The Cacophony Leadership SeriesSpiritual Alignment Checks

The Cacophony Leadership Series is a collection of unconnected leadership grabs about a range of leadership topics. In large, they are excerpts from an unpublished manuscript, Leadership Matters.

Every leader needs a series of spiritual alignment checks that are continually measuring and evaluating actions. Here’s ten to begin with:

1. If no-one knew I was behind this, would I be ok or secretly disappointed?

2. Do my decisions make myself look good or God look good?

3. Do I consider my role/position a right or a privilege?

4. While everyone needs vigorous encouragement (we’ll talk about that later) do I need affirmation and encouragement from others to ‘make this worthwhile’?

5. What matters more: what I’m doing or who I am in Christ?

6. Am I building the Kingdom of God or my own by pursuing this course of action?

7. Is my reaction to a particular issue motivated by what’s going to be good for the Kingdom of God or good for me?

8. Why do I have emotional reactions to particular outcomes and decisions? Does it demonstrate a bad situation or a weakness in my character?

9. Am I pursuing a course of action that’s fuelled by love and grace and concern for the individual, or is that secondary to me?

10. Is my leadership demonstrating the heart of God for His people or am I feathering a nest of my own?

Why is it so easy to make a list like this? Simple: you make observations about your own frailty as a leader and the frailty of other leaders you’ve struggled with over the years. And you consider the areas you battle with and test your integrity by.