That’s My King from Dustin Bankord on Vimeo.

Dr. Shadrach Meshach (S.M.) Lockridge (March 7, 1913 – April 4, 2000) was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congregation located in San Diego, CA.

How leaders deal with the circumstances of life reveals much about their character.

ADVERSITY IS A CROSSROADS THAT MAKES A PERSON CHOOSE ONE OF TWO PATHS:

CHARACTER OR COMPROMISE

Consequently, that means using the right tools and exercising patience and diligence as we spend time immersed within this life-changing book.  The writer uses words that call his readers to energetic and passionate action.  Take a moment to reread verses 1-4 and note the quality of effort Solomon is talking about here.

As we dig, we must ask God to provide us with insight and understanding.  Ultimately, only God can open our eyes to see spiritual truth and then enable us to apply that truth to our lives (see Ephesians 1:18).  As God fills our minds with wisdom, our character will develop so that we’ll possess the ability to consistently make right choices – choices that are just, fair, and moral.

As we seek to possess God’s wisdom we’ll be able to move beyond simply expressing the vision and values of a leader.  We’ll possess the kind of character which lofty visions and values flow.  Our character will be truly godly, so that others will delight in following us.

WHAT WE MUST KNOW ABOUT CHARACTER?

1. Character is more than TALK.

Anyone can say they have integrity, but action is the real indicator of character. Your character determines who you are and determines what you see.

2. Talent is a Gift, but Character is a CHOICE.

We don’t get to choose our parents, circumstances of our birth and upbringing, But we do choose our character.

3. Character brings with LASTING SUCCESS with people.

True leadership involves others and people do not trust leaders whose character they know to be flawed.

4. Leaders cannot rise above the LIMITATIONS of their character.

Steven Berglas, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School and author of The Success Syndrome, says that people who achieve great heights but lack the bedrock of character to sustain them through the stress are headed for disaster.

He believes they are destined for one or more of the four A’s: ARROGANCE ALONENESS ADVENTURE-SEEKING (IN A DESTRUCTIVE WAY), OR ADULTERY.

TO IMPROVE MY CHARACTER I WILL DO THE FOLLOWING:

1.
2.
3.

Because of my commitment to excellence, I can become obsessed about every
detail.  I’ve noticed how I’ve made my expectations clear to our team and now they tend to obsess about every detail. However, it
didn’t take long for the team to realize that their interpretation of
excellence might not be the same as mine. Consequently, the team began to bring every decision about every detail
to me, their leader. They didn’t want to run the risk that they might not “get
it right.”  Over time, I found myself in a challenging predicament. I became overwhelmed
because I had to touch everything. Furthermore, what’s frustrating is how I
became responsible for generating every new idea.

"If you try to control things, that’s self-limiting,” said Michael
Dell, chief executive officer of Dell. “The easiest way to think about this is
that if all the decisions inside an organization had to roll up to the center
of the company or to one person, it’s a massive bottleneck to progress.” (Check
out the
rest of the interview.)

In the end, I learned that sometimes values collide.  My commitment to excellence wasn’t the
problem. Control was the problem.  My obsession
with getting it right became a roadblock to progress.  I discovered the need to empower the team with
broad responsibilities to fulfill Mars Hill’s mission while still holding them
accountable to the overall vision and values.  I needed to let the team take risks…and
sometimes fail.