Top Ten Ways To Be A Great LeaderSample

Integrity

One place where the integrity of Moses showed up time and again was his faithfulness to God’s seemingly insignificant commands. He was known as a leader who sweated the small stuff. Over and over Scripture tells us, “Moses did as the Lord commanded him” (Num. 27:22). This phrase appears ninety-four times in the Old Testament.

It’s true that the devil’s in the details, and we leaders usually stumble in small acts of disobedience. Moses was not only a grand, visionary leader but also a man who paid attention to small details. Much of the content of the books of Moses is about minute details of legislation, lifestyle, obedience, and building the tabernacle God told him to build.

Moses knew how important it was to play by God’s rules. That’s why at the very end of his life, he reminded everyone again about the details of integrity and how to be successful in God’s economy. When Moses finished reciting all the words to Israel, he said this to them: “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess” (Deut. 32:46-47). These were great leadership words as Moses passed the baton to Joshua.

Just to be clear, this integrity message is not just for spiritual people. It’s not just about the Bible and what the Bible says about integrity. Some of today’s greatest leadership writers in the secular realm talk about how important it is to have character and integrity in order for people to trust and follow you.

I really like to use both integrity and character when talking about who we are as leaders. I have already defined integrity, and I would say that we often use the word character as in “She really is a person of great character.” A good character is about your inner qualities of goodness, morality, and integrity. I would hope that we would be known as people of great character. People love to follow leaders who have a reputation for having a good character. That kind of leader can be trusted and followed with great enthusiasm.

Coach John Wooden, who led the UCLA basketball team to ten national titles in twelve years, emphasized character as the key to success with his team. He said, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

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