Most of us would
not consider ourselves as leaders but all of us are leaders to someone in some
ways. We can abdicate our roles as leaders or we can step up to the plate and become
the leader God wants us to be.
Like everything else
the best principles of being a great leader is found in the Bible. Millions of
people today are living below their potential because we’ve not understood the call
to leadership. Let’s discuss a few traits of a great leader.
Leaders have vision. Everything rises and falls within
leadership. Whether it is in your family, work, church or business, the vision
of a leader gives it life and direction. The Bible says, without a vision
people perish. If you want peace, financial stability and growth in your
marriage, family or church, you will have to have a clear vision of what you
want to achieve or where you want to go. Divide the vision into bite-size short,
mid and long-term goals. Clear vision empowers people to accomplish individual
and corporate task in a timely manner.
Leaders are excellent communicators. When we fail to plan we plan to fail. Communication is the key to every successful relationship and project. The more clearly we communicate with our team the better results we will have. Written down communication and repetition of the vision enables people to capture what needs to be done and what is expected of every individual. Different people may play different role but a leader’s job is to make each person feel important about their contribution. One of the best ways to get the best results you want is to inspect what you expect along the way. Every day, empower people by saying, “I appreciate you getting your school done on time.” “You’re amazing! I know you’re going to meet the deadline by 4:00 PM today. I believe in you!” People either live up to what you say or down to what you say. Effective leaders have a great follow up system in place.
Leaders engage the whole team. People’s personalities are different.
Some of the quieter, unsocial people are also more creative and talented. A leader’s job is to recognize the different
gifts in people. When we engage the least of the team-member by giving them
equal recognition, they too will perform to their highest potential. The more
we value people and gradually increase their responsibilities the higher they’re
going to rise. Positive words of
affirmation and sincere compliments bring out the best in people. Negativity
does the opposite. A great leader knows how to engage the shy, introverted
people by drawing them into the vision and giving them public recognition for
their contribution.
Leaders empower the weak. Most people are beaten down by the
world and have very little self-esteem. When they relate to us, they usually
come with past baggage of insecurity, self-doubt and condemnation. A great leader knows how to inspire and
empower a person with battered life experience. A phrase I use regularly
is, “I believe in you! You’re going to do
great!” When we speak faith into people, they will be faithful! A great leader always make people believe
more than what they believe about themselves.
Leaders serve. The world’s definition of leadership
is skewed today. It says the higher we go up the ladder the greater we need to
be served. However, a great leader is one
who knows how to stoop down to lift another person up. It takes a big
person to do something small. Never be
too big or too influential to serve others. If we want to serve God, we need to serve people. The ladder to success is the ladder to service.
Friend, you’re
born to be a leader. Why don’t you get up from the sideline? Shut out the condemning
voices of the enemy of your past mistakes. I declare: You’re born to do great things. You’re a great Dad. You’re an awesome
mother. You’re a great wife. You can do anything you want. God has chosen
you for a purpose. Walk in it! You’ve got what it takes. Leaders rise up; you’re
the hope of our world!
“Whoever
wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of
everyone else.” (Mark 10:43-44 NLT).
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