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Lead With Integrity to Forge a Legacy Worth Following

•       Would you rather get advice from the speaker who talks about all the bad things she did in her “wild, youthful days,” including illegal substances and multiple sexual partners, or from the “boring” girl who studied during college, got married as a virgin, and stayed connected to God and her family?

The answer is not either/or. We can learn from both. I wish there were a way to identify and learn from the people who stay faithful day after day, year after year—but they don’t tend to write books about their successes. It’s possible their humility is one of the reasons for their stability.

Our entire culture is shaped to love a redemption story. The best movies are about people who went all the way to the bottom and then were rescued and ended up becoming heroes. And God specializes in redemption! It is in his nature to love a good redemption story.

I think we make a mistake, though, when we don’t realize that every story is a redemption story (Rom. 3:10). On our own, we could never find our way to God. He reaches down and rescues us from our broken ways—and from ourselves—and sets us on a new path.

Those who are most aware of their humanity and their sinful nature are the ones who consistently make good choices in their lives and in their relationships. I want to hear more of those stories.

I challenge you to be a leader who walks with integrity day after day, year after year, decade after decade. What if you could go to your grave with no regrets about your relationship with your spouse, your commitment to your friends, the way you ran your business or how you raised your children?

Every choice you make today will lead you either toward the path less traveled where you die with your integrity intact or toward a life of regrets. It’s your choice.

This post is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of my book “Fairness Is Overrated & 51 Other Leadership Principles to Revolutionize Your Workplace.  

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Tim Stevens served as the executive pastor of Granger Community Church in Granger, IN, for twenty years before joining Vanderbloemen Search Group as the Director of the Executive Search Consultant Team where he helps churches and ministries around the world find their key staff. Tim has a passion for the local church and equipping leaders with practical advice and tools about church staffing and church leadership. He has co-authored three books with Tony Morgan, including Simply Strategic Stuff, Simply Strategic Volunteers, and Simply Strategic Growth, and authored three books of his own, including Fairness Is Overrated: And 51 Other Leadership Principles To Revolutionize Your Workplace. Connect with Tim at LeadingSmart.com.