The Anatomy of Authentic Leadership

Most leaders desire to lead with integrity. I know of very few individuals that use their office of leadership to intentionally rob, cheat or slander others. And yet, despite good intentions, some leaders find themselves in the midst of compromise.... some make small choices that lead to other small choices that open the door to temptations that lead to destruction. How do leaders safeguard against moral and ethical failure? Having recently read a great book written by a wise monarch, this very question seemed to be at the core of his comments.

The writer uses the human body as an object lesson for protecting one's integrity. The monarch is King Solomon and the great book is Proverbs. Listen to his incredible advice:

“Pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is a wellspring of life.

Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

Let your eyes look straight ahead. Fix your gaze directly before you.

Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right of the left; keep your foot from evil” Proverbs 4:22 – 27.

Notice in this charge how the total man is addressed. Failure can occur in so many ways and the battle for integrity can be fought on a diversity of fronts. Solomon mentions five parts of the body that must be readied for the war of ethics: the ear, the heart, the mouth, the eyes and the feet. These five key areas make up the anatomy of integrity. Let quickly look at each one.

The ear is the first mentioned because without the ear, no advice can be heard...without hearing there can be not application. “Pay attention...listen closely.” Sure sounds like a mom/dad correcting their child during those early years of life. Sounds a lot like a coach who is able to see a flaw in an athlete's game. Sounds like a teacher passionately communicating his/her love for reality. Notice that the exhortation is much more than just hearing the words; it is focusing, understanding, comprehending, wrapping one's mind around the depth of the ramifications of the truth...pay attention...listen closely. As we strive for integrity in our leadership we must strive to avoid the dreaded disease called degenerating eustachian tubes or clogged ear – “he who has an ear, let him listen to what the Spirit says to the church” (Rev. 2:7).

Once those words make it into your ears, notice how they travel – “do not let them out of your sight” – they need to navigate to your eyes; “keep them within your heart” - they need to sink deep within the innermost part of your being. How important and powerful are these words of truth? They are life to those who find them (not just hear them but discover them, engage them, apply them) and they are health to the whole body.

The heart is of prime importance in the anatomy of integrity. Solomon highlights the priority of the heart by imploring his reader, “Above all else, guard your heart.” The seat of emotion and passion drives so much of life – compassion, love, gentleness, kindness, mercy all flow from the heart. And yet Jeremiah says that the heart of man is desperately wicked. And so, housed in the heart is also jealousy, lust, greed, and pride. And so top priority is to guard the heart, to protect the emotions and to propagate purity in the control center of our beings. When a life is guided by an unguarded heart, misaligned or wrong emotion begin to make choices that the intellect would never desire. Immoral and unethical decisions are often made when the emotions are in control and consequences are just not thought through.

The heart is described as the wellspring of life. When you consider the positive emotions found in man, (joy, peace, happiness, love, compassion, enthusiasm, humor, excitement, anticipation, fulfillment, curiosity, determination, etc.) it is easy to see how the heart is the source of life's satisfactions. Out of the heart flows one's zeal of life, the zest for the future, and the zip of the present. One of the nation's leading causes of death is heart disease (coronary heart disease (CHD) is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart) – so in leadership one of the greatest causes of failure is CHD (calcified heart disease) as the wellspring of life is replaced with attitudes and emotions of lust, evil, death and destruction.

Listen and pay attention with ears of faith! Make guarding the heart a priority! Next blog – we take a quick look at the final three aspects of the anatomy of integrity: the mouth, the eyes, and the feet.