Super C Leadership

A couple of years ago a read a great book - Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels -that had a section in it that really influenced my thinking on what it takes to lead. The author referred to three C’s (Character, Competence and Chemistry) being the ingredients for someone he would look to hire on his team.

As a leadership team we discussed this concept at length for months and eventually landed on a descriptive term for the three C’s that we called a Super-C leader. A SUPER-C leader is someone who (though not perfect) exemplifies the three C’s.

1. CHARACTER

The Web dictionary define character as ‘the inherent compound of attributes that determines a person’s moral and ethical actions and reactions.’

In short, it is who you are when no one is looking. It is who you are before God and for God. It is things like resilience, discipline, passion, determination, grace, compassion, kindness and a desire to learn and grow.

You are going to find it very hard to lead others if you are not able to lead yourself.

2. COMPETENCE

The ability to get the job while leaving wake of relationships of people who loved the journey. It doesn’t help to get the job done, but hurt people in the process and it also doesn’t help to be everybody’s friend but not achieving anything. The competent leader is able to balance the two.

3. CHEMISTRY

Relational savvy. It is difficult to go along if you can’t get along. The person must have the ability to relate with and connect with people.

I have recently heard some share an exercise to determine whether you have chemistry with someone or not. Let say you are in your office fully engaged with and important assignment and someone pops their head into the door to ask you a question. If you see them as an interruption you most probably don’t have chemistry with them. If their face is an welcome sight you most probably have chemistry with them.

So there you go, a SUPER-C leader has character, competence and chemistry. The purpose of this blog is to help you grow in these three areas.