ARE WE A PEOPLE AT HALF TIME? - Leadership Network

The Ascent
of a Leader:
How Ordinary
Relationships
Develop
Extraordinary
Character and
Influence
by Bill Thrall,
Bruce McNicol &
Ken McElrath
EXCERPTED BY CAROL CHILDRESS
Photo by Gregg Lansing
Big Leaders on Short Ladders
Many men and women of influence discover that leadership is like a ladder —
a challenging and unpredictable climb, often stable at the bottom and shaky at the top.
From the bottom, life at the top looks appealing, even alluring, and many leaders attack
the ladder with gusto, confident that they possess what it takes to conquer the rungs.
Yet, when these leaders reach positions of authority, unforeseen instability begins to
surface. The pressures of success, the temptations of privilege, the demands of followers
and the isolation of leadership leave deep impressions on the rungs — caused by the
white-knuckle grip of the leaders. Many look for a way to stabilize their situation, but
too many leaders come crashing down.
The Capacity Ladder
Each person has the opportunity to make use of ladders to scale their respective walls.
The ladder most are familiar with is one we call the capacity ladder. The ascent up the
capacity ladder begins with the first rung: discovering what I can do. In addition to
specific skills, your what-I-can-do inventory may include natural leadership inclinations,
a winsome personality, a dynamic influence or an ability to craft a compelling vision or
to persuade.
Moving up to the second rung — develop my capacities — grants more influence to the
leader. At this level, the leader sharpens talents and gifts. Early training often occurs in
college and graduate school, and there is further honing during the leader's first
engagements with companies, organizations or religious bodies.
The leader's successful scaling of the first two rungs attracts the attention of executives,
administrators, professors and thousands of group members or constituents who choose
their leaders. This attention catapults the person to the third rung, where decisionmakers
and followers award a title, position or office. This step up leads naturally to the
fourth and final rung: attain individual potential. From below, the top rung of the
capacity ladder looks great — honor, glory, respect and power — the results of effective
leadership influence. But the capacity ladder, though necessary, is not sufficient to ensure
that our abilities will result in positive influence or an enduring legacy.
When leaders with undeveloped character rises up the capacity ladder, their actions
have a negative impact on those around them. Even at the top of the capacity ladder,
leaders may not have begun to address the disconnect between the development of their
character and the development of their capacities.
The Character Ladder
In addition to rungs, all ladders need rails, the vertical posts that hold the rungs in place.
One rail of the character ladder is environment and the other rail is relationships.
We begin our climb up the character ladder with an act of trust. We all entrust ourselves
to something, whether it is God, money, spouse, career, productivity, ourselves or
whatever. Our character, and therefore our influence, flows from our choices of whom,
what, when and where we believe. Such trust — often referred to as faith — lives at
the center of our lives, shaping who we are.
me. In order to take this step, we must allow the myth of self-sufficiency to end. At
the bottom of the capacity ladder, we focus on discovering what we can do, whereas
on the character ladder, we focus on discovering what God can do. Early on the
capacity ladder, we awaken to our potential for what we think we can offer to God
and this world. On the character ladder, we awaken to our destiny under God.
This merging between our plans and God's intentions for our character is the goal
of the character ladder. God’s plan for our destiny involves meaningful interaction
with other human beings in communities and environments of grace. Lonely leaders
are everywhere, although power or wealth may anesthetize their souls and soothe them
into a false sense of security. How do we overcome isolation that threatens to rob us of
our influence The answer is found in the second rung on the character ladder — choose
vulnerability.
5
(continued on page 6)
www.leadnet.org