How to Be a Leader People Want to Follow

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January 2008 Recently I was asked to speak to a group of youth leaders on

becoming a credible, authentic leader. In preparing my first message, I decided to

focus on two key words.

According to the dictionary, the word credible comes from the Latin credo, meaning

I believe. If something is credible, it is believable. A credible witness is one whose

testimony is trustworthy. His life and his words line up together.

The word authentic goes from English back to French back to Latin and ultimately to

the Greek authentikos. It means conforming to the original or reproducing the

essential features of something, as in authentic French cuisine. If something is


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Which comes first? Authentic must come first. If you are not authentic, you will not

be credible.

In preparing this message, I happened to find an article on credibility in the

workplace in the Nova Scotia Business Journal. Here is part of what the article says:

The greatest temptation managers face today is a desire to appear a Superman to

their followers; perceived as perfect, flawless, impenetrable, and invincible. Perhaps

managers even wonder, Why would anyone trust and follow me if Im flawed and

vulnerable?

Consequently managers and supervisors get caught up in a game of being right, and

if not right, act as if theyre right anyway. This is reminiscent of parents who might

not know why theyve just given a command or punishment to their children, but feel

comfortable with, Because I said so as the ultimate answer to save face. The irony

is that followers at work just like children at home know that their leaders arent

seven-foot-tall and bullet proof. The attempts to create the illusion of perfection, just

distracts and takes away from whatever credibility was there in the first place.

Credibility is the key ingredient in leadership: The Latin root word is credo, which

means I believe or I trust. Credibility, like credit from a bank, is given to those

who are trusted. Therefore credibility is given to leaders whom the followers find

believable. If youre not believable, nor trusted to represent yourself honestly, you

will have little credibility with your followers. It may be the biggest paradox in

leadership; knowledge is honored, while pretending to have knowledge is disdained.

How to build credibility without being bullet proof: The answer to the paradox is

found in being real, or authentic.

We have a problem with credibility in the evangelical world. Pollsters tell us that

confidence in religious leaders has declined in the last few years. With all the scandals

involving ministers, its not surprising that people look at spiritual leaders with

jaundiced eyes. While its always easy to point fingers at others, perhaps we need to


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do our own housecleaning first. This week a friend emailed me with some disturbing

words:

I have a good friend who has access to the major media star lights in ministry (radio,

TV, etc.). He is deeply saddened at the carnality that exists when they walk away

from the microphone. He told me last year that very, very, very few of them exercise

humility, as he sees it, and many people would turn the dial if they knew how these

men talked and conducted themselves in private.

Let me frankly say that I dont know who my friends friend is or which major media

stars he is talking about. I am sure there are some who fit this description. I know

there are some who dont. Here are few observations about credibility.

1) Credibi

lity

is earned over a long per

iod of t

ime.

2) Credibility is not about what you do or what you say. Its about who you are on

the inside.

3) You cannot demand credibility.

4) You cannot fool the people closest to you forever.

5) Your ministry will have lasting impact in direct proportion to the integrity of your

own life.

6)The great enemies of credibility are pride, arrogance, isolation, and excessive

self-confidence.

7) Ironically the more gifted you are and the more successful you are, the easier it

becomes to fake your way through life.

8) Credibility once lost is very difficult to regain.

What qualities mark a person as a credible, authentic leader?

1) Honesty.

2) Willing to admit your faults.

3) Consistency.

4) Kindness under pressure.

5) Accountability in the small areas of life.

6) Willing to answer hard questions.


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7) Quick to take blame, quick to praise others.

8) Not taking yourself too seriously (lack of pomposity).

9) Knowing your own limitations.

10) Not blaming others for your own problems.

11) Confrontable.

12) Approachable.

13) Handling anger appropriately.

14) Not offended when others get the credit you deserve (no need to brag).

15) Keeping your word.

Theres another word for living like this. We call it integrity.

Forks of Cypress

Several years ago my older brother took me to visit a cemetery outside Florence,

Alabama, near the remains of an ante-bellum mansion called Forks of Cypress. The

mansion was built in the 1820s by James Jackson, an early settler of northwest

Alabama. My brother and I walked among the ruins of the mansion and then crossed

the country road into the dense forest on the other side. After a quarter-mile we

found the Jackson family cemetery. There is no sign marking the spot, only a five-foot

high stone wall surrounding about 50 graves. Inside we found a tall marker over

James Jacksons grave with a long inscription extolling his virtues, which were many.

As I walked along, my eyes fastened on the marker for one of his sons. There was a

name, a date of birth and a date of death, and this simple five-word epitaph: A man

of unquestioned integrity.

Five words to sum up an entire life. Sixty-plus years distilled into five words. But, oh,what truth they tell.

A man of unquestioned integrity. I cannot think of a better tribute.

The Ultimate Man of Integrity


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There are many men and women of integrity in the Bible. Any list would have to

include the following:Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David, Nathan, Jehoshaphat,

Elijah, Hezekiah, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Zerubbabel,

Haggai, Malachi, Mary, James, Peter, Paul, John, Titus and Timothy.

