Character before Competence: Healthy Leaders Prioritize Character over Charisma and Competence

The executive leaders I surveyed for my book Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations (Baker Academic, Dec. 19, 2023) name a significant danger for leaders – the danger of competence exceeding leader character. Note some of their reflections:

• “If your competency outstrips your character, it is a dangerous situation to be in.”
• “Your character matters more than your competency. Put the root before fruit.”
• “Always look for the three C’s . . . : character, competency, chemistry; of course, character trumps everything.”
• “Competence is important; character is more important.”

Charles Spurgeon made a similar point in the 1800s. In his Lectures to My Students, he notes that “a man in all other respects fitted to be useful may by some small defect be exceedingly hindered, or even rendered utterly useless.” Reflecting on Spurgeon’s observations, my friend and former colleague Sam Rima writes, “Spurgeon rightly recognized that the ultimate success of a leader will be determined by how well he or she masters the inner life. He saw all other skills, talents, and gifts only as effective as the foundation on which they are built—that foundation being the leader’s inner life.” (Leading from the Inside Out) 

Character and Trust: Healthy Leaders of Character Understand the Priority of Earning and Preserving Trust

The presence of a leader’s integrity and character builds trust within organizations.

The presence of a leader’s integrity and character builds trust within organizations. Although leaders today face new levels of distrust in leaders and institutions, followers still desire leaders they can look to with confidence and trust. Trust is good for followers. Trust is good for our organizations. In his book, Leading without Power, Max De Pree puts it this way: “Followers too yearn for trust. They want badly to believe their leaders and to trust them to do what they say they will do.”

Although we certainly want to nurture trust in our organizations, in his book The Trust Edge, David Horsager argues that primarily “trust flows from individuals, not organizations.” Leaders build trust not simply by the words they use but also, and more importantly, by their actions. As one CEO asserts, “Your root issue is always a Trust issue.” Leaders must deal with the root issue of trust through the alignment of their spoken message and their actions. The steady and persistent building of trust over years of faithful service is what is needed for both leaders and followers to flourish in their work and service.

Character and the Bottom Line: Healthy Leaders of Character Care about the Bottom Line

Another executive leader reflects, “Character is important regardless of financial bottom lines.” I agree. Leaders of character must be willing to do the right thing, even when it is hard for them or for their organizations. Having said that, it is helpful to see that leadership with character does tend to have a positive bottom-line effect.

In Return on Character, a fascinating book published by Harvard Business Review Press, author Fred Kiel shares his research-based take on the importance of character and the bottom line. He argues that “people demand character-driven leadership because it delivers higher value to all stakeholders—and because it’s the right thing to do.” Of his research on the topic, Kiel writes, “there is an observable and consistent relationship between character-driven leaders and better business results.”

I think a similar case can be made for most practices that are faithful to a biblical view of working with people made in the image of God: these approaches end up being both morally right and the right way to go about our work. They end up being both faithful and effective. Prioritizing character and integrity over competence and charisma is not only wise for leaders, it also tends to translate into effective bottom-line performance, according to Kiel’s research. 

Character and Humility: Healthy Leaders of Character Prioritize Humility and Resist Hubris

It is important to note here that humility is one of the primary signs that character is present in the life of leaders. Humility takes many forms and shapes, but it stands in stark contrast to examples of narcissism and hubristic pride. While there can be a positive dimension of authentic pride (e.g., “I’m proud of the hard work this team has done”), pride turns hubristic when the focus turns to the leader. Organizational leaders, by virtue of their positions, are especially vulnerable to hubristic pride. One sign that pride might be a problem is when leaders become exceptions to the rule. One president in my study provides the following challenge: “On a personal level, don’t make yourself an exception to the rule.” It is not only important for leaders to prioritize humility; they also need to actively resist hubris.

C.S. Lewis notes in The Problem of Pain that when Jesus Christ went to the cross, he was doing what the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been humbly doing inside the Trinity throughout eternity past—each deferring to the other, each seeking the glory of the other. Lewis writes, “For the Eternal Word gives Himself in sacrifice; and that not only on Calvary. For when He was crucified He ‘did that in the wild weather of his outlying provinces which He had done at home in glory and gladness.’” At the cross, and throughout eternity past, we see the self-giving nature of God on display. Lewis connects this to the human experience of self-giving in the following observation: “In self-giving, if anywhere, we touch the rhythm not only of all creation but of all being.” 

Character and the Gospel: Healthy Leaders of Character Plant Their Roots in the Gospel

But how are dimensions of character, courage, integrity, trust, and humility nurtured in a leader’s life? Encouraging positive habits and extinguishing negative habits are certainly part of the story. However, to have the right effect, this work needs to be rooted in the gospel. Theologians highlight both the centrality of the gospel in this work and the danger of pursuing right living through a pathway of either moralism (legalism) or relativism (antinomianism), which are devoid of the gospel. Sustained character is found in our lives when we yield to the heart-changing work of the gospel; it is found when we put ourselves in an active posture of depending on the Lord rather than on ourselves.

The work of the gospel in our lives is both immediate and lifelong. In Christ, God has already “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Col. 1:13), and yet in Christ we continue to “work out [our] own salvation” (Phil. 2:12) and are “being transformed into” (2 Cor. 3:18) the image of the Lord and his character as we grow. Character really does matter in our lives as leaders. We must lean into this process of gospel renewal as God continues to form us into the image of his beloved Son (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18).

Based on the reality of this gospel work in our lives, therefore, we are ready to step into our vital work as Christian leaders. May you treasure, tend, and work from a place of deep and abiding character in your Christian leadership.

Permission: Content taken from Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations by Justin A. Irving, ©2023. Used by permission of Baker Academic.

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Justin A. Irving (PhD, Regent University) is Duke K. McCall Professor of Christian Leadership and chair of the Department of Leadership and Discipleship at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Irving is the author of Leadership in Christian Perspective (Baker Academic, June 18, 2019) and Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations (Baker Academic, Dec. 19, 2023).

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