The Ascent of a Leader

Recently, I've been reading a book titled Ascent of a Leader. The basic premise of the book is, in order to be a leader worth following you need to pay as much attention to the development of your character as you do capacity building. They demonstrate this through the illustration of two ladders - climbing the rungs of the capacity ladder and the character ladder.

I've only completed the second chapter of the book, but there was a startling statistic in this chapter. According to a leadership professor at Fuller Theological Seminary - at least 70% of leaders fail. The number one reason for failure - a moral (character) failure. Yikes! That is just so disappointing to me. Seventy percent!!!

I don't want to fall in to that statistic. Rather, I want to be the faithful servant, the one who finishes the race to win the prize. This book offers some very practical tips to being a leader of influence worthy of the calling - the number one thing I've learned so far. It's all about relationships - involve others, guide others, encourage others. Borrowing from Rick Warren's famous saying: "It's not about you."