We are walking in today: Weekend Mediation: CONVICTED!!! For Good Character!!!
The Power of Character in Leadership--By Dr. Myles Munroe
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living;
Character Matters
An ancient proverb declares, “A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” While some have fallen from higher and more public places than others, they have all suffered losses. These losses are avoidable, but they came about because the leaders lacked “a good name,” or integrity.
Starting Strong Then Self-destructing
Too many leaders start strong but then fail or self-destruct because of the defects in their moral compass. As a result, they lose much or all they have worked for. They nullify their potential, so that they are unable to make future contributions to their generation.
The Greatest Obstacle to Leadership Success
Everywhere, people are struggling with the idea of what it means to be a leader and on what foundation they can build true leadership. This is a critical time in our world when the future of leadership is at stake.
Yet I have concluded that the greatest threat to a leader’s success is a deficit of character.
What Kind of Character
Character is: the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.
In the sense of this definition, everyone has “character.” We are each identified by the sum of our mental and ethical traits.
But the question we are asking is this: As we exercise leadership, of what kind, or quality, are our mental and ethical traits? As we talk about character, therefore, we will focus on what it means to develop and manifest honorable principles and ethics that will distinguish our lives.
“Convicted” for Good Character
Asking ourselves some probing questions about our own lives.
. If family, friends, and colleagues were asked to give a statement under oath in court about the strength of my character, what would they say? Would they be able to talk about my good values and the positive contributions I have made to society?
. Changing the analogy around, would their testimony be strong enough to “convict” me for my good character? If so, would their assessment be true in light of what I know about myself?
. How much importance I have placed on having a good name-and the character to back it up.
. What difference would it make to my family, my business, or organization for me to be acknowledged as a person of genuine integrity?
. Am living ethically in all areas of my life- such as the ways I work with others, meet my responsibilities, and treat others in the world?
Your Personal Security System
Good character is like a personal security system for life. We can install character in our lives so that it will work like those security systems. We do this by developing values and establishing a code of ethics that will alert us to, and protect us from, the negative effects of various outside influences- such as life’s pressures, difficulties, and temptations.
A Foundation of Character
A failure in character can happen to anyone, in any vocation or stratum of life. As we will see, the development of character of a individual begins with the realization of his value as a human being and an understanding of what they was born to accomplish.
With that awareness, he can gain a new sense of self-worth, internal strength, and hope for the future. No matter what type of leader you are or how widespread your influence, you face personal temptations, challenges, and stresses. Only a foundation of character will sustain you and your leadership.
Easier Kept than Recovered
We can understand why leaders who have ethical defects lose the trust of their followers, because we have all experienced some type of betrayal, as well as the pain and anger it generates. As leaders, we must ask ourselves, “Am I, in any way, violating the trust of those who are influenced or affected by behavior?” Once you lose the trust of others, it is very difficult to win it back.
The Priority of Character
There are many components to leadership, but I consider the following three areas to be indispensable:
1. Purpose and vision
2. Potential and ability
3. Values, ethics, and principles.
Leaders must believe in their own capacity to fulfill the vision that resides in their mind and heart. Values, ethics, and principles relate to a leader’s character. They are the standards that a leader establishes for himself- and lives according to-in the process of exercising his potential and ability for the accomplishment of his vision.
THE PRICE OF GREATNESS IS RESPONSIBILITY
The Most Powerful Force
1. Character protects a leaders life, Character is the most powerful force a leader can possess because it protects his life, his leadership, and his legacy- it manifest who he is and shapes who he will become.
2. Character extends the longevity of Leadership
You character not your gift is the fuel of your leadership. Your gift is validated by your character. So when you character isn’t maintained and starts to “leak”. Your gift loses the ethical power that propels it.
3. Character Preserves a Leader’s Cause and Legacy
As we have noted, a leaders failure can damage the reputation of the government, company, organization, or associates with which he is connected. A leaders values are personal- but they are never private.
Some leaders fall dramatically and publicly, destroying their legacies in an instant. Others unravel their legacies over a long, slow moral descent that eventually ruins their lives. When the longevity of an individual’s leadership is cut short by a character issues, he is often unable to leave the legacy that he was meant to give to his generation.
You Leadership Rest On Your Character
. What character, or moral force, is, and how to develop it.
. How your beliefs shape your values, morals, ethics, and principles
. How to build you leadership so that it is both effective and enduring
. How to develop specific qualities of principled leaders.
. How to be restored after a failure in character
Character matters to you because
1. It establishes and strengthens your inner life, so that you are a person of integrity and honor
2. It enables you to effectively fulfill your purpose and potential.
3. It protects your leadership and vision- preventing you from canceling them prematurely, and enabling you to leave a legacy for your own generation and future generations.
Character matters to the world because.
1. It is the key to inspirational leadership.
2. It safeguards the well-being of those who are under the authority of leaders or are otherwise affected by leader’s actions and influence.
3. It enables leaders to build and maintain healthy communities while addressing critical problems with ethics and integrity.
Shema Selah what would you be found convicted of??? What characteristics can be found in how you live your life?? https://www.facebook.com/fiveam.prayer/videos/1570329909711786/?l=6397343762859507750
No comments:
Post a Comment