Riverside, Calif. (Oct. 23, 2015) – A prominent Christian industrial-organizational psychologist told California Baptist University students that good leaders possess three qualities: character, competence and calling.

Dr. Robert McKenna spoke about his passion—developing leaders—at the School of Behavioral Science's Culture and Justice Lecture Series on Oct. 22.

McKenna is the chair of the Department of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University as well as the executive director of the Center for Leadership Research and Development. He is also the creator of an online leadership development program, "BadBobby," and founder of Real Time Development Strategies, a leadership and organizational consulting group.

He described the field of industrial-organizational psychology as, "the most powerful guild in corporate America that you have never heard of."

McKenna said this form of psychology focuses on selecting the right candidate for employment and then performance management throughout the candidate's occupation.

"What could be more powerful and can affect the culture of the places you will work than who gets selected and how their performance is managed once they get there?" McKenna asked the audience. 

McKenna said good leaders possess three qualities: character, competence and calling. He focused on the calling aspect of leadership.

"We've turned calling into more of a burden than something that should set us free," he said. "Your call is whatever God's wants from you."

When asked what makes a great leader, McKenna said, "People who show up with a sense of themselves. Show up like you mean it. The second part is ‘editability.' That means you are willing to hit the backspace key, even sometimes on the way you were thinking about yourself.

"I also want a leader that wakes up each morning with a spirit of conviction before God," he said.