A leader’s integrity not only affects others on their team but also directly affects their own quality of life. Read Proverbs 11:3, 5, and 8.

The word integrity is taken from the word integer meaning one. A leader’s integrity allows them to be complete or undivided in their mind. When a leader’s mind is undivided stress is greatly reduced even in extremely stressful situations. And according to Proverbs 11:3 the exact opposite is true for those lacking integrity. I like the way verse three is worded in the Living Bible, “A good man (the leader with integrity) is guided by his honesty; the evil man (the leader lacking integrity) is destroyed by his dishonesty.” Read more »

Leaders have integrity when their words match their actions. Many leaders have diluted or destroyed their effectiveness through immorality. Read Proverbs 5:1-23.

My mom had a thousand sayings. One I remember well was spoken after I discovered mom doing something I was forbidden to do (which didn’t happen often). Mom said, “Son, do what I say not what I do.” Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, who was given wisdom directly from God that no other leader was given before him, wrote Proverbs 5. He did not hold back when it came to warning his people about adultery. He is so strong as to say in verse 21, “For a man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and He examines all his paths.” Yet when Solomon’s life is examined he didn’t match his actions with his words. Read more »

The leader who refuses to act on what they know is right, who refuses wise counsel, who ignores good advice will end up with a disaster on their hands. Read Proverbs 1:1-33.

Verses 28-32 do not contain comforting thoughts concerning leaders who refuse to apply wisdom. Wisdom threatens to laugh at a leader’s disaster. Wisdom threatens to ignore rebellious leaders who call on her in their time of distress and trouble. On the face of it this may seem like a troubling passage but a closer look reveals the wording is all past tense. Read more »

Leaders have natural leadership skills that may bring them significant recognition during their career but an ongoing legacy that lasts for generations depends on more than their personal skill. Read Psalm 103:15-18.

Some outstanding traits of leadership in the natural are self-confidence, integrity, knowledge and understanding of people, the ability to make decisions, ambition, communication skills, and the ability to delegate yet none of these will guarantee a leader joy in their work or lasting values that create a legacy of happiness for their family. In fact “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more” (vv. 15-16). Read more »

The primary focus of leaders who want quality in their organization has to be what is going on in their heart. Read Psalm 78:72.

Psalm 78 was written by Asaph and chronicles the history of the Jewish people. It starts out by saying, “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things of old – what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us” (78:2-3). He ended Psalm 78 by saying King David had led the people “…with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” Effective leaders understand they must work their entire leadership life to develop outward skill and inward integrity. To have one without the other leads to failure. Read more »