Have you heard any of the interviews of the Governor Blagojevich of Illinois?
It appears he lacks what is called self awareness. You see, churches, companies, etc., benefit more from leaders who take responsibility for what they don’t know than from leaders who pretend to know it all.
I mentioned to a friend of mine the other day that I can’t believe how many leaders seem to lack this thing called self awareness.
Self awareness is being conscious of what you’re good at while acknowledging what you have yet to learn. This includes when you don’t have the answer and owning up to mistakes.
Here is what Paul has to say about it in Romans 12:3:
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
In our world we seem to take the opposite position. Many of us think and believe that we must appear as though we know everything all the time or else people will question our abilities, diminishing our effectiveness as leaders.
What happens though is that when a person tries to hide weaknesses, they actually draw attention to them, creating the perception of a lack of integrity and self awareness.
I asked some of the team at NewPointe this question: When was the last time you were wounded by someone you would call a friend? I said that if you can’t remember maybe it is because you truly don’t have a friend.
Proverbs tells us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend and the kisses of an enemy is deceit.”
WOW! Maybe Governor Blagojevich needed a friend a few years ago. Maybe it would have saved him some troubles.
