Credibility is absolutely essential to viable leadership,
whether in religion, politics, or business. A leader who undercuts one of his
or her promises effectively expunges it of any worth and is essentially a
“lame-duck” leader thereafter unless he or she puts difficult effort into
becoming worthy of being trusted again. It does not take long for followers to
get the message if one of them who relied on the promise is punished for doing
so. Chairman Mao is infamous for having made such a promise in the Hundred
Flowers movement. Unfortunately, he killed many Chinese who relied on Mao’s
word. A similar dynamic, though much less extreme, occurred just after a synod
in 2014 called by Pope Francis, who in this respect can be likened to Mao.
Fortunately for the Catholic pope, his own religion offers him a way out.
The full essay is at “Credible
Christian Leadership”
