Leadership season is open. We will soon elect a president of the United States and other national, state and local government officials. 

At this time of year, church nominating committees typically start preparing a list of church leaders to be elected. Such times allow us to reflect on what we want in a leader. One way to do this is via negativa, by looking at traits we don’t want in a leader. 

To that end, I offer the following as seven deadly sins of leadership. I take my inspiration from the Christian tradition’s list of seven “deadly” sins: pride, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, anger and envy. This list, codified by Pope Gregory I (d. 604 CE), names sins considered the seedbed for other sins.

I do not intend to correlate my sins of leadership with the traditional seven, as an internet search will quickly take you to several sources that do that. Instead, my seven are more prosaic and grow out of my teaching of leadership, observations of leaders, and experiences of being a leader and being led. 

Bad leaders

1. Promote Mission Creep
   Leaders guilty of this sin expand the organization beyond its original vision. Just because an organization is good at one thing, does not mean it is good at other things. Good leaders keep the organization on its rails.
2. Live in a bubble
   Leaders who are guilty of this sin surround themselves with sycophants. They ignore naysayers and those disaffected by the organization’s policies and procedures. Good leaders do not dismiss critics but instead invite debate. They listen to and learn from their critics.
3. Fail to respect the knowledge and skills of others
   Leaders who commit this sin rely on their own intuitions or ideas instead of considering the wisdom of workers in the trenches. Good leaders, when problems arise, invite input from the people closest to the problem, who are affected by the leader’s decisions. Good leaders know that those on the front lines may have better information, insight and solutions.
4. Fail to acknowledge why people work
   Leaders who commit this sin forget why people work. They think people work only if they are incentivized by compensation. Instead, good leaders know that people want their work to provide, among other things, opportunities to develop their skills and contribute to society’s good.
5. Discipline punitively
   Leaders who are guilty of this sin make everyone pay for the mistakes or misdeeds of the few. Good leaders discipline only those who made the mistakes or committed the misdeeds. They do not make the rest of the organization pay for the sins of the few.
6. Confuse role authority with personal authority
   Leaders who are guilty of this sin think they can do whatever they want just because they hold a particular office. Good leaders know they have obligations to the good that the company (or institution, or profession) purports to serve. For example, the good that politics serves is the common good.
7. Confuse authoritarianism with authority
   Leaders who are guilty of this sin exercise the authority of their role in heavy-handed ways. They say, “You are with me or against me.” Good leaders exercise their authority deftly, gently, and wisely. Good leaders know that power corrupts, and so they remain vigilant to that danger.

Doubtless, there are some close connections between these sins. There may be more than seven deadly sins of leadership. 

There may be others more deadly. They may all grow out of some more fundamental sin.

Nevertheless, this list can warn us of common leadership errors and help us identify traits of good leaders.