Tag: SALT

Christian Leaders

While people often think leaders are a rare breed, leadership needs those who are a rare breed because they are Christians.

The priorities established by Christian leaders contribute to a breed of leaders that know who they are and where they are going.

The character demonstrated by Christian leaders sets them apart as a rare breed influencing others toward a heavenly goal.

The inspiration promoted by Christians leaders becomes the lifeblood for exciting followers to take their faith into the lives of others.

Christian leaders are a rare breed, and with the right priorities, character, and inspiration, the future is incredibly bright.

Listening Leaders

We love to talk. When we talk, we don’t have to listen to the blah, blah, blah of people’s lives. We never get sucked into the vortex of their problems. We don’t become vulnerable to our own inadequacies.

Worse still is that when others talk, we don’t really listen. Instead, we think about what we want to say and we just wait to jump in and say it.

Perhaps this is why people are more comfortable with talking.

Consider something Bernard Baruch said, “Most of the successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking.”

Maybe we need to rethink our approach as leaders.

Spiritual Formation

Social justice, human dignity, community awareness, liberation, and other issues often come to the forefront of a discussion about spiritual formation.

However, our participation in these alone does not result in spiritual formation.

Spiritual formation must involve the following:

1) God: There is no spiritual formation without Him.

2) Holy Spirit: We don’t know the full depths of His activity, but He is essential to spiritual formation.

3) Jesus: The cornerstone to our spiritual house, and without Him there is no formation.

4) The Word: This book guides us in the spiritual formation needed to complete and perfect us for every task.

Spiritual formation requires all four.

Leading Succinctly

Students often prefer essay questions. Primarily, because they have an opportunity to write enough “fluff” to maybe hit the right answer. Sadly, our approach to leadership can be the same.

Allowing uncertainty and a lack of clarity to be clouded with the minutia of indirectness is common. When we finish, no one seems to know what was communicated.

How can we be more succinct when communicating?

Think deeply.
Write it down.
Edit.

Good communication is the result of thinking deeply, writing, rewriting, and rewriting until we are succinct.

The same applies when communicating orally.

Lead with Passion

Too many people work in a career, job, or other activity that is filled with drudgery. They struggle to get out of bed and drag themselves through the day.

Life is too short to participate in any area of life we are not passionate about. When the direction of our life is purposed by our passion, we are excited to get up and go.

Wanda Skyes shared this helpful reminder, “If you feel like there’s something out there that you’re supposed to be doing, if you have a passion for it, then stop wishing and just do it.”

What are we passionate about and are we doing it?

In Sync Leadership

To be “in sync” involves harmony between our own life and the lives of others, especially those we lead. How can leaders work with others in ways that leave both feeling in sync?

1) Listen. The idea of active listening involves the ability to listen with the head and heart.

2) Equip. An urgent requisite includes equipping others with the tools to accomplish the task.

3) Motivate. Leaders must encourage and inspire others in order to be on the same page.

4) Reward. When the job is done well and reaches its end, the achievement deserves a time to celebrate the victory.

Leading by GPS

A global positioning system (GPS) makes travel in unfamiliar territory much easier. Now, we have a variety of apps on our smart devices that provide this luxury.

From a leadership perspective, imagine the impact on followers with leaders that know they are the GPS, God’s Purposeful Servant.

God is the foundation of our leadership, guided and directed by the Creator of the universe.

Purposeful
indicates two ideas: 1) God’s will drives our leadership, and 2) we lead with intentionality.

Servant is the descriptive word. We are servants of God and others as we lead them with hope for a better future.

Interdependency

Rarely do leaders consider the interdependency of relationships. These are relationships where people are dependent on each other.

Our culture focuses on independence, a make it on your own mentality. Pride often hinders us from ever seeking or asking for help from anyone else.

The other side of the coin is one where we become dependent on someone else without contributing to the relationship ourselves.

When we take a learning posture and realize others can teach, guide, and offer something to help us in our role as leaders, we begin to fulfill an interdependency that will strengthen our ability to lead.

Faith-based Leadership

An old Chinese proverb claims that “limitations are the boundaries we place in our minds.” What do we consider to be possible or impossible?

While we claim that all things are possible with God, do we really believe it?

We say we have faith, then turn around and place limitations on what we hope to accomplish because it has not been done before. Do we really believe?

Since God is our strength and He made us fellow-workers in His kingdom, we need to stop thinking in the realm of impossibility. Maybe if we moved out of the way, God would do some incredible things.

The Light of Leadership

Jesus claimed to be the “Light of the world.” He further told His disciples, “You are the light of the world…,” concluding the thought by saying, “Let your light shine…”

There can be no doubt that Jesus planned for His followers to reflect His character, virtue, and example in a world that does not welcome the light and often attempts to extinguish it.

Katelyn Irons challenged us with this thought, “Shine with all you have. When someone tries to blow you out, just take their oxygen and burn brighter.”

For leaders, it’s about leading out of being. The light is who we are, not just what we do.