Quoting from an earlier blog entitled The Essential Need for Discernment (written a year ago):
In order for leaders to lead effectively, the exercise of discernment is essential. We live in a day when anyone with charisma can attract a crowd – whether they are the real deal or a mere charmer with advanced personal communication skill.
The real deal – or Not. The ability to tell the difference is essential. This ability is called discernment.
Maybe it’s the preponderance of our lives spent watching television shows and high quality movie productions – you know, programming in which real people become skilled actors who memorize written scripts about fictitious stories - and then while they skillfully recite their lines, they pretend to be something they are not. S after a while, the edge of our ability to remember that they are faking it gets rubbed off. We become skilled at pretending something is real. But it is not.
Or maybe it is simply a general malaise in regard to developing personal analytical prowess.
Either way, discernment is both at a low ebb - and in high demand - in leadership today.
So what is discernment and why re-address the topic?
Discernment is the keen ability to judge between what is real, true, honest, and trustworthy – and that which appears to be so, but is not.
The skill-set of discernment is a precision capacity, because as the famous orator Charles Spurgeon reminded his listeners,
“Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the [ability to tell the] difference between right and almost right.”
So why in the world, if I truly believe that discernment is an essential leadership skill would I title this blog, “Why the Leader Does Not Need Discernment”??
Next week I will answer that question. It is simply too important to lightly answer in the space that remains this week.