CHARACTER AND COMPETENCY, IS THERE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER?

A righteous man turns away from evil, but the way of the wicked leads them astray (Proverbs 12:26 RSV).

What precipitated this bullet was an interview in Christian Counseling Today of Dr. Tim Irwin.  The interview simply set me to thinking about the role of character in counseling competency--or any competency for that matter.  The subject of the interview was, "Character Trumps Competence."  My thoughts are not intended to disagree with what was said in the interview, but merely add my perspective.

Rather than being two different categories, I believe that character is a necessary quality of competency so that one cannot be fully competent without it.  A dictionary definition of competency is having the necessary qualities and skills.  Is character a necessary quality for competency in any arena?  Yes!

Skill development requires a degree of character.  Some are so gifted that the development of skill requires little effort so the quality of their character is not revealed until significant stress sets in--it's a tragedy that this often happens when someone is desperately depending on him/her.  Those not so gifted might cut corners or cheat in their skill development, and thus do their work with compromised competency. 

In my Ethic and Legal Procedures class in seminary we talked of the ethics of sharing our faith in Christ with a client.  There are times in counseling when that might be appropriate, but basically the truth is that the counselor's faith and value system cannot help but be revealed indirectly; it just is part of the counselors personality.  Though the counselor might not speak of Christ directly, Christ is in the counselor, coming out in empathy, and how we respond and direct.  However, a compromised character is revealed in the same way.  A Counselor might very well be competent in the art and science of counseling, but if he/she is not a person of character, that will come out in their counseling too, thus short-term existential success can give way to long-term failure. 

I hope my thoughts made sense.  Though I applied this to counselors, I think it is applicable to all areas where competency and leadership is required--even on the football field.  The beloved Iowa Hawkeyes found that out this season.

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom