in·teg·ri·ty
noun
- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
"he is known to be a man of integrity" - the state of being whole and undivided.
"upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty"
What about Charisma?
As I was being interviewed the other day about my thesis / book on Polycentric Leadership, I received some pushback on one of the primary themes discovered in my research: Charisma. It was a fair question as there is so much in our world today that screams everything that is wrong with bad leadership. I don’t know about you but I’m tired of celebrity pastors, narcissist leaders, and running into people with egos run wild.
Interestingly enough, my research revealed something different when it comes to charisma, something that is actually quite biblical when it comes to leadership. When I studied this term it had more to do with character and a walk with God than it had to do with being winsome and a larger than life personality:
It involves strength of character, trustworthiness, and a faithful presence.
You can learn more about this theme on my site: PolycentricLeadership...
More importantly though is what this means for Christ-Centered leaders today. Everywhere I go people are leery of gurus, chiefs, and others who have no moral center. In essence, their lives lack integration. To be integrated is to have integrity at your core and this can only be fully found in our rootedness in Jesus.
It’s why we at A3 focus so much on our Love Relationship with God and Growing in Christ-Like Character.
Christ at the Center
Without Christ at the center, it’s tough to grow in character and integrity. But, with him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26), and we grow in the fruit of the Spirit:
"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
— Galatians 5:22-23
People are attracted to leaders who display this type of integrity. They are trustworthy and can be counted on. This is what charismatic leadership is really about: a depth of spiritual life that lends itself to solid character. And, as you’ll discover if you look to my research on the site above, it’s also verified in leadership studies, especially the GLOBE Study.
As we look to leaders in the future of our world, our country, our churches, etc., let’s be on the lookout for these qualities in our leaders. As we follow Christ, we will bear much fruit because we will display his character to the world.
And our world is desperate for these kinds of leaders today!
In Christ,
Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
@jwhandley
@jwhandley
More Information
- Cover photo by Connor Simonson on Unsplash
- Integrity definition courtesy of Oxford Languages
