216 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
is passed to persons deliberately selected because they are weaker or less
competent than the current leader), the organization’s continued sur-
vival will be in jeopardy. ‘‘[T]he ultimate test for a leader is not whether
he or she makes smart decisions and takes decisive action, but whether
he or she teaches others to be leaders and builds an organization that
can sustain its success even when he or she is not around.’’^26 True lead-
ers put ego aside and strive to create successors who go beyond them.
At the end of PepsiCo’s leadership development program, Roger En-
rico asked all the participating executives to envision not how high they
would rise but rather the legacy they would leave at the end of their
careers. For organizations that remain successful over the long-term,
that legacy is often the creation of leaders who surpass their predeces-
sors. The directors of KPMG’s leadership development program felt
they had made a major contribution to the firm because ‘‘when the
time comes to turn over the leadership of the firm, we feel we will have
played an important role in passing the baton to a more capable pair of
hands.’’^27
And lest you feel that it would be ‘‘impossible’’ to find a more capa-
ble pair of hands than your own, consider the words of Jesus Christ,
whom many believe to be the very embodiment of perfection. He ex-
pressed supreme confidence in his followers’ ability not just to ‘‘do what
I have been doing’’ but to ‘‘do even greater things than these.’’
BIBLICALLESSONS ON
LEADERSHIPDEVELOPMENT
Conscious and conscientious development of competent,
caring leaders is critical to organizational survival.
Your personal legacy will not survive unless you entrust it to a
successor who has been well developed and shares your mission
and business philosophy.