Why do we keep choosing incompetent leaders?
There is no shortage of articles on incompetent leaders.
Whether you are a believer in Biblically based values or not, The Bible speaks to everyone and calls all people everywhere to a higher level of excellence, one of truth, love, honesty, and functionality. Then why does it feel like our society is going in the opposite way and even, at times, disintegrating? This is a lack of integrity in action. You don’t have to be a Christian to apply Biblical statutes or values from the Bible.
Have you ever worked with or volunteered with people who are not as good as they think? Funny huh?
You would never say it out loud. But you have thought it on more than one occasion.
We often find ourselves in situations where those who are not as competent as they believe rise to positions of authority. They secure the promotion that eluded you, assume the big role despite their lack of knowledge or experience, and now, the person who is not as capable as they think, and even incompetent, is your new boss, your coordinator, or even your pastor. You look at the live stream as you see the person who got the job or is the head of the committee on the stage or behind the desk and you shake your head. It’s a frustrating reality that many of us have experienced.
It almost seems as though being unaware and oblivious of your limitations guarantees you will end up being in charge of something—someone’s boss. However, there are ways to address this issue. Organizations can implement rigorous performance evaluations and leadership development programs to ensure that only competent individuals are promoted to leadership positions. But incompetent leaders often still slip in. How does this affect the average believer, and what can we do about it in society?
I probably have at least 3 conversations a week with leaders all over the country. Leaders in business, medical fields, and church. I hear their conflicted spirits in their stories. How a leader above them made a wholly incompetent decision recently and risked the health of their organization in a deeply damaging way, putting the sustainability and even existence of the processing plant, church or department in jeopardy. How did this happen? And why do we keep choosing incompetent people to be our leaders? It’s not that no one wants to be a leader anymore. But the leaders we gravitate to are often the worst ones. And so, in effect, we are doing this to ourselves, even among believers in Christ in the workforce.
It’s not even just a gender issue with leadership. Men demonstrate incompetency in leadership by functioning through overconfident behavior. Women demonstrate incompetency in leadership by behaving as if they have something to prove and overcompensating for their intelligence and talent with bold decisions that they think they must make to “prove” themselves in a largely male-dominated environment of leadership. Both genders find themselves making decisions beyond their competency and taking great risks.
The local school district comptroller is empowered and then fired or resigned before the quarter was over because they thought they could appropriate funds in certain ways but never thought to verify it with the school board. After 3 months of this they are gone.
The new CEO arbitrarily decided that the old brand was tired and hired a “bold” new marketing team, and the stock and sales tanked. The marketing manager is fired and the CEO goes on an apology tour online and in person to try to win back their customers.
A charismatic coach/teacher with great achievements has been yet again promoted above the more consistent and less flashy long-time employees who were passed up, only to discover she has had multiple affairs with students, which she did not hide well at all. She is arrested, and her picture ends up in your Instagram newsfeed.
Proverbs 10:9 states, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.”
Numbers 32:23 reminds us…”be sure that your sin will find you out.”
The pastor states to his/her staff, “I am willing to risk your job for the gospel!” He/she ignores the decades of relationships and theological tent pegs that hold the church stable, built up by their associates and elders with years of faithfulness. Instead, he/she instructs the church to make several hard turns in infrastructure, doctrine, and financials, changing the bylaws budgets and belief statements. This hurts and confuses many people in the church. When they express concerns, half his/her staff are fired for “not believing in the pastor’s vision.” They leave with many faithful families. The board calls for his/her resignation. The pastor goes down the street a half mile and plants a church where he/she hand picks their own yes men, blaming the old church on social media and encouraging people to leave and come to their “new work.”
Proverbs 11:9 states, “With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
but through knowledge the righteous escape.”
The retail manager feels she has something to prove, so in her first decision, she rearranges the store floor products, shifting all the planograms, creating chaos and several resignations. She is shocked as she packs up her office. It turns out the regional manager was not impressed by her bold plan to increase sales by going directly against the proven experience of the corporate model.
Proverbs 14:1 states,”The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”
The Executive Director of a nonprofit sports league for inner-city youth executes a charismatic plan to tear down the old sports complex and take out massive loans to build a new facility for the community, all the while ignoring the reality that he and the board are quietly hiding the secret that several elementary school children were molested by a volunteer coach within the nonprofit last season. They do not mandatorily report the incidents, trust is broken in the community, and the truth comes out in the local papers & social media feeds; the nonprofit is on the hook for the loans, donors bale, and the Executive Director loses their job, finding themselves in court within a year while the nonprofit faces potential closure as hurting parents protest outside the soon to be liquidated headquarters.
