21 QUALITIES: COMPETENCE - A Necessary Step on the Road to Excellence (Luke 14:28-32)

Extracted from The Maxwell Leadership Bible

Labeling someone competent or incompetent may seem judgmental and narrow, yet all leaders must possess a level of competence that enables them to get the job done. The kingdom of God cannot do without competence.

Everyone knows that leaders must demonstrate a level of competence in order to gain the trust and respect of followers. No one chooses to follow an incompetent leader over a competent one, regardless of personality. Friendship is not synonymous with leadership; people can like you as a friend but not follow you as a leader. To the degree they feel you are incompetent to lead, they will distance themselves from your leadership.

Competence goes beyond words. It's the leader's ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know you know your business - and know that they want to follow you. Competence must be sought at every organisational level. Incompetence can be tolerated nowhere. John Gardner once wrote, "The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes not its theories will hold water."

Jesus highlights the issues of competence in the two stories recounted in Luke 14. In both stories what is missing is competence. The builder and the king in these stories lacked what it took to get the job done. Therefore the tower never got built and the war never was won. According to Jesus, competence requires three ingredients:

1. Commitment: Jesus said our commitment to Him must look like disdain for everyone else. We must pick up our cross and follow Him.
2. Resources: Jesus spoke about a builder calculating whether he had enough to finish a tower. determine whether your resources, gifts, talents, and abilities are able to do the job.
3. Intelligence: Jesus spoke about a king seeking counsel to know whether he should go to battle. Part of competence is the insight to know what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.

The combination of these three components spells not only competence, but excellence. It's what makes people follow a leader. So - in what area are you most competent? Where do you excel? What makes others follow you?