What are the primary virtues of an effective leader and why is virtue in a leader so crucial to a linear service model?
In our initial attempts to ascertain what it was that drove executives that led organizations that performed better than others, what made them so different, we noticed that there were no obvious answers. It was not education or fundraising ability.
Virtuous Leadership and Effective Organizations
We realized that it is not enough that the executive be passionate about helping woman that find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to face an unplanned pregnancy unsupported and alone. Furthermore each executive represented very different levels of management skill compared to other executives who enjoy similar success.
The one thing that emerged that appeared common among executives that lead organizations drastically more effective at reaching and serving women facing unplanned pregnancy is their personal character, the level of mature Christian virtue manifesting in the mundane life of the leader. What also became clear was that system or services do not matter as much as character. The reason for this is because all systems are developed and driven by the innate character of the executive. In thinking about the specific character traits or virtues that represent an effective PRC executive we began to notice that the character traits or virtues were similar. And to a greater or lesser extent these executives manifested the same virtues which influenced virtually all of their behavior thereby setting the tone and expectations for the organizations they lead. This executive influence over time caused the organizations themselves to become more virtuous and consequently more focused, more effective at accomplishing the mission.
Virtue is the basic building block to an effective PRC and emanate from the executive director’s personal commitment to virtuous living. I am speaking of virtue in the classical sense of the word. Those virtues are informed by the Bible and fall into five categories; wisdom, empathy, courage, temperance, and justice. Each virtue has great depth and it is the intention of the following posts to only focus on those aspects of each virtue that make it valuable to the pregnancy center organization.
Check out the results a pregnancy center in Lakeland, FL after the Executive Mary Rutherford implemented a Linear Service Model by clicking here.