I always hesitate to write or give strong credit to the idea of ‘leadership’. We often speak of it in place of discipleship. So my own disclaimer for this post is to remember that Jesus called us to be disciples – leadership is a byproduct of that call.
Whether you realize it or not, you are a leader. In some fashion you lead others and model that leadership to them. Often poor leadership environments reproduce similarly poor leaders, though there are occasional breakthroughs. I have the pleasure of developing leaders, and have for many years now. I’ve been able to be a voice into leaders before they have been given a platform; and one of my biggest concerns is that I don’t pass on my own poor leadership traits.
A few years ago I determined that there were a few things I wanted to ‘pass down’ as a leader that I would consider to be a priority. I thought I’d share them here for my own benefit as much as anyone else’s. (I never blog anymore, so I highly doubt anyone even drops in)
1. Conviction. A strong leader has conviction, in particular about whatever area they’re leading. If you saw the coach of a college football team sitting on the bench having some coffee and discussing their favorite tv show during a game – you may lose a little faith in him. However, there are instances where if a leader wasn’t drinking coffee and discussion culture the opposite would be true. Truth is, a good leader enjoys where they are and is passionate about it. We can display passion in very different ways – so be yourself, but lead with conviction.
2. Character. Unfortunately you can lead without character, but you will be far less effective. I remember clearly the scandals with Pres. Bill Clinton. All of the allegations he denied seem to leak out evidence to the contrary. At that point, many began to lose faith in the President simply because of his character – an area not necessarily in his job description.
If your character is poor, your leadership will be poor. And often what brings a leader down is not bad decisions regarding their job or position – but bad moral or ethical decisions dealing with their character. Those you lead are watching your life closely.
3. Communication. A leader must communicate. You can’t assume people understand your heart and values – or even the values of the church, ministry or organization for that matter. You need to communicate often and clearly. Sometimes this means simply showing someone that they are valuable by communicating with them. By the way, this is a two-way street. It’s not just enough to send out information; good communicators listen.
Some of the strongest leaders that have influenced my life have been people who simply showed their concern toward me as a person.
4. Teachability. This should be no. 1. Don’t mistake it as less important just because it’s at the end of the list, you will not be an effective leader if you aren’t teachable. Plain and simple. The biggest thing that keeps us from being teachable is pride, so along with this component to leadership is humility. The strongest leaders are humble leaders. The strongest leaders listen to others. We are not dictators (well, I assume there are none in the room.) If you want to grow and improve at what you do, you need to listen and learn.
A few years ago the world changed. When I was in High School, nobody had a website. In fact, I was one of the few people I know that had a cell phone that fit in my pocket. That was 13 years ago, and in that time the culture has shifted dramatically. Now, you could still be walking around with a beeper and some change in your pocket for a pay phone, but hopefully you have listened to the culture and to others as to the changes. For some odd reason, church ministry seems way behind on this. It could be a myriad of things that lead us to the conclusion that we don’t need to change or listen, but if we aren’t teachable and we aren’t growing – we’re dying.
I am no leadership guru. But I am a guy whom God has placed in a position of leadership, and I pray I lead well. We make this area far more difficult than it should be. You may not be given the biggest leadership stage, but lead well with what you have been given.