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Authority is God’s idea. He created it as an equitable means of maintaining order and stability throughout His creation. It is the right to govern, to lead, to initiate action, and command others.
The ancient Romans had a tradition. When an engineer constructed an arch; as the capstone was hoisted over the structure and lowered into place, the engineer would stand under the arch demonstrating his complete confidence in his design. It was a profound expression of accountability. Rather than expecting others to become victims of his failure, he personally and publicly bore the consequence of whether or not he had fulfilled his duty. Even more important, and because of the accountability it provides, this tradition enabled trust. Having witnessed the architect being held accountable for his design, pedestrians would have complete trust in the arch and freely pass under, or over it without concern. In a sense, the duty of leadership is like building an arch. Every decision, action, and policy a leader implements must serve the interests of the people and the organization he is called to lead. Like building an arch, the leader is developing infrastructure to cover and protect or providing passageways to improve the society he leads. When the leader is accountable for his actions, when the integrity of his decisions are open to examination and he is made to answer for his policies; his credibility is demonstrated and people will trust both him and what he builds. Saying that “leadership is a trust” is to say that a leader’s authority exists to serve the public’s interests, not the personal interests of the leader. People submit themselves to leaders, they support leaders because they trust that the leaders will have their best interests, and the interests of the organization at heart—not the leaders’ own interests. This means that a leader’s actions and decisions or exercise of authority should never be intended to give that leader some personal benefits or to advance their own interests. When that trust of leadership is violated, we call it corruption. To learn more click here Comments are closed.
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It was concerning King Saul that David said, “How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished.” His was a life that began with great promise and celebration, but ended in miserable failure and humiliation. His life is an example of how the mightiest of leaders fail.
Why do great men and women fall? How do leaders, quick to ascend with such promise of unparalleled success, find themselves awash in disastrous failure and disgrace? More importantly, can the path toward one’s downfall be discerned before it’s too late and be avoided? It is the premise of my newest book, How The Mighty Have Fallen that such a decline can be detected and reversed. The life and leadership career of King Saul, Israel's first king, provides us with a treasury of examples of "what not to do." The below blog post is the first in series of excerpts from the book to examine and avoid Saul's mistakes and find a successful path through leadership. READ AN EXCERPT |
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