This is part three in a series on leadership. Previous posts are:
1. Leadership: Ask Yourself, Who Would I Want to Follow?
2. Four Essential Qualities of Leadership

You would not willingly follow someone unless you believed that he or she knew where to go and how to get there. This means that conviction is indispensable to leadership.

By conviction, I mean the way a leader holds to basic truths. There are some things that a leader can and should compromise. But there are certain truths that cannot be compromised without putting him and his followers in the wrong direction.

A leader must be clear on at least two areas of truth:

1. First, truths about the right direction. The leader does not waver on the question, “Where should we be going?”
2. Second, truths about how to get there. The leader does not waver on the question, “What values and practices will get us there?”

The specific answers to those questions will depend on the area of leadership.

For example, if you’re leading a group through jungle territory, you must have certain convictions about where you’re going, how to read a compass, how to avoid dangerous areas, and how to conserve water and supplies.

On the other hand, if you’re leading in the tech world, you must hold convictions about technology and innovation. Steve Jobs famously held the conviction that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” He believed that a product should be both functional and beautifully crafted. He believed that his staff should push the boundaries of possibility. And he believed that what mattered most was the user’s experience of the product.

Without these convictions, Steve Jobs would never have become such a great a leader in the tech industry.

Conviction was the reason Martin Luther, in 1521, stood before an august gathering of religious and secular rulers and said:

I am bound by the Scriptures and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not retract anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. Here I stand; I can do no other.

Without these convictions, Martin Luther would never have become a leader of the Protestant Reformation.

Once you begin to see the importance and power of conviction in leadership, you cannot unsee it.

• Mahatma Gandhi had the conviction that the peoples of India should be free from British rule, and that change could come from non-violent activism.
• Winston Churchill had the conviction that the conflict of World War II would determine the fate of Western civilization, and that these values were worth fighting for, even to the very end.
• Martin Luther King Jr. had the conviction that Black people should be free from systemic racism, segregation, and discrimination. Like Gandhi, he also believed that nonviolent resistance could bring about social change.

Why is it that conviction, held with the right tenacity, is indispensable for leadership? Here’s why: When a person holds the right convictions with utmost tenacity, that inspires trust. And trust is the foundation of leadership.

Seminary president Al Mohler emphasizes this point in his book Conviction to Lead. “When a leader enters the room, a passion for truth had better enter with him.”

Which truths are you passionate about? Which convictions fuel the engine of your leadership?