These men and women stood tall above their contemporaries because they could not

be bought or sold. They stand out in the biblical landscape like towering mountains

rising above the flatland of unbelief, compromise, and idolatry. But in all the Bible

one man rises above all the others as the preeminent example of integrityJesus

Christ.

He was the only truly blameless person who ever walked this earth.

A Tribute From the Other Side

No one could pin an accusation on him and make it stick. Not even his enemies.

In this regard Matthew 22:16 is a very important verse because it tells us how his

opponents sized up his character in the last few days of his life. The statement comes

from the Pharisees who laid plans to trap himin his words (v. 15). They sent some

of their well-trained disciples to trick him with his own words. Ponder carefully theiropening remarks to him:

Teacher, they said, We know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the

way of God in accordance with the truth. You arent swayed by men, because you

pay no attention to who they are.

This isnt just a compliment. Its an honest evaluation of Jesus by men who intended to

murder him. Even his enemies had to admit his integrity. What does integrity involve?

1. Your reputation: We know

2. Your commitment to truth:

a. In words: You teach the way of God


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b. In relationships: You arent swayed by men

3. Your consistent lifestyle: You pay no attention to who they are. Even as they

attempt to trip him up, his enemies must confess that his reputation, his commitment

to truth and his consistent lifestyle made Him a man of integrity.

Why is this important? Because if his enemies had anything on him, now would be

the time to bring it out. If Jesus has any skeletons in his closet, this is the place to

display them publicly.

But they didnt because they couldnt because Jesus was exactly what he seemed to

be. His life matched his lips, his deeds matched his words, his character backed up his

claims.

A Man Without Guile

What you see you is what you get. Such a man is hard to find these days. To use an

old phrase, a man like this is a man without guile.

For over thirty years Dr. John Walvoord served as president of Dallas Theological

Seminary. He is remembered around the world for his many books on theology and

Bible prophecy. He was a big man with a commanding presence, and when I was a

student I was always a bit intimidated by him.

One day in Greek class I heard my professor make an offhanded comment that stuck

in my mind: Dr. Walvoord is a man without guile. When he speaks, you dont have to

wonder what he really means.What you see is what you get.

A man without guile what you see is what you get. Those words flashed into my

mind as I thought about being credible and authentic. It occurred to me later that Ive

never heard anyone else described as being without guile.

Is that because so few of us really live that way?


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1) A credible, authentic leader tells the truth even when it

hurts.

A man going through a bitter divorce committed a moral sin, which if discovered,might affect the disposition of the community property. Fearing that his wife had

somehow found out, he vowed that even if asked, he would lie on the stand. Dont

do it, a friend said, You can always get your money back, but you can never get

your integrity back.Why compound one sin with another?

Truth is the heart and soul of integrity. Unfortunately we live in a culture that has

come to view truth as a disposable itemwe tell the truth when it helps us, we shade

the truth when we need to, and we lie if we have to. No wonder confidence in

American institutions is at an all-time low.

Jesus said,"I came into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth

listens to me (John 18:37). Jesus is on the side of the truth. Whose side are you on?

2. A credible, authentic leader keeps his promises.

Psalm 15:4 says that God blesses the man who keeps his oath even when it hurts.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 warns against making rash and hasty vows. It is better not to vow

than to make a vow and not fulfill it (v. 5). This has some very practical implications,

such as:

Keeping your appointments.

Arriving at work on time.

Paying your bills on time.

Not overpromising to get an order.

Telling the truth about your product.


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Refusing to exaggerate.

Abiding by the terms of the contract.

Staying within your budget.

Remembering her birthday.

Attending your sons ball game.

Getting out of bed when the alarm goes off.

Finishing the job.

Giving him the money you promised.

Giving back the money you didnt spend.

Most of us intend to keep our promises. Our basic problem is overcommitment. We

promise too many things to too many people with too little thought. You might want

to highlight the next sentence. People of integrity make fewer promises but keep the

ones they make.

Joseph Stowell offers a helpful word for those of us plagued with the problem of

overcommitment:

Im a classic overcommitter and have often contemplated starting Overcommitters

Anonymous. I bet there would be a lot of us in the therapy sessions. Wed would sit

around and say no. Wed say no in mad, happy, slow, and fast ways; in French,

R

ussian, German, Japanese,S

panish, and Creole.W

ed applaud and cheer whensomeone finally got up the courage to say no for the first time in his life, and wed

hold each other accountable.Want to join? (Shepherding the Church into the 21st

Century, p. 267).


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3. A credible, authentic leader confronts problems when it

would be easier to walk away.

When someone asked General Norman Schwarzkopf the secret of his success, hereplied very simply, I never walk past a problem. Another friend put it this way:

Just remember, when it comes to solving problems, the first price you pay is always

the cheapest. We ignore problems, hoping they will go away, but that rarely happens.

And the price of solving them goes up, not down.

Proverbs 27:6 says, Wounds from a friend can be trusted. Or as the King James

Version puts it, Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Better to have a friend tell you

the hard truth than have somebody try to butter you up and cover up the hard things

you need to hear.

