Bad Leadership - Part 3

“Watch out now, take care
Beware of greedy leaders
Who take you where you should not go.”

My car has the On-Star navigation system. That’s a really good thing for a directionally challenged guy like me. I can call On-Star, give them the address I’m trying to find, and they provide directions. Of course, I think I know best sometimes and I decide to deviate from the prescribed path. When I do that, a voice comes on and tells me, “You have left the designated path.” To get back on the designated path, On-Star tells me to "make a safe and legal u-turn.”

As leaders, we need people in our lives who will tell us when we have left the designated path. These are people who are not only willing to tell us we’re off the right path, but they move in alongside us and help us make the necessary u-turns.

There is an interesting teaching going around these days. It’s the idea that we are to be loyal armor bearers for our leaders, trusting their vision without questioning.

I am all for loyalty - two-way loyalty that flows both ways: from the leader to the follower and from the follower to the leader. But, I don’t think loyalty requires a whole-hearted endorsement when the leader has left the proper path and is on the road to derailment.

In these cases, the most loyal thing a follower can do is confront the leader.

We all have blindspots in our lives: Areas that are known to others and unknown to ourselves. Others see it clearly when we cannot – or when we refuse to acknowledge it. I want people in my life who love me enough to confront those blindspots and turn me around.

When should we be willing to confront a leader? What are the signs that a leader has left the designated path and needs to make a u-turn? Recently, Chuck Swindoll identified six areas that should cause alarm for us as followers. I have used his list as the basis for the following list of warning signs:

Authoritarianism. Take care when a leader begins repressing your freedom. If there is a lack of a servant's heart, and if the leader doesn’t have a teachable spirit, then pride is in control. Be especially wary of one who seems to have all the answers.

Exclusiveness. Watch out for the "we alone are right" and the "us four and no more" attitudes. Exclusiveness often shows up when people are encouraged to break commitments with long-standing friends. Some leaders actually ban contact with those who left their organization. In extreme cases, employees are terminated because they didn't sever ties with former members of the organization.

Greed. We are told to avoid even the appearance of greed (Ephesians 5:3). When there is a lack of transparency in the budgeting process and accounting for funds and requests for a more open process are stone-walled, beware.

Sensuality. Moral purity is a must if the leader claims God's hand is on his life. A holy life is never optional.

Lack of accountability. Leaders who refuse to be accountable to anyone forfeit the right to be trusted and followed. Every leader needs counsel and occasional confrontation. Many leaders have set up systems of pseudo-accountability to people who operate at a distance. These systems give the appearance of accountability, but the leader is shunning real accountability to anyone who is close enough to observe their day-to-day dealings.

Rationalization. This takes several forms:

• When wrong is justified with a defensive spirit,


• When inappropriate actions are quickly glossed over,


• When scriptural truth is twisted to fit a sinful lifestyle,


• When gray-black facts are whitewashed,


• When behavior is defended using definitional technicalities,


• When tremendous amounts of energy are spent attacking and labeling critics, ...

When any of these things happen, something is deeply wrong.

When these signs first appear, a loyal follower should challenge and confront the leader. If the leader shuns the reprimand and continues on the path, then the obligation of loyalty has been breached. Stop your support.

Jesus Himself said, "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (Matthew 15:14)

"Watch out now, take care ..."