Category: saltJournal

Bob’s daily blog of leadership points.

The Faith of Leadership

When leadership is guided by God’s word, the results are significant.

There is confidence in knowing the direction is guided by God Himself. The wisdom and knowledge of God is the basis for the direction in His word. Leaders cannot go wrong with His guiding hand.

God’s word provides the greatest purpose for character formation. Leaders begin with developing themselves, and then lead others to demonstrate Christ-like character.

Leaders know there is strength when grounded in the truth. Overcoming the obstacles of leadership requires strength, not personal strength, but spiritual strength that is only found in truth.

Let us always lead by the faith.

Practical Leadership

The word practical is based in and comes from the word practice. Practice not only indicates an activity that is to be accomplished, it also involves a discipline of continuing to work on the activity to improve the quality of the product or result.

Consider how this idea changes the involvement of those who follow when there is a practical approach to the programs implemented to reach goals.

Leaders are needed who think, act, and lead practically.

Discipline must follow.

Followers are needed who know how to practically apply this leadership.

Several spiritual disciplines (prayer, study, fasting, etc.) promote a practical approach for developing godly leaders.

The Mind of Christ

A spiritual leader invests in seeking the mind of Christ.

Paul highlights a Christlike motive: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.”

He identifies the foundational attitude: “But with humility of mind.”

The concluding activity is vital to the mind of Christ: “Regard one another as more important than yourselves.”

The significance of understanding the mind of Christ must be coupled with the need to seek the mind of Christ.

When these two areas meet, leadership provides a Christlike direction for others.

Knowing God

Spiritual leadership involves qualities, traits, virtues, and principles that are instrumental in guiding one’s character formation.

The foundation is to know God.

Jesus said eternal life aligns with knowing God and the One sent by Him.

Paul also spoke of the significance of knowing God by claiming his willingness to count everything as loss for the “surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:8).

Heritage, material possessions, academic achievement, and religious position were all worthless in view of this knowledge.

Leadership God’s way is driven by a passion to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Powerful Leadership

Consider this thought from Christian Larsen: “Be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. Make all your friends feel there is something special in them. Look at the sunny side of everything. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Be as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give everyone a smile. Spend so much time improving yourself that you have no time left to criticize others. Be too big for worry and too noble for anger.”

Tenacious Leaders

Grip, determination, and persistence are a few of the words associated with tenacity.

Being able to grip something, or hold on to it firmly, is crucial for long term success in leadership.

The quality of being determined presents an attitude of strength to endure the distractions.

Without persistence leaders find themselves easily ready to give up and move on.

Tenacity, as defined in these three areas, demonstrates the ability of leaders to take a group of individuals who might not otherwise continue and motivate them to heights unknown.

Leaders who approach the establishment of goals and the development of plans with tenacity, provide confidence for those who follow.

Optimistic Leaders

Optimism serves leaders in much greater ways than the skepticism and negativity so rampant in the influences of our daily life.

Helen Keller said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”

Three words stand out as part of this statement: faith, hope, and confidence. Each word feeds on the other and they are interdependent in the relationship between them.

Hope represents an earnest expectation. The confidence that exists in the arena of hope is fueled by the faith that drives the optimism needed to achieve incredible results.

Ask yourself, “What can I do to further develop this optimistic attitude?”

Best in Leadership

Bring out the best in others. Isn’t that what we all desire?

Although the author is unknown, this quote is amazing. “In life, you will realize there is a role for everyone you meet. Some will test you, some will use you, some will love you, and some will teach you. But the ones who are truly important are the ones who bring out the best in you. They are the rare and amazing people who remind you why it’s worth it.”

As leaders, may we always remember that our task in this life is to bring out the best in other people.

Positive Leadership

We cannot escape the abundance of negative and toxic people, activities, or news.

The choice is ours to allow or not allow this negative and toxic element to take up residence in our mind.

Robert Tew makes this suggestion, “Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.”

Consider four ideas: 1) Avoid as much as possible, 2) Learn to walk away or turn it off, 3) Find positive people to spend time with daily, and 4) Be the most enthusiastic person you know.

The choice is ours to make, but leadership cannot thrive when the mind dwells on negative and toxic influences (cf. Phil. 4:8).

God’s Workmanship

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul paints a beautiful picture of what God creates in Christ Jesus, described as “His workmanship.”

The root form of this word means “to make happen.” God is instrumental in making a new creation happen through Christ Jesus (cf. 2 Co. 5:17).

The idea further indicates the purpose for which we have been made His workmanship: to make good works happen that were previously prepared by God.

An application to leadership seems obvious. God has given leaders an opportunity to lead in the greatest work on earth, the workmanship of God to make His will happen.