thoughts from John Maxwell this morning....

So the question is not “Does the leader have an advantage over others?” The question is “Will the leader use that advantage for personal gain or for the benefit of everyone on the team?”

 That is why I need to ask myself whether I am genuinely interested in others. It keeps my natural selfishness in check and purifies my motives. Leaders are always in danger of abusing their power.

Let me say one more thing about this subject: questioning your motives is not the same as questioning your character. If you have poor character, your motives will probably be bad. But you can have solid character and still fall prey to bad motives. That’s because motives are usually attached to specific situations or actions. Character is based on values.