declaration of Independence.
Wayne Gretzky. He’s the greatest hockey player of all time.
Jack Bauer. He has saved the world from a civilization threatening virus, a weapon of mass destruction, a mass murderer. I’d follow him anywhere.

What do all these people have in common? The destination they were able to arrive at. Being led to a great destination takes great leadership. The world desperately needs great leaders, but sometimes “leaders” don’t lead us to great destinations. Stalin, Hitler, Jim Jones, Ken Lay, David Koresh.

So what makes a “great” leader?

I believe that Christians are the greatest leaders on the face of the planet, and here’s why: Christians, more than anyone else, can lead people to a great destination where they otherwise could not go. We are part of God’s plan to reach people so that they may reach the greatest destination: a relationship and presence with God for eternity.

Peter lays out the qualities of great leadership in the first chapter of 2 Peter. As we read and think about who fulfills these qualities of leadership, you’ll see a striking resemblance to the leader Peter describes and the leadership of Jesus Christ. Coincidence? Probably not.So here they are.

“For this reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self control, and self control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”

Said another way, perhaps with words we actually use this day in age:

The assurance of things unseen (faith) + the impression you make on others (virtue) + a seeking to know more about the things of God (knowledge) + the ability to tame your desires (self control) + being firm and secure (steadfastness) + doing what is well pleasing to Him (godliness) + a selfless love between men and women of faith (brotherly affection) + loving others the way God loves us (love) = the qualities of leadership.

Each of these qualities is never individually mastered. Each quality depends on the others. So without faith, we can’t have love. Without love, we can’t have godliness. Get it? What Peter asks of us as leaders is not necessarily an easy goal, but it is the challenge to every Christian.

Leaders are productive. The results they produce measure the competence of their leadership. Consider Tom Brady. He led his team to multiple Super Bowls. Great leader, great hair cut too. As Christians, what can we “lead” people to? What should our productivity look like? Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father but through me.”

As Christians, what can we “lead” people to? We can be productive at leading people to life. Lead people to life this semester and as you do, consider being the type of leader Peter calls us to be. Better yet, the leader Jesus calls us to be.