Global Integrity 3

We Have a Problem

Moral wholeness for a whole world

Integrity is moral wholeness—living consistently in moral wholeness. Its opposite is corruption, the distortion, perversion, and deterioration of moral goodness, resulting in the exploitation of people. Global integrity is moral wholeness at all levels in our world—from the individual to the institutional to the international. Global integrity is requisite for “building the future we want—being the people we need.” It is not easy, it is not always black and white, and it can be risky. These entries explore the many facets of integrity with a view towards the global efforts to promote sustainable development and wellbeing.

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Leadership Qualities

Hubris for Humans or Humility for Humanity?

“We have a leadership problem!...The Lausanne Leadership Development Working Group was created to respond to [the] need for Christ-like leaders.  The working group [was] made up of a cross section of global senior leaders…many of whom are specifically involved in leadership development. We started with a survey of Christian leaders.  We asked them to tell us about their experiences with Christian leaders, what they thought Christ-like leadership should look like, and what they thought was most effective in building Christ-centered leaders.

We collected responses from 1,031 leaders from across seven continents.  Those surveyed included a wide range of ages, types of leadership experience and quantities of leadership experience.  Approximate one-third of those surveyed were women.  We conducted the survey in five languages to try to get a wide range of opinions. In the process of conducting the survey, one thing became frighteningly obvious—we have a leadership problem!” (quote from Lausanne website)

Some Survey Highlights 

“When asked to describe their worst experiences working under [Christian] leaders, and what characteristics those poor leaders had, 1,000 leaders answering the survey said:

Prideful, always right, and always the big boss

Lack of integrity, untrustworthy

Harsh, uncaring, refused to listen, critical

Slightly lower on the list:
Inability to manage people and enable them to work together

Spiritually immature, no evidence of holiness or prayerfulness”

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“When 1,000 Christian leaders across the globe were surveyed, the top three ranking characteristics that described Christ-centered leadership were:

Integrity, authenticity, excellent character

Servant’s heart, humble

Spiritually mature, hears God’s voice, holy and prayerful

Next on the list came:

Excellent people management skills and ability to discern and develop the gifts of others

Biblical knowledge, theologically sound

Compassionate, good listener, more oriented to people than accomplishing the task”

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What would you say is the most frequent cause of failure in Christian leaders to ‘finish well’ as a Christ-centered leader in the nation where you are currently living?” Respondents could pick three answers.  Five of the ten possibilities received the vast majority of the votes.  The top five included:

Burn-out (360)

Abuse of power (360)

Inappropriate use of finances (354)

Inordinate Pride (353)

Lack of growth in their Spiritual Life (349)

The sixth cause ranked was “sexual sin” with 292 votes.”

Excerpted from We Have a Problem!—But There is Hope (2010) Lausanne Movement https://www.lausanne.org/content/we-have-a-problem-but-there-is-hope-results-of-a-survey-of-1000-christian-leaders-from-across-the-globe

Applications

--Are the findings in this survey relevant for leaders across sectors, countries, religious groups, etc.?
If so, how?
--List a few take aways for you from the survey results.