From The Leadership Project to you and your family,

Merry Christmas

We hope you enjoy this day surrounded by friends and family.

Learning to work through the times when we feel less than our best can be difficult. Jerry West says, “You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good.”

Remember our purpose. Do not lose sight of why we lead.
Put one foot in front of the other. Getting started helps.
Focus on the goal. The result is worth the effort.
Remain dedicated to finish. It is not how we start, but how we finish that makes a difference.

Leadership motivates us to show up everyday!

Leading with the head and heart can introduce numerous challenges. Although both are needed, caution must be exercised.

Many pilots fly by what is known as IFR (Instrument Flying Rules). IFR involves relying on a plane’s instruments instead of one’s own senses. Certain conditions create a false sense of direction that potentially lead to pilot error.

A leader’s task involves providing direction for others. In order to provide the right direction, preventing error, they must use the God given instrument available.

God’s word is the only instrument needed in order to provide true spiritual direction.

Is it possible to lead others without knowing them? Leadership requires an awareness of the dreams, aspirations, hopes, desires, and personal goals of others in order to lead them well.

Then, leaders can look out for their well-being. It has been said, “If you take care of those under you, they will take care of you.”

Needs are categorized by physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual areas, and leaders know the necessity of each.

Godly leaders know it is essential to prioritize with a focus on the greatest need. Think Souls!

Although stated in various ways, Mark Twain provided a powerful thought when he said, “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”

Leaders influence small and large groups of people. Their influence is measured by the level of honesty perceived.

When leaders are seen as dishonest, people will not follow.

When leaders are seen as honest, the opposite is true.

Even when it might seem easier to bend the truth, honesty is always the best policy.

The result of this practice has lasting repercussions on our leadership.

People often take on more work than they are capable of handling. We hear “it is just easier to do the work myself.” We keep adding until we cannot carry it all and something breaks.

Is this right way to lead?

Do leaders really help others reach their potential if they add more to their own plate?

Can overall growth occur if only a few do the work?

Leaders must delegate and distribute the load into appropriate hands.

If everyone does their part, the entire load can be carried. When leadership takes on the responsibility of others, eventually a breaking point comes. Guard against it!

We cannot read Paul’s letters without connecting the word zeal or zealous to him. To be zealous is to have great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.

God’s grace in our lives should create a zeal driven to lead those who are outside of Christ to Him.

Our leadership can fulfill many purposes from caring for the underprivileged to encouraging the faithful.

Both are essential!

However, little compares to fulfilling the purpose of leading those who need the Lord into a relationship secured by His grace. Think Souls!

Nestled in the concept of an example is our influenceas leaders. We influence people everyday. We influence them in what is right or wrong. The difference is bound up in our example.

Setting an example is associated with consistency. Mahatma Ghandi is noted as saying,  “we must become the change we want to see.”

Setting an example is also connected to servanthood. The only time Jesus said “I gave you an example,” involved being a servant.

If we want to be who God desires, we need to understand the significance identified with our example of leadership.

Although the author is unknown, the following thought is powerful: “No one ever finds life worth living—he has to make it worth living.”

Leadership is about making life worth living for those who follow.

Our task is to make rough paths smooth and the crooked straight.

We live in a dysfunctional society. Families, schools, business, government, religions, and more, do not function as originally designed.

Our role is to give hope. We must use opportunities to help others see the “so what” and the “now what” in life. The answers are what make life worth living.

How would we describe our level of dedication?

In several areas of life, even leadership, when difficulties arise, change, distractions, interruptions, or a failure to measure up to our expectations, our culture looks for bail.

Consider the difference that could be made if we honored our commitments.

Imagine the lives we could change with dedicated hearts.

There is much to be said for men and women who build on a foundation defined by the two words…until death! Marriage takes dedication.

Leadership is the same.