Strategic Skills for Today’s Leaders

Warren Bennis is one of the most respected authors on the subject of leadership and is the founder of The Leadership Institute at USC. Bennis has said that “the crisis of leadership in our institutions and government is in many ways the most urgent and dangerous threat facing the world today because it is insufficiently recognized and little understood.”

Lists abound in regards to what are the essential skills that leaders need today to provide the type of leadership that Bennis talks about as missing today. His list looks at the balance of the “doing” of ministry, with the softer “people”, or “being” skills.

1. The ability to accept people as they are and not as you'd like them to be. Wise leaders hold this ability in tension with a great desire not to leave people where they are. This reflects our Lord's treatment of us. He accepts us where we are and He takes us where we are not.

2. The capacity to approach relationships and problems in terms of the present, rather than the past. Great leaders are great forgivers. To modify Santayana, those who will not forgive the past are destined to repeat it.

3. The ability to treat those who are close to you with the same courteous attention that you attend to strangers and casual acquaintances. The old saying has it that familiarity breeds contempt. And such contempt leads to the breakdown of an organization. In truth, familiarity should lead to deeper admiration and respect.

4. The ability to trust others even if the risk seems great. Great leaders have great faith. And their faith is not simply in the Lord, it is in the Lord's desire to work through deeply flawed people ... people who are just like them.

5. The ability to do without constant approval and recognition from others. Successful leaders experience failure, but they do not focus on it. Successful leaders have problems, but do not fixate on them. Instead they see failure as an opportunity to begin again and problems as an invitation to do better. Those who would be effective in church ministry must not only seek to be mentored, they must also become mentors themselves. The point: Effective leaders are breeders of leaders.

Writing in the July, 2005 issue of Executive Excellence, Bennis himself produced an additional list of key skills for leaders, this one reflecting what effective leaders share in terms of five key characteristics. Leaders who have provided effective leadership for their organizations and for other leaders all stated that:

1. I have a strong sense of purpose, a passion, a conviction, a sense of wanting to do something important to make a difference.

2. I am capable of developing and sustaining deep and trusting relationships. I am seen to be constant, caring and authentic with other people.

3. I am a purveyor of hope and have positive illusions about reality.

4. I have a balance in my life between work, power, and family or outside activities. I do not tie up all of my self-esteem in my position.

5. I have a bias toward action and while not reckless, I do not resist taking risks.

By Terry Walling (used by permission)

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