"Last of all, he sent his son to them. They will respect my son." -Jesus, telling a parable about loyalty, competence and authority

One of the greatest enemies of excellence is a poor understanding of the concept of loyalty. This has been one of the hardest leadership lessons I've ever learned, probably because I'm such a loyal guy. But AIM is in the process of going to the next level as we put it into practice.

This is true because most of the people who got you to one level will not take you to the next level.

They just don't have the "equipment" (the competencies) to do it.

I've got a friend who was with me since AIM started. He was fiercely loyal and boldly declared he'd take a bullet for me.

But he wouldn't submit to the people I put in authority over him. It reminded me of the parable of the landowner whose tenants killed his servants and son (Matt 21).

My friend's loyalty was to me, but not to any of my proxies. I tried three different people out as his bosses and finally we had to part ways when he couldn't work with any of them.

Setting my friend free was a hard decision, but it was the best move for him and for the organization.

He's thriving and the organization has learned that no one is above the law. Good leaders will choose competence and accountability over loyalty.

And the best leaders won't compromise relationship in the process.

They speak the truth in love: "This is what I expect you to do. If you can't do it, then we'll have to find something you are called to do."

In my experience, the real reason most people can't make the jump to the next level is that their ego can't handle being re-ranked. Re-ranking is the toughest test of loyalty I know.