Virtuous Leaders Are Mature Leaders

Maturity Comes From Virtue

Think of someone you would consider "mature". What makes them mature in your mind?

Are they financially secure?

Do they make great decisions?

Do they seem to have their life together?

All of these qualities may be true, but that doesn't make someone mature per se. Let's look at the root of "mature" to further break this down.

The Latin root is "maturare" or "to ripen". Indicative in the root word is this notion of "blooming" or in the case of human persons, "blossoming into a true version of oneself". In other words, the only way to realize the fullness of one's personal potential is to do so incrementally. This incremental change is the process of acquiring the virtues.

A little refresher:

Virtues are those habits ( “operativus” or operation) of the soul (i.e. intellect and will) that dispose you to do good things. And by "good" we mean those acts that are in line with two things:

1. Right reason
2. Nature

Through the virtues, we become mature in its truest sense. This is what it means to become "mature."

Three Aspects of Maturity

According to Alexandre Havard in his book, Virtuous Leadership, there are three aspects to maturity:

1. Judgemental maturity
2. Emotional maturity
3. Behavioral maturity

Let's examine each.

Judgemental Maturity

Maturity of judgment comes when we,

1. Recognize our strengths and flaws
2. Acknowledge our mission and social obligations
3. Temper (or all-out reject) the influence of all fads, trends, and cliches.

Emotional Maturity

Emotional maturity comes when we,

1. Control our natural instincts
2. Put our natural instincts at the service of a specific mission.

Behavioral Maturity

Behavioral maturity is realized when,

1. Our thoughts, judgments, and feelings are faithfully reflected in our actions
2. There is no semblance of living a "double life"; no need for anyone to "figure us out" — we are who we are.

Signs of the Mature and Immature Leader

You may be wondering, "So what qualities indicate that someone is mature or...immature?"

As Havard says, there are "unmistakable signs" of both maturity and immaturity.

For the mature person, they tend to be...

Self-confident and consistent, psychologically stable, joyful and optimistic, exude a sort of naturalness in all that they do, operate with a sense of freedom and embrace responsibility, and maintain an interior peace in all things.

The immature person, on the other hand, tends to display...

A lack of self-confidence because he or she lacks self-knowledge, is unable to look at him or herself objectively, exhibits childish pride or false humility, is too prone to compromise and is too ready to make demands, cannot distinguish between what is important and what is not, imprudent, superficial and emotional in his or her responses, and avoids commitments and fears responsibilities.

Leaders Must Strive For True Maturity

The nature of the role of every leader demands true maturity. Maturity that has virtue as the foundation is the only way to overcome personal weaknesses and live up to our true potential.

If you are a leader of any kind and don't make the acquisition of virtue the foundation of all personal development and growth...you're failing before you get started. Doing so is like the "foolish man that built his house on sand" that Our Lord speaks of in the Gospels (Matthew 7:26 to be exact).

My suggestion? Listen to Jesus and build your leadership on a strong foundation (i.e. the virtues).

True maturity, and the ability to lead others well, are on the other side.

Called exists for this: Evangelize By Community.

We do so by empowering ministry leaders like you to build thriving groups and communities in 3 key ways:

1. Building digital tools that enable effective communication, organization, and conversation all in one place. Download Called today (Apple Store or Google Play)
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3. We connect leaders with leaders to share and learn from each other about what works and doesn’t work via our leader's community on Called.