FollowtheLeader.indd

LEADERS ARE PERFECTIONISTS

Principle:

“Purpose in the heart inspires plans in the head –

which result in the pursuit of perfection with the

hands.”

Most leaders are frustrated by a lack of order and cleanliness in either
their living or working environment. It would be safe to say that most
leaders have an ardor for order! When that is not there, they have a need
to “bring order out of chaos” before they do anything else. Before they can
give “marching orders” to others, they must first bring order to their own
lives. Otherwise, the disorder and confusion around them stifles their
creativity. A necessary part of good leadership is “bringing order to one’s
own private world.” Generally speaking, if a person cannot bring order
to his own private world, he will not be able to bring it to his public world.
People are not inclined to follow leaders who are unorganized – or have
that appearance.

When leaders perform a task, they seldom do just enough to get by. They
seek to do the job the very best they can. They clearly understand that
a job that is done poorly is a reflection upon their leadership integrity.
Even more, they understand that doing any job poorly is a dangerous work
ethic! Effective leaders never tolerate the cancer of sloth in what they do.
Their striving to do a job the very best they can is to meet an internal
standard of perfection – rather than just to meet the requirements of
some external standard of job performance. Their drive for perfection is
more of an internal motivation than an external expectation.

That’s why effective leaders do their best – even when no one is watching!
Since they are their own greatest critics, they need not have the eyes of
others upon them to motivate them to do their best.

Principle:

“A leader’s passion for perfection is more of an internal

motivation than an external expectation.”