A whopping 82 percent of Christian Americans believe this country does not have enough leaders, according to a recent Barna survey conducted in partnership with Brad Lomenick, president of the Catalyst conference. They even go so far as to call it a “crisis of leadership.” When asked what qualities they felt were most important in a leader, 64 percent said “integrity” is the most important leadership trait, followed by “authenticity” (40 percent) and “discipline” (38 percent).
Interestingly, more than half (58 percent) of Christians replied that they consider themselves leaders, but only 15 percent say their primary leadership trait is “integrity.” Christians are most likely to identify their primary leadership trait as “competence” (20 percent), followed by “discipline” (16 percent), “collaboration” (15 percent), “integrity” (15 percent) and “authenticity” (14 percent). When asked which leadership trait they would like most to improve in themselves, 27 percent said “courage,” followed by a desire to grow in terms of “discipline” (17 percent), “vision” (15 percent) and “passion for God” (13 percent).
“Christians perceive a significant leadership crisis in America caused by a distinct lack of leaders,” commented David Kinnaman, president of Barna Group. “Most feel they are leaders, but many of them aren’t confident that their leadership abilities are the most important traits in a leader. This suggests many of them are still striving to meet even their own leadership expectations and it means many Christians may not think of their own leadership as helping to fill the leadership gap they experience. Perhaps this is why they are most interested in growing in terms of courage.”