Whenever I think of this principle my friend Randy Miller comes to mind. One year he

served as the Chairman of the Elders in the church I pastored in Texas. I soon learned

Randy had a certain method of doing things. He was very orderly, not given to

flamboyance, very much an administrator, always committed to doing things the

right way.

We met almost every week to discuss the work of the church. He always carried a

little pocket-sized spiral notebook with him. Over the course of a half-hour we would

review the affairs of the church, checking off the items on his list one after the other.

Hed go over all of his points with me, and then he would turn the page. The second

page would always be about me. He would say, This is hard for me to say, but when

you said that last week in the sermon, you didnt mean it this way, but this is how

some people took it. Or, W

hen you didnt take time to talk to those folks, theywere really hurt. Or, I know you think we ought to do this, but Im not sure its the

right idea. Or sometimes, You said this and you shouldnt have and you need to do

something about it. Over time I discovered this: he was always right. He was a friend

who loved me enough to tell me when I was making a mistake.Would you like to


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know how I feel about Randy Miller today? Although I havent seen Him in many

years, I consider him a dear friend. Hes welcome in my home any time.

You Cant Fool God!

There is one final fact I need to add. You cant fool God! He knows the truth about

who you are on the inside. Nothing is hidden from his penetrating gaze. Nothing in

all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes,

and he is the one to whom we are accountable(Hebrews 4:13 NLT).

He knows the truth!

If that thought doesnt frighten you a little bit, you are fooling yourself. He knows

every word before you say it, every thought before you think it, every deed before

you do it. Youve never surprised God, and you never will.

And that brings me to the closing words Psalm 139.

Searchme, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See

if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm139:23-

24).

Writing about this passage in a recent sermon, Brian Bill points out that God wants us

to invite him to search us. Thats a stunning thought. The God of the universe, the

One who already knows me through and through, wants me to invite him to do a

thorough search of my life from the inside out. Heres another way to say it. Lord,

show me the truth about myself. Thats a dangerous prayer because if you mean it,

God will definitely answer it. Go someplace quiet and ask the Lord to reveal to you

the truth about yourself. When we pray that way, the answer will begin to come fromheaven.We sit and wait and pray for the Holy Spirit to show us our weaknesses, our

faults, our mistakes, our bad attitudes, our foolish words, our pride, our arrogance,

our need to be in control, our need to run the world, our need to tell others what to

do, our desire to have our own way, our anger, our bitterness, our lack of mercy, our


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lack of love, our lack of compassion. Let me tell you something from personal

experience, if you wait long enough, the Lord will always show it to you. In asking

God to evaluate ourselves, we are really asking these 4 things from verses 23-24:

* Searchme. Come in, Lord, and check out every hidden place in my life.

*Test me.To see if I am pure and true.

*Tell me. Let me know what you find.

* Help me. Show me how to correct my ways lead me the right way.

Dont be afraid to ask God to point out offensive stuff in your life. Thats not an easy

thing to do, but it can lead to personal liberation.S

o many of us struggle precisely atthis point because we waste so much time trying to have a better past. But you cant

do that. It is what it is. The sooner you face the truth about yourself, the better off

you will be. As someone has said, A good person desires to know the worst of

himself.

The Whole Truth About Ray Pritchard

J.I. Packer writes these encouraging words:

I am never out of Gods mind. There is no moment when His eye is off me, or His

attention distracted from me, no moment when His care faltersThere is

tremendous relief in knowing that His love to me is utterly realistic, based at every

point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can

disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself.

I underlined one portion of that quote because I find it very encouraging that Gods

love for me is utterly realistic.He knows the whole truth about Ray Pritchard andloves me anyway. I can sleep well at night knowing that the Lord isnt fooled by

anything I do or say. He knows all there is to know about me.

The good, the bad, the ugly, and all the in between stuff.


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And he loves me with an everlasting and utterly realistic love.

Im glad about that.

Here is where we will end in our quest to become credible, authentic leaders. To beauthentic means conforming to the original. For the Christian, that means

conforming to the image of Jesus Christ. Becoming a little more like him as time goes

on.

Walking in his steps.

Talking as he talked.

Loving as he loved.

Forgiving as he forgave.

Enduring as he endured.

Praying as he prayed.

Leading as he led.

Serving as he served.

Loving as he loved.

Dying as he died.

True Christians have always prayed, Make me like Jesus. If you want to be a

credible, authentic leader, take a good look at the Son of God.

Become like him.

Make him your model.


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Study his life.

Follow in his steps.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reproduce in you the essential features of Jesus.

If you dont know where to begin, I urge you to use this prayer in your devotions this

week:

Heavenly Father, I invite you to shine the light of your truthinto every part of my

life. Thank you for knowing me completely and loving me anyway. Searchme, try

me, test me, and show me what you find. Where I am not honest and true, do

wh

ateverit takes to

make

mec

redib

le and auth

entic

so th

atm

y life w

illb

ring glory

to you. Make me like Jesus so that people who follow me become more like him.

Amen.

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