TEN COMMANDMENTS OF LEADERSHIP

Moses did not receive Ten Commandments of Leadership atop Mount Sinai, but today’s leaders would do well to heed the following commandments.

· Thou shalt place the needs of thy followers above thine own.

Today’s successful leader, like a good shepherd, places the needs of his flock above his own, knowing that his followers’ successes are his successes, their failures his failures. The wise leader knows that the group’s work can be accomplished only by the leader’s careful, attentive, selfless ministering to the needs of the followers.

· Thou shalt take seriously thy follower’s innermost feelings.

Successful leaders build a bridge of trust to their followers that the followers may safely cross with their innermost feelings and desires. The thoughtless leader who does not honor and respect the cherished, innermost desires of his followers unwittingly will drive them fleeing back across this bridge in revulsion, and the bridge of trust will be burned and destroyed.

· Thou shalt lead be example and not by force.

Force is used by those who do not have power. The successful leader does not get his way by using the force of intimidation, fear, or coercion but convinces his followers through the clarity of his vision and the power of his persuasion. He uses the power of right, not the force of might. Propelled by the energy of his own convictions, the leader blazes a trail and in his path creates a wake, an energy field, that others may safely follow.

· Thou shalt not attempt to micro-manage thy followers’ actions.

Followers want their leaders to have vision, integrity, knowledge, conviction, access to resources, and commitment to their safety and well-being. They want an outward-focused leader who goes to the mountain top as often as necessary to assess progress and monitor danger and returns to report to them. They do not want a downward-focused myope who resides in the trenches where the followers labor in his

misguided effort to manage their motives and dictate their actions.

· Thou shalt not covet thy followers’ relationship with their peers.

The leader does not a follower make. No matter how highly regarded by the followers, no matter from whence he came to the role of leader, the leader

cannot, while leading, return to the ranks of the followers as their peer. The requirements for

Objectivity and probity dictate that the leader repair in solitude, apart from the followers, so that favoritism can never be implied.

· Thou shalt render decisions in a just and timely manner.

A trusted leader can reverse a poor decision without losing the trust and good will of his followers, so long as his decisions are make in a fair and timely manner. The prudent leader will remember that a good decision, rendered in an unjust or timely manner, is a bad decision and that a poor decision, caught in time, can be replaces with a better one. Above all, when a decision is needed, the leader must he able to decide.

· Thou shalt practice consistency in all thine actions.

The leader must be as straight in his actions as the arrow in its flight. The leader who regularly behaves in an inconsistent or unpredictable manner will confuse, frighten, anger, and repulse his followers. The call to action cannot be sounded by an uncertain trumpet. The leader must ensure that at all times his actions are congruent with his thoughts and that his thoughts are congruent with the best interests of his followers.

· Thou shalt yield allegiance to thine own leadership.

Followers need to know that the leader possesses the faith of his own convictions, that he will cleave to the highest principles of integrity and honor in the face of adversity, and that he will stay the course in times of hardship and doubt. The leader who would have others follow him must set the example by following his own lead.

· Thou shalt not worship at the alter of thine own importance.

Leaders should be humble and not puffed up or full of themselves. True leaders take solace and pride in the act of leading and joy in the accomplishments of their followers. They do not trouble themselves with concerns of self-importance. They consider the position of leader to be a sacred trust and subjugate any personal needs for the good of the greater cause.

· Thou shalt not bring thine own integrity into question.

Above all, the leader must serve with purity of heart and integrity of cause. The leader’s wisdom, preparedness, and competency all may be called into doubt, and the leader may yet survive. But the leader’s integrity must never be called into question, because honorable followers will follow only leaders with honor and none but the base will follow those without virtue.