A great verse

If there is one verse in the Bible I have tried to live by as a Pastor, it's Psalms 78:72.
Here is what it says: "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them."
The two main components of David's success as a leader are the two areas that I try to base my leadership on.
First, David shepherded them with integrity of heart. David was a great leader because of his integrity. He wasn't perfect (as we all can recall his affair with Bathsheba), but he was also known as a man after God's own heart. A leader without integrity, in my opinion, forefits his right to lead. Integrity and character are traits that need to be evident in our lives. We should be trustworthy and honest in all of our dealings. A regular time with God praying and reading the scripture helps us stay centered.
Secondly David led with skillful hands. Not only did David have the heart as a leader, he also had the skill. I imagine David as being someone who was a life-long learner. Someone who was like a sponge when it came to learning about how to lead better. There are so many practical ways to hone your skills as a leader. There are conferences, books, magazines, face to face meetings with other leaders and other things you can do. If we ever get to the point where we think we have it all figured out, we're in big trouble.
I meet people all the time who say they are too busy, and don't have the time to read a book, or go to a conference or go online and see what others are doing. All I can say about that is that mentality is short-sighted. There is an old adage that says, we all have time to do what we want to. In other words if we really want to do something, we find the time to do it.
Do you have integrity of heart? How about skillful hands? A great leader needs to have both.