“The character of leadership is built one moment, one truth, one action at a time. It isn’t about the big public displays, but the private character that inevitably shines through in those public moments. It’s about thinking of others as more important than ourselves, faithfulness in our relationship with God and those closest to us, integrity, kindness, and honor. What small things do you need to pay attention to in your life?” 

This was Monday’s Lead Like Jesus (www.LeadLikeJesus.com) devotional.  It hit in the early morning after I had watched a morning news show about Newt Gingrich’s victory in South Carolina.  It was interesting to see that only 6% of the voters in South Carolina thought he had strong character, and yet he won 40% of the vote.  It’s a trend I’ve seen over the last several years in elections.  The person who wins doesn’t always have the best competence and character in the race, but they often have the most chemistry.  The three C’s – character, competence, and chemistry – are the foundations for any selection of employees, elected officials, or leaders.  First we screen for character and competence, then we see if the chemistry is the right fit for our company, church, or country.  We’ve been getting it backwards.  Gingrich says he’s had a change of heart and learned from failure.  But the question is – who has the better history of making the little decisions that are of such  infinite importance. Character counts (www.charactercounts.org)

 “Good and evil both increase at compound interest.  That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.”    -C.S. Lewis