What’s the most undervalued, under-discussed commodity on the leadership stock exchange today? What’s the item that is currently on no one’s list of desired qualities in a leader that once would have been consistently in the top four?
It’s not courage or willingness to risk. Every motivational speaker trumpets those.
It’s not humility or strength of will—Jim Collins has placed these squarely on the path from good to great.
It’s not the ability to identify strengths—Marcus Buckingham and others have built a movement around strengths.
It’s not creativity (think of Steve Jobs), or unleashing core competencies (think Gary Hamel), or the capacity to persist in the face of crushing failure (think Winston Churchill or the Chicago Cubs or pretty much anybody on Dancing with the Stars).
So what is today’s most undervalued leadership trait? It’s prudence.
Allen Guelzo has written a wonderful book on Abraham Lincoln, and he devotes an entire chapter to the role prudence played in the life of the man who was arguably the most influential leader in the history of America. Guelzo notes that 2,000 years ago prudence was considered one of the greatest of virtues; a hundred years ago it was part of moral philosophy; today it is the punchline of a joke. For people of a certain generation it will forever conjure up Dana Carvey impersonating George H.W. Bush: wouldn’t be wise; wouldn’t be prudent.
Why did Lincoln regard prudence as a cardinal virtue? Why has it come to be an insult rather than a compliment? And most important, why is it sorely needed by pastors and church leaders (and everybody else)?
What prudence isn’t
We need to be reminded what prudence is, and isn’t. Prudence is not the same thing as caution. Caution is a helpful strategy when you’re crossing a minefield; it’s a disaster when you’re in a gold rush.
Prudence is not the same thing as avoiding mistakes. Churches are full of leaders who are afraid to make mistakes, and thereby insure that their churches will never move forward, and that their own souls will shrivel and grow cold from fear and avoidance. But that’s not prudence.
Prudence is not hesitation, procrastination, or moderation. It is not driving in the middle of the road. It is not the way of ambivalence, indecision, or safety.
Prudence, says Guelzo, was prized by the ancients because it was linked to shrewdness, to excellence in judgment, to the capacity to discern, to the ability to take in a situation and see it in its wholeness. Prudence is foresight and far-sightedness. It’s the ability to make immediate decisions on the basis of their longer-range effects.
Prudence is what makes someone a great commodities trader—the capacity to face reality squarely in the eye without allowing emotion or ego to get in the way. It’s what is needed by every quarterback or battlefield general. Thomas Aquinas said it was intelligence about “things to be done.”
Prudence comes very close to describing what Paul prays for the church at Philippi—”that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best …”
It is not hard to discern good from bad. But to discern the good from the best …
To recognize from a number of positive options what could lead to the most outstanding outcome—
This is prudence.
Sometimes we think of courageous leaders as people who are constantly willing to bet the farm against all odds. But great leaders recognize the importance, not simply of values, but also of weighing likely outcomes from concrete action.
Rehoboam was a riverboat gambler; he risked his throne on a high-risk venture—”My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier…” Rehoboam had courage, backbone, and vision to say those words.
He just lacked prudence. And so the kingdom was split in two, and the unity of the people suffered a severance from which it never recovered.
Moments for prudential thinking
God’s people need leaders who have prudence:
When they are figuring how to navigate change.
When they are choosing which battles to fight and which battles to skip.
When they are calculating decisions and outcomes.
When a team member is not contributing well.
When the congregation is growing restless, or complacent, or fatigued.
When a course direction needs changing.
Recently I realized a shortcoming in my own leadership. We had embarked on a new strategy. It required planning, vision-casting, clear asks for support, higher goals, and changing strategies. All these were in place.
But the goals were so high, the costs were so large, that even though we had all said that we might fail, the reality was that failure did not feel like an acceptable outcome. And that meant it took far too long to have the right conversations about what was working and what wasn’t. It took far too long to get the right learnings so we could make the right adjustments.
I am still learning about, and longing for, prudence.
John Ortberg is editor at large of Leadership and pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in Menlo Park, California.
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