Trust impacts us 24/7, 365 days a year. It undergirds and affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, every work project, every business venture, every effort in which we are engaged. Contrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illusive quality that you either have or you don’t; rather, trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create – much faster than you think possible. I am also convinced in every situation nothing is as fast as the speed of trust. And, contrary to popular belief, trust is something you can do something about. In fact, you can get good at creating it.” – Stephen M. Covey
The first job of any leader is to inspire trust in others!
In looking closely at 1 Corinthians 8-11:1, I began to determine that the way a trustworthy leader (Paul) went about dealing with certain issues was as important as the issues themselves.
Trustworthy Leaders listen to their people and respond appropriately.
Beginning with chapter eight, Paul begins dealing with the explicit questions the church at Corinth had concerning marriage, eating meat sacrificed to idols, the Lord’s Supper, and spiritual gifts. Even before answering these questions, Paul implicitly listened to and responded to needs they didn’t even know they had concerning divisiveness in the church, immorality, and lawsuits. Paul would continue to address implicit questions regarding women in leadership, the resurrection, and generosity.
Trustworthy Leaders are not afraid to tackle the important, difficult, delicate, or sensitive issues in constructive conversations with their people.
Trustworthy Leaders love people more than knowledge.
From 1 Corinthians 8:1-7 we see that what matters most is not knowledge but love!
Knowledge is a good thing, but it has inherent dangers. It can lead to pride, can become arrogantly puffed up, and can be used as a weapon against others. Instead of trying to impress others with what they know, trustworthy leaders are always trying to encourage and build others up in love. The trustworthy leader knows that “it’s not what you know, it’s Who you know that matters most!”
Trustworthy Leaders use their influence for the good of everyone.
Leadership is about influence, and everyone influences somebody. So, in this sense, everyone is a leader.
Not me you say. Too shy, too introverted? Sociologists tell us that even the most introverted individual will influence 10,000 other people during his or her lifetime. Or as one African proverb puts it, “if you think you’re too small to make a difference, you haven’t spent the night with a mosquito.”
People can influence others for good or bad, but everyone influences someone all the time. 1 Corinthians 9 reveals a trusted leader who is deeply conscious of his influence as a Christian and in particular as an Apostle. Paul is determined to maximize his influence for the good of the gospel and will literally put up with almost anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ (12b).
Trustworthy leaders use their influence to spread the Gospel.
(Coming soon: Two additional qualities of trustworthy leadership)
Discussion Questions:
On your social media, answer one of the questions and share the link to this blog post. Or you can put your answer in the comments here.
- If you are an introvert, what gives you courage to have difficult conversations?
- Why is it important to have difficult conversations with people?
- Why is it important in how we conduct these difficult conversations with people? What verses talk about this?