Sustainability is the ability of something to be maintained at a certain rate or level. The definition further includes the idea that something can be upheld or defended.

Sustainability is currently used in circles ranging from ecology to missiology and everywhere in between. The application to leadership is a major component of the discussion.

What is involved in leadership to fulfill the ideas expressed in the definition of this week’s word?

With the figurative ebb and flow of leadership in political, educational, religious, and corporate arenas, we are challenged to understand how best to sustain leadership.

Several answers can be discovered with a little research, but the common thread to any level of sustainability in leadership involves consistency of character.

Leaders are certainly involved in upholding and defending the cause for which they lead, but the consistency of their character is the foundation stone upon which sustainability is built.

Once this foundation is in place, all other qualities of leadership further cement the life-line to a future of leadership that is instrumental in influencing the direction of the world.