Arrogance and Incompetence. These leadership killers are a failure of the humility test and deny the very essence of everything that Jesus did and taught.

Arrogance says, “you don’t matter” and it kills a leader’s relationships. Arrogance interjects and infects uncertainty into every personal connection. Eventually, the thing that matters most has disappeared: trust. Leadership is relationship. Make no mistake, something will replace the trustVACUUM: fear, envy, ambition. 

Incompetence says, “my mistakes don’t matter” and it kills a leader’s growth.The incompetent leader is enamored and caught up in a false understanding of leadership; clinging desperately to the “perks” and “privileges” of leadership. Sickening to consider, cataclysmic to ignore. The incompetent leader forgets and neglects the primary leadership task: to do, achieve, move, grow, progress, advance, change. . .

Arrogance and incompetence limit influence. Without humility, a leader is incapable of saying, “I need others, I need correction.”

Arrogance can build loyalty in others. Beware: like begets like, and the arrogant attract and keep the arrogant. Incompetence can be overlooked and even accepted. One spectacular disaster: when charisma outweighs competence, a community of the fools are led by a fool. There is a leadership here, but it’s not biblical, it’s not like Christ.

Arrogance isn’t too much confidence, neither is incompetence too much ignorance. Confidence is admirable and ignorance is unavoidable. The tragedy is the inflated sense of self-sufficiency.

Other people matter, a lot. So do my mistakes. I want to interrupt the lies that lead me away from the example of Jesus.

+mattmcgill