Something that has helped me as a leader is that I have developed over the years the skill of being hard on myself and soft on others. You see if you want to be the leader you have to set standards for yourself that you do not set on others. You don’t perceive others as lesser than you, we are Christians and we love others, but we don’t expect others to life as driven as us. This skill helps me develop the ability to influence and lead others well. I want every leader to ask themselves these questions, and be hard on yourself – force yourself to develop the attitudes, habits and skills to enable you to grow as a leader. Do not thing you can just wing it, you cannot!
- Are you growing? You will never be an effective leader unless you are growing. This week one evening I will be doing a session of a 6-week course where I am learning about healthy churches. Just sitting there with my notebook and learning from others. On Friday, I am flying to Ireland for one day to hear a preacher preach two sessions. I’ll fly back Saturday and be back in church Sunday, that’s how much learning means to me. You know so many people want to be in leaders but they don’t want to be ahead of others. Do you realize how crazy that idea is. You have to grow! Another way of asking this question is are you teachable? What are you learning? Who are you learning from? When leaders stop being in meetings where they are learners, I am very concerned indeed because their leadership is now on the decline.
- Is your growth so far credible to others? People will not follow you if they don’t believe you. People will never accept the message if the messenger is not credible. If you are not loyal to people, if you are not obviously being led by others, if you don’t have an energy and fruitfulness in your life, people will not follow you. People follow me when I talk about health because I know healing, I can prove it. I understand prosperity and have been growing in it and it’s a lot of fun. I can preach on child rearing because my children have turned out well. Now, things do not have to be perfect, but people need to see something they will follow. If not, work on these things. Many leaders need to work on their marriage – make it a marriage others want.
- Do people want what you have? Then they will follow you. I know people who come to our church who don’t believe what we might call the grace message, but they want their children to grow up like my children. There’s something right there. I was and still continually looking at how I have raised my children, and how I relate to them adult to adult. I am still reading books, listening to others, getting advice from those who have gone before. Keep maturing and developing, and what you have increases and then you will lead more effectively.
- Are you winning in the places you want to lead people? How can you lead people into financial freedom if you don’t tithe? How could you lead people to honour you if you don’t honour your pastor? How could you lead people to speak well when you do not plan and prepare and just wing it? How could you lead people into prayer if you never pray? You have to win in the areas you want to lead others too! Do you know I am very happy to teach people how to study the Bible, how to have a great marriage, how to preach a sermon? Do you know I am not happy to ever teach someone how to have a singing ministry? Or how to do the tech in a church? I will not give you advice in those areas because I am not a winner there. No one wants to hear what I have to say on decorating, because I am not a winner there. You must be a winner in the areas you are leading others.
- Are you wasting time with people? As a pastor, for example, we are pressured to spend time with people, but a lot of that time can just be spinning wheels. You need to not spend time, but invest time with people. Time is money – it is for investing not spending. I cannot work any harder than I do right now. It’s that simple. So I won’t spend time with just anyone – I am not interested in some BBQ where everyone is having drinks and no one is caring about Christ, I am not interested in spending time, I want to invest it. Of course, we need to relax, but we need to be careful when we think we are doing a good job when we are just spending time with people. If people are not honouring you, listening to your wisdom, and growing and getting better spending time with you, you are generally spending time, not investing it.
- Are you authentic? don’t pretend you have all the answers, don’t pretend you have won all the battles. Have some humility and integrity. Let people know you are still developing, thank the people you are learning from.
- Do you have success stories that extend beyond you? I love it when people get born again in our church in Dagenham when I preach and when I share the gospel. I love it when I pray for people and they are healed. I love it more when a pastor who came to our church a little lost, a little tired, a little burned out, and through our ministry and the grace of God, they are now a pastor, and then they preach and someone is saved and healed, that’s a better success story. Do you have success stories that extend beyond your own touch and hands? Do the people you lead have success stories? That’s a hard question to ask, but when you realize how important this question is – it’s the greatest reward any leader will ever have.
If your answers are no to any of these questions, don’t beat yourself up – deal with it as a leader would, get the information you need and learn and develop.
Selah.
Inspiring and Challenging Dreamers 