c. 1998 Religion News Service

(The Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson is the genral secretary of the Reformed Church in America.)

UNDATED _ The media continue to be caught up in an ongoing shell game over the moral crisis facing President Clinton. In the process, however, as we follow its lead, we’re bypassing what should be a teachable moment about the nature of leadership, namely that believing public leadership can be partitioned from personal integrity is, in the end, a dangerous illusion.

The information revolution has subverted systems of hierarchical authority,transforming all of our institutions and the imperatives of leadership.

The task of leaders today is to cast vision, build trust, and create an open climate of integrity that facilitates decisions. Any leader who wants to build a bridge to the 21st century needs to sustain shared values, nurture community, and clarify common mission. This is as true for a pastor, a principal, a president, or a pope.

In the end, leaders lead by behavior.

And in any institution, people yearn for leadership that is morally seamless. Yes, they want imaginative and effective policies, but they desire leaders whose lives, as well as words, inspire trust.

This is quite different from a misguided quest for leaders who we hope are perfect.

Any Christian knows full well the tenacity of selfish, sinful behavior. We confess this every Sunday. Because of this reality, leaders in particular need to undertake the difficult task of self-examination. This might, in fact, be the Calvinist contribution to society’s understanding of effective leadership.

We all have flaws, as Jesus was quick to point out to those who would have stoned the adulterous woman. Ultimately, however, we don’t come to terms with our flaws by denying them and trying to manage their public fall-out. Every leader, in his or her heart, knows this is the path that, in the words of Jesus, leads to destruction.

Mature leaders are those who not only rely on their obvious strengths but also learn how to deal consciously with their weaknesses. In some safe and secure place, they bring their brokenness into the light and turn toward inner coherence. Thus, they guard themselves against the disintegration of their inward life that can finally result in outward paralysis.

The power, adulation, and pressure inherent in positions of key leadership make anyone more likely to fall victim to vulnerabilities. That’s why leaders today bear a particular responsibility to nurture their private souls and not just their public image.

So leadership instills vision, values, trust, mission, and community. These rest upon the habits of the heart. They call for those who understand that morality is not divided between public policy and personal behavior.

In the current case of Bill Clinton, the truth will eventually come to light. While we wait, let us learn that effective leadership, whether in a congregation, a corporation, Congress, or the White House, is sustained finally by who a person is and not just by what a person says.

DEA END GRANBERG-MICHAELSON