Proverbs 11:3 states, “The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.”
Most incompetent leaders leave effects on their subordinates. Low levels of productivity and high levels of burnout and stress, just to name a few. I think there are 4 main reasons why we choose incompetent leaders.
Reason #1. As followers, we often cannot tell the difference between a confident person and a competent person, and we are often so desperate for a leader to take over that we ignore their lack of competency by simply not asking thorough questions for fear we will scare off the leader during the interview process. This happens in church, business, school, and all walks of life.
The boring leader is often the better leader. The dude with the receding hairline and glasses who clearly dressed himself this morning and has spit up on his jacket from his newborn’s morning feeding might be the more competent leader. But we go with the flashy GQ dude with the Brazilian accent who is easy on the eyes and says all the right buzzwords.
Look for someone who’s self perceived talents do not surpass their actual talents. The pastor at the smaller church might be better at leading your large church. He has had to grapple with difficulties and challenges that the large church pastor has never had to deal with because the large church pastor has gotten by on charisma and “vision”, but has no idea how much it costs to replace an HVAC system in a 40,000-square-foot facility or disciple a person in faith one-on-one in the noise of a local coffee shop.
Ephesians 4:25 states, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”
Reason #2. Calm consistent leaders are not sexy. The pretty, camera-ready people are though. This has gotten worse in the digital age. A balding man has a harder time being considered for a voted on role simply by his looks. But if he appears to lack energy, he’s probably not going to get the nomination. In the same way, the frumpy middle-aged woman with the “at home” dyed hair job, who eats her breakfast at the same time, is faithful to her husband, goes to church with her grandkids, and doesn’t tweet or have a podcast, won’t be considered for Manager, Chancellor, or Executive Director. She’s never going to be on the cover of Vogue. So, somehow, we ignore her. But she’s probably the best leader in the room.
The best leaders are humble rather than charismatic, even boring, dull or plodding in their planning—charismatic leaders with “a story to tell” often ruin organizations. I say this as a person with a “story to tell.” What you share has to be deeper and more meaningful than your rags to riches-up, out-of-the-pit charismatic experience. You must bring substance, clarity and tough thoughtful decision making through equally tough, thoughtful consensus to your leadership.
Proverbs 20:6 states, “Many claim to have unfailing love,
but a faithful person who can find?”
Reason #3. We are afraid of or deceived by narcissists: No, we aren’t…Really? A narcissist can say all the right things in an interview and become a passive-aggressive bully once they are in a role that no one is willing to confront. Other people will quit before a narcissist will be challenged, allowing the narcissist to exist in the role of controlling the organization through fear, no matter what their role in the company, church, or community. People with unrealistic megalomaniac visions tap into our own narcissism. Sometimes we even call this “vision casting.” Ever heard anyone say, “That’s on my vision board!” While not a bad device, it can, like all devices, be used to promote an unhealthy focus on one’s self. Multi-level marketing people are often susceptible to this kind of narcissism. And it all too often finds it’s way into church leadership. The narcissist who has been at the organization for 7 years will often get a larger voice at the table than the new hire who is a healthy humble leader. The organization finds it more time consuming and difficult to wrench a long term narcissist from the organization. So it simply fires the healthy new hire because the narcissist views the new person as a threat and voices this at the table. The new healthy leader never even saw it coming. But the organization caved to the narcissist. Too AFRAID to confront them and risk losing their perceived talents.
Reason #4. We admire self promotion. The very opposite of what believers in the workforce should do. I recently saw a leader quote themselves on their own social media page. The way they did this made it obvious it was not something that someone else created, and they simply shared it, but it was quoted by them, created by them, about themselves, and posted on their personal page. Yuck This is beyond simply celebrating that you got a promotion or were honored for an achievement. This is narcissism.
Proverbs 27:2 states, ” Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips.”
Leaders need to be aware of their limitations instead of being unjustifiably pleased with themselves. This even comes down to our families and how we lead within them. Limitations in how you parent. Saying no to your children to keep them humble. Limiting what you offer your children for family activities instead of giving into narcissistic demands. Limiting over the top celebrations and instead focusing on simplicity. Avoiding the amazing Instagram moment, in favor of the cherished private interactions at home. Focusing on Biblical values rather than self help multi level marketing slogans you learned at the latest conference and recognizing when you are being sold vs when you are being served as a follower.
Matthew 7:24-27 states, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
John 16:33 states, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
God has called us as school board members, volunteers, employees, and bosses to live lives of integrity, honesty, and humility. Even in our decision-making when we choose a leader or accept a leadership position.