Will, thanks for the great post.  Because I notice the differences between positional authority and character-based leadership, I also notice them in your post.

Sometimes we reach positions of authority because of our performance rather than who we are.  People give us the position, authority and influence because of our performance.  Whether or not we get the influence through our character or our performance, we choose to kick it into overdrive and let our position maintain our authority and influence and we drop our guard on the character front.

As a result, our selfish nature takes over.  We stop giving over and above the call.  The energy and life that once came from our leadership is gone.  As a result, our contributors must fend for themselves too.  And all of the life is sapped from our leadership.  The end result is some scandal or empty effort - no character-based servant leadership, no life.  It's simple, yet profound that we see so many examples every day.

Thanks for your excellent post that reminds us 6 ways to stay on track.  I appreciate it.

Mike...