The age old debate in leadership is are leaders born or made? Most people believe that it involves both but they will give deference to the development process that occurs over a lifetime. I tend to give value to character over competency in this process. Character driven leaders will find a way to solve the challenge, because their core values demand helping others. This post by Carey Nieuwhof is a great read:
The longer I lead and the more I see, the more I’m convinced that character ultimately determines a leader’s true success. Moral failure takes out more leaders than it should. But real success is deeper than just avoiding the ditch.
So where does the deepest level of leadership success come from? Ultimately it doesn’t come from a leader’s skill set; it comes from a leader’s character. Your character determines your true capacity.
Why is that? Character—far more than skill set—determines how deeply and passionately people follow you. A leader with character is a leader worth following.
A leader who lacks integrity may have followers, but he’ll never gain their full trust or their whole hearts.