Home » The Leadership Triangle - Part I

Leadership seems to be a declining art and in our North American culture, so badly wounded by the daily display of leaders who have abused their authority, we find people turning away from leadership as a role in life. Perhaps what we need is a paradigm by which to measure true authority so that we can put our individual leadership traits to work in meaningful ways.

 

I would therefore like to propose some ideas about leadership, in particular leadership within a North American context. Perhaps some of the ideas I share, and there will be several, will in fact transcend our culture, but I primarily want to address those of us who call the USA home. I plan to address the leadership issue, first with a brief introduction, and then with three articles, the first of which will deal with Authority. The second article in the series, if you like the first part, will deal with the issue of Power. The third article in the series, will address the issue of Responsibility & Accountability. The ideas I plan to share are not new, but many still have not heard these concepts and so I offer them as a paradigm for leadership sucess.

 

Introduction:

One of the greatest paradigms for visualing leadership is the leadership triangle. As with any triangle, the leadership triangle has three sides. Let me lay the foundation for this discussion.

 

North American culture seem to have lost the ability to accept leaders who lead with conviction, with confidence, and with vision. Let's just face it, we have become an anti-authoritarian people who think "Don't tread on me" was an injunction to rebel against every form of authority. However, without authorities in our lives, there would be no teachers, no doctors, no generals, no wise men, no pastors, no judges, no political leaders.

 

Wisdom, it has been noted, is knowledge married to experience. Sadly, easy access to information on the Internet has replaced the wisdom of persons who understand true authority. Without their vision, our culture is starting to lose hope. Authorities give us direction and therefore hope. We can respectfully disagree with them, but if we have any self-respect at all, we should first consider both the context and the content of what they suggest. 

 

No one has all experience and all knowledge except God. To reject all Authorities is to in the same reference, judge ourselves as the ultimate authorities. Perhaps you have been hurt, wounded, or even abused by an authority figure but let me share a very basic rule concerning true authority: A person who abuses authority is not under authority.

 

Self-discipline is the most basic form of authority. You exercise your personal authority when you say "Yes" to things that are good for you, and say "No" to those things that would harm you. Often, people who reject authority do so because of their own lack of self-discipline and they resent anyone else who expresses it appropriately. Never submit to the authority of persons who lack self-discipline. Persons under the control of drugs, alcohol, obsessive behaviors, personality disorders, and so on, are not in authority over their own thoughts and actions. Do Not Get Under Their Authority. If you are already there, pray, seek outside counsel from safe people, and build your own character so that when the time comes for you to leave, you will not just find someone else to become your abusive authority. Again, never submit to the authority of someone who rejects authority over them (God, government, parents, teachers, judges, police, boss, etc.).

 

To examine the issue of Authority, we should consider these things:

Finally, Authority must be balanced with Power and Responsibility/Accountability. We will discuss this in the next article.

Sam Shorrosh, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Shorrosh has six earned degrees, two in business, two in theology, and two in education. Sam is a professional education consultant available to speak to groups, churches, civic groups, and of course leadership conferences. Dr. Shorrosh is an ordained minister, a counselor, and an accountant. His work experience includes business consulting, teaching at the college level, and pastoral leadership. You can learn more about Dr. Shorrosh at www.shepherdswayonline.org.