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Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, Inc., executive search firm
Former Special Assistant to President George H. W. Bush, Presidential Personnel, 1988-1992
Articles have appeared in National Employment Weekly; has appeared on Fox and Friends, CNN’s Daily Program
University of California, Davis
Married with four children
CBN.com – Leadership as a Moral Endeavor
Les says that everything in our society depends upon mutual trust: trust in our media, government, spiritual leaders, and businesses. “Consider your own daily routine and how trust or doubt pervades your life,” says Les. He uses the illustration of driving down the interstate and inherently trusting that the driver of the 18-wheeler next to him won’t drive into his lane.
“Trustworthy leadership cannot thrive in a culture where people no longer know how to trust,” says Les. A real leader inspires trust and action among followers. With businesses erupting with scandals, churches tarnished by child abuse, and politicians doing anything to get elected, Les says we are facing a serious crisis in leadership. Les believes leadership is insufficiently recognized and understood. “Leadership primarily must be a moral endeavor,” explains Les. “The leadership of which I speak is not a style that can be perfected. It is being, not doing.”
Stages of Building Trust
While leadership is built on many characteristics, such as humility,
service, vision, and courage, leadership is built on trust. Les
says there are three stages of building trust:
1. Building trust -- This takes years, but through reliability,
consistency, and faithfulness, trust can be built.
2. Maintaining trust -- It is trust that overcomes doubt
and has enduring value. Trust once built must be maintained.
3. Keeping trust -- Trust that is so slow to form in
leadership can come apart very quickly.
The Character of a Leader
Les says that many corporations today are asking questions about a candidate’s integrity and values. Evaluating character is not a question of what people say or do. “It’s a question of who they are, of how they live, serve, and treat others,” says Les.
Once Les and his sons, Thomas and Will, rode to a friend’s house in Houston where the friend demonstrated the use of a crucible in purifying gold. The friend took the crucible, placed unrefined gold in its cradle, and ignited a flame. Les directed the flame to the metal. Lying in its current form, it was unusable. But over time and intense heat, Les noticed that the impurities floated to the surface. Like this real-life illustration, Les believes moral character is forged in the testing of integrity and the fire of our sufferings. “Suffering doesn’t simply build character, it also reveals it,” says Les.
He says there are seven principles of trust. Influential and
trusted leaders:
1. Are purified in the fires of their own suffering
2. Are shaped by mentors
3. Are called for a purpose that transcends personal ambition
4. Are called to lead
5. Handle privilege with great care
6. Are focused on their objectives
7. Are invested in the lives of those whom they lead
In 1988, while volunteering for Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush in Washington, D.C., Les had the opportunity to meet the first son, known as “Junior.” Les says that during the presidential election campaign, Junior, better known as President George W. Bush, was a commanding figure. Determined and single-minded, Junior was completely sold out for his father. During those days of the campaign, his task was straightforward – to do everything possible to get his father elected. While critics today like to minimize the President’s leadership, Les says perhaps over time they will recognize the value of his steadfast leadership.
Serving in Ministry
When Les was in college, a campus ministry reached out to him. Soon Les began attending prayer meetings. Les also started to read the gospels and C.S. Lewis books, including Mere Christianity. As a sophomore in college, a friend confronted Les with the question, “What are you going to do with the person of Christ?” Les prayed to receive Christ in the Student Union of the campus.
After graduation, he joined a Baptist church in Alexandria, Va., where he taught Sunday school to young married couples. He continues to teach an adult married Sunday school class at Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.
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