No one ever tells you about the problem of imperfection in leadership. The right thing isn’t always done; in fact, the wrong thing may be done nearly as often as not. Requests for help aren’t forthcoming, calls for moving in a particular direction go unheeded, and the commonsense courtesies aren’t extended. Imperfection is as natural to leadership as breathing is to living.

Read the private letters and non-public words of George Washington or Martin Luther King, Jr and you’ll learn about the anguish of imperfection in leadership. The leadership lives of Moses, David, and Paul are mind-boggling examples of rife imperfection. Even the experience of Jesus Christ shows the persistence of imperfection.

Christ aside, imperfection plagues both the leader and the follower. Coping with the far-less-than-perfect is a daily task in leadership.