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Four final checks

It's not enough for people to have leadership potential; they must have character and the right setting in which to grow. Before I give someone significant leadership responsibilities, I find it helpful to ask myself several questions:

What will this person do to be liked? It's nice to be liked, but as a leader it cannot be the controlling factor. The cause must be the prime motivator.

Does this person have a destructive weakness? There are only two things I need to know about myself: my constructive strength and any destructive weakness. A destructive weakness may not show up on a test; it's a character flaw. A destructive weakness may, for example, be an obsession. An obsession controls us; we don't control it. It only grows worse over time.

I met for a while with a gregarious, former president of a corporation. He had recently lost his job. During our meetings, I kept saying to myself, I can't buy this guy. There's something beneath the surface that doesn't ring true. One of the last times he came to see me, in a burst of honesty, he said, "Fred, I'm going to a psychiatrist."

I asked, "Do you care to tell me what it's about?"

He said, "I'm a congenital liar. I can't tell the truth."

Then I knew what had bothered me.

Can this person accept reasonable mistakes? I recently had lunch with an accountant who works for a large accounting firm. He said, "I look at every page that passes through my department, but I'm finding that difficult, given the size of my department."

He is afraid of delegating and having someone make a mistake. But perfection is too expensive; employees can't live under that tyranny. A leader has to be able to accept reasonable mistakes-not repeat them but accept them. Failure is part of accepting leadership; you can't let it eat away at you.

Can I provide this person the environment to succeed? It is so important, particularly in the early days of someone's leadership, that he or she be put into a congenial environment. I wouldn't want, for example, to put someone who requires mentoring with a leader who pays no attention to people.

An environment that threatens our sense of security or well-being splits our concentration from the cause. Young leaders need an environment in which they can concentrate on leading.

I once tried to get an employee in a small Southern town promoted but without success. I was honest with him, saying I didn't think his future was in the company; I suggested he go out on his own. I felt he had potential. He eventually became president of the local bank. We still maintain contact.

Some of my most rewarding memories involve young people in whom I believed and shared in their promotion.

-Fred Smith is a business executive in Dallas, Texas; a board member of Christianity Today International; and a contributing editor of Leadership.

Copyright 1996 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.
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