3- Undeniable traits of great leaders

November 30, 2009
Leadership Clip to Evernote
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Run leaderMany are running in the leadership race. Many aspire to lead, encourage, mobilize & transform people, places & even culture. But there are 3 components that if not in place will cause anyone aspiring to be a great leader to lose balance and fall out of the race.

  1. Truth- Truth is a non-negotiable. If a leader ever sacrifices their integrity as a short cut to climb the ladder faster, they will cut their own legs out from under themselves. When those who follow were polled and asked, "What is the one thing most desirable in a leader?", they responded, "Integrity."
  2. Humility- Humility keeps you from being threatened by the talented around you. You have no fear in "pushing" others up. You look for opportunities to praise others and avoid receiving it for yourself. True humility will attract high powered leaders to you  and your team. Don't think you have to be the best on the team! Make room!
  3. Justice-Justice in a great leader shows up in their concern for the ones unable to defend themselves. They don't turn a blind eye to a colleague or by standar that is less fortunate and because of their plight, they are discriminated upon. Great leaders rally around the defenseless in all situations and become their champion!

With these (3) foundations to build on, great leaders will run the race in VICTORY

Psalms 45:4 (TLB) 
Go on to victory, Defending truth, humility, and justice. Go forth to awe-inspiring deeds!

About artie: I'm the lead Pastor at Cornerstone, a Multi-Ethnic church in the heart of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Also the founder of the Comb Network.com, a movement to plant Multi-Ethnic, culturally relevant churches in smaller cities. I direct a gathering of small city leader called "The Sticks."

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  • http://jonathanpearson.net Jonathan P.

    Great post man! Never really thought of justice as a trait of a leader. Good observation! Thanks for sharing!

  • http://leadchangegroup.com/blog/ Mike Henry Sr.

    Nice post Artie. One thing I note about justice in the leadership realm is that we need to maintain justice (fairness) in the way we treat each stakeholder. Also, the leader is responsible to hold everyone accountable to their contribution. The leader defends the goal or objective or the work. They can’t allow people to fail to perform without consequence, for example.
    Thanks, Mike…