Spiritual Leadership Requires Righteous Motives

You probably know, as I do, that there is nothing quite like the sting that comes when one's motives are questioned or challenged.....especially when one has taken the risk to step out from the crowd to advocate for a cause greater than oneself The sting is even more painful and harder to endure when the criticism comes from those who are supposedly on the same side of the battle.



Yet, in spite of the painfulness of the sting, it provides an opportunity for us to ponder on our motives. Whenever our actions are motivated by a desire for a response from others whether that response be accolades, money, recognition, prestige, approval, etc., it would behoove us to do some changing.



It is not only the strength of a motive that is important but also the rightness or wrongness of it as L. Tom Perry suggests in his book, Righteous Influence. He goes onto say that power and influence are to be exercised only when a leader has in mind righteous purposes--pureness of heart. In other words, when and how a leader steps in has as much to do with the leader's readiness to do so as with the needs of the person (s) he/she desires to influence.



When one has a desire to influence another---to know when and how to step in (or back off!)--the first thing one should do is drop to his knees for guidance. From a personal conversation, L. Tom Perry quotes Jerry Harvey, a well-respected organizational scientist, "You don't really know anything about a leader until you know something about his prayer life."



Even if are motives are pure and even if we have prayed for guidance, there is still no guarantee that our motives won't be questioned or challenged. Others still have their free agency in how they choose to respond to our righteous motives. They may still falsely accuse us as Nephi was accused by his brothers, Laman and Lemuel, in the Book of Mormon of wanting to rule over them--in spite of all that he had done in their behalf.



If we are wrongly accused after we have determined that our motives are pure, we have the option of choosing to retreat or to go forward in spite of it. The cause depends on us choosing the latter... remembering the words of Albert Einstein,

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds"