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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 39: The Character of Leadership: An Introduction

A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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The Character of Leadership: Introduction

When I was in high school, my dad, who was a pastor, was implementing a temperament profile as a teaching and counseling tool for himself and for a class he was teaching. It was a profile that identified certain temperaments and traits and then compared them to different persons in the Bible. He had me take this profile, and my matching biblical counterpart was Moses (who was described as a melancholy temperament, which seemed to match my temperament). This was a great learning experience for me, and probably my first introduction to personality profiles, and how they could help you understand yourself.

Recently, something reminded me of that experience, of learning about myself by looking at a biblical character (and in my case, Moses). But thinking about that character led me down a different path of thinking about two different uses of the word, character, and about how they can work together to help us learn more about leadership.

In the first use, a “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story. It’s typically not a perfect person (in fact only Jesus was perfect), and often it is someone who is far from perfection. However, it is frequently an influential person, and in some form, an example from whom we can learn. Therefore, to understand a character is to know a little bit about who he/she was, and the context in which they lived or operated.

In the second use, as a separate definition, “character” is a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. It is the identification of a particular behavior, attitude, or characteristic that defines the type of person they are, and is reflected in their conduct.

That word “character,” then, applies to both a person and an attribute. With that in mind, I think that there is lot that we can learn from the character of characters in the Bible. Therefore, there is great value for us in identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something that stands out in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead. So for the next few weeks, and probably periodically after that, I want to select various people in the Bible and ask questions like, “Who is this character?” “What is their character?”, and “What do we learn from the character of this character?”.

I have often told my own children, “You learn most things from experience, but it’s usually less painful if it is someone else’s experience.” In this case, we are learning from someone else’s experience by looking at their character and the lessons of their successes and failures because of that character, and then seeing how to put the character of that character into practice in our own lives. We are learning about the character of leadership.

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Quote Your Dad

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life.” John 3:16

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Quote Your Dad

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

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Quote Your Dad

The “Be-Attitudes” of better leadership: be genuine, be relational, be trustworthy, be knowledgeable, and be excellent.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 38: Be a Better Leader: The Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership (Part 22, Conclusion)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” We have spent a fair amount of time discussing all five of these, and today in part 22, I am concluding our discussion of the series.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Be A Better Leader (part 22): Conclusion

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” We have spent a fair amount of time discussing all five of these, and today in part 22, I am concluding our discussion of the series.

I began the series by describing how this grouping of characteristics originated when, years ago, I taught a series of workshops at an educator’s convention, called “Be A Better Teacher.” The idea for these workshops had started with a single workshop called “The Be-Attitudes of Better Teaching,” in which I identified and explained some of the most important attributes and characteristics that should be reflected in who and what a teacher should be (at the time I was a teacher and school administrator). Because it was a Christian School convention, it was a little bit of a play on words from the Beatitudes that Jesus shared in the Sermon on the Mount. This one workshop ended up growing into six workshops – Be Prepared, Be Good, Be Funny, Be Yourself, Be a Teacher, and Be an Influence – that focused on effective teaching techniques, methods and characteristics of good teachers.

At some point much further down the road in my leadership experience, something triggered my memory of these workshops, it dawned on me that the same kind of idea – a list of “Be” statements – was true in leadership as well. Certain attitudes, skills, and characteristics are important in a leader for that leader to be effective, so I started thinking about what those things might be (pun intended). While not an all-inclusive list, I identified what I believe are a few of those “Be-Attitudes” in the context of leadership that are essential to leading well. And that became this series of articles and podcasts that I have discussed over the last few months.

I grouped these characteristics and attributes into 5 broad “Be” attitudes, and in each one I discussed four different ways they are each reflected:

  • Be Genuine, by being: authentic, an example, humble, and yourself.
  • Be Relational, by being: a listener, a talker, a teacher, and a relationship-builder.
  • Be Trustworthy, by being: honest, consistent, safe, and transparent.
  • Be Knowledgeable, by being: aware, teachable, a learner, and a reader.
  • Be Excellent, by being: intentional, flexible, and reflective, and doing what works.

I would encourage you to go back and look through these “Be-Attitudes,” now that you see the whole forest so that you can learn even more from the individual trees. I hope that in this journey, you have gained a grasp of some of the most important characteristics and practices that need to be embedded into yourself and your leadership, for you to be the most effective leader you can be. My prayer is that you have learned things that are helping you to “Be a Better Leader.”

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Quote Your Dad

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.!

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 37: Be a Better Leader: The Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership (Part 21, Be Self-reflective)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” We have already looked at being genuine, being relational, being trustworthy, and being knowledgeable, and today in part 21, I am concluding our discussion of the fifth category, “Be Excellent.” More specifically, I am talking about the importance of being self-reflective.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Be A Better Leader (part 21): Be Excellent (By Being Self-reflective)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” We have already looked at being genuine, being relational, being trustworthy, and being knowledgeable, and today in part 21, I am concluding our discussion of the fifth category, “Be Excellent.” More specifically, I am talking about the importance of being self-reflective.

I had been hired as a new administrator in a school, and after our first big event I gathered my leadership team together and said, “Ok team, let’s debrief.” There was a moment of complete silence, and then I could see strong emotion emerging on the faces of my team. I paused and asked what I was missing, and they began to explain how the previous administrator had used “debriefings” as a tool to rip apart the team members to such an extent that it left behind trauma. So the mention of the word “debrief” had become a trigger for them and prompted a strong response. So do you think I stopped taking time to debrief after events? No, I did not. I just changed the terminology to remove the connection to traumatic experiences. Why? Because it is an important practice to reflect on what has happened in the past in order to grow and improve in the future.

In his book, “Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher,” Stephen Brookfield points out the research-based premise that self-reflection is one of the primary tools for facilitating growth in a teacher. He identified several practices, but this was one of the key ones, explaining how self-reflection is one of the best means of growth. That premise is true for all of us (not just teachers), that self-reflection helps us get better, which therefore makes it an important practice in becoming excellent.

How does this apply to your personal process of being excellent? Very simply, if you are going to be good at what you do and get better at it, self-reflection needs to be a regular practice. At both specific junctures (like after an event or activity or circumstance) and at regular intervals, you need to be in the habit of pausing, reflecting on what has happened and what you have been doing, and intentionally seeking to learn from it so that you can be better. You won’t ever be perfect all the time (at least, not until we, as believers in Jesus, are fully sanctified and perfected in heaven), but we can and should be in the practice of perpetual improvement.

Did you ever get in trouble with your parents and hear them say, “You need to go to your room and think about what you did!”? That’s exactly what you need to be doing in your path to excellence: go to your room and think about what you did. Reflect on what worked well and should be kept the way it is, what was necessary and must be done each time, what was unnecessary and could be removed, what was missed that should have been included, what was good but should be changed to be better, and what was not good and should be eliminated. All of those things come out when you take time to self-reflect.

The bottom line is that self-reflection is an important piece in the process of becoming excellent. For that reason, make it a part of your practice. You probably already do this every year right around January 1, but make it a regular habit at other times as well. Schedule regular times throughout the year, and after major events, that are set aside for the purpose of reflecting in order to grow and improve. Said simply, to be excellent, practice self-reflection.

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