Leading with Integrity

 Often many of us have a hard time staying honest and truthful when thrown into the role of a leader. But we must keep in mind despite all that goes on around use we must try to keep our integrity. Here are a few reasons it is necessary to have integrity while leading:

1. Leadership functions on the basis of trust. If there is no trust in the relationship, how can you expect someone to follow your lead if you don't trust them and they don't trust you.
2. Integrity has high influence value. People would rather you tell them the truth. than for you try to make yourself like good.
3. Our tendency is to work harder on our images than on our integrity. Many times we are to focused on how we look than staying honest and fair to others.
4. Integrity means the leader lives the truth in his or her own life before leading others. To be a good effective leader, you must live in the truth you wish others to also live by.
5. A charismatic personality may draw people, but only integrity will keep them. No matter how exciting you are no one wants to have to deal with someone that doesn't live honestly. 
6. Integrity is a victory, not a gift. You must work towards having integrity, it is not just handed to you.
7. You will only become what you are becoming right now. Without integrity, you can not expect to move forward.
8. Leaders are to live by a higher standard that followers. If you wish to lead others in truth and honesty, you also must live the same way.

 

 While working on the Effective Leadership book from Global University, I have been working under a leader at my church. This leader has a very hard time seeing others succeed or work very well with the children she teaches. I have been working with her for a year now and she seems to have a fear that I am going to out do her. Even though I don't wish for her job, she acts like I do. It seems she has lost complete focus on the goal, of bringing children to Christ and now it's all about competing. I was quite surprised when reading this book, because many of the points seemed to answer everything I have been dealing with, with her.

It is hard sometimes to be a "Timothy" in a situation where you can actively see your "Paul" faltering in the position that they were given or placed in. But if you handle it as Paul has instructed us all to do in these instances you will see a clear divide. Usually after much prayer and devotion to the word and placing it in God's hands your situation can do a complete 180. God will fix it or you will move on. We can't at the same time be afraid of the change that something like this may bring. This will be where our faith comes into play and we will have to rely on the fact that God is the director of our path and He has decided to change things up a bit. We have to trust Him, fully and completely.

 So what do you do when your mentor may not be functioning correctly or adequately? In 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, Paul gives an excellent set of guidelines to keep us accountable. To check ourselves and then go to God with our findings. I think the most important thing that I have learned for my situation is that God's voice, presence, and His objective should always remain at the forefront of my mind at all times. And that there will be leaders that "rub us the wrong way" and we have to handle it the way He wants us to.