The tallest tree in the world lives in California, where I love living. Hyperion is almost 380 feet tall, taller than the Statue of Liberty. 1
You can’ t visit the world’ s tallest tree though. The tree is somewhere deep within Redwood National Park, but the location is classified, the area cordoned off. Hyperion is protected to prevent couples carving their initials, taggers graffitiing the tree, or collectors scrapping bark to take home as a souvenir. Scientists fear tourists would love the tree to death, so they believe it is best for the tree to grow in a secret location. 2
You have likely seen photos of the iconic Pioneer Cabin Sequoia, often called the Tunnel Tree. The famous California tree was so large, you could drive your car through it. It was a very public tree, and it toppled in 2017. The official reason for the toppling was a rainstorm, but some believe the tree’ s fame and accompanying tourism contributed to the downfall, that creating space for cars carved the heart out of the tree. 3
Lots of trees topple. The well-known ones make the news. Like the“ Lorax” cypress tree, also in California, which inspired The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. 4 It toppled in 2019 for unknown reasons. Or like beloved oak trees at Auburn University that had to be removed after being poisoned by a University of Alabama football fan. 5
People were saddened by the toppling of those great trees, but it’ s much more devastating when leaders topple.
When a tree topples, typically no one is harmed, but a toppling leader damages not only the leader but those surrounding the leader— a family, a company, a congregation. Trust is broken. Dreams and goals seem to be ruined. People are disoriented, struggling to reconcile the beauty that occurred under the leader’ s direction with the ugly truth of what has been revealed.
Lots of leaders topple. The well-known ones make the news. And there are plenty of articles online and posts on social media mourning and sometimes seemingly celebrating the toppling of leaders. You are likely thinking of a current example as you read this. But if you were to read this again six months from now, you would likely be thinking of a different story. Sadly, the stories keep coming.
Just as with trees, the toppling of leaders most often occurs when storms meet unhealthy roots. There is no such thing as leadership without storms, so we must concern ourselves with the health of the roots. Two trees in the same field can respond very differently to a storm. The one with healthy roots endures while the one with unhealthy roots doesn’ t. While both trees looked similar before the storm, the storm revealed what was already true about the roots of the trees.
If a leader’ s competence is greater than their character, collapse is almost certain.“ Fake it till you make it” may sometimes work with competence. But the cliché never works with character. When the apostle Paul instructed his protégé Timothy to invest in other leaders, he told him to find the faithful who will be able, not to find the able who will maybe one day be trustworthy( 2 Timothy 2:2). Paul believed that faithfulness( character) was most important and that leaders could grow in ability( competence).
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