I’ve been a student of leadership since the late ’80s. I attended a conference with a few guys to hear a pastor from California teach on the transformational power of leadership. Since then, he has moved on and has become America’s poster child and multi millionaire guru of Leadership. He is none other than Dr. John Maxwell. I heard a statement that day, sitting at the Marriott just off Clairmont and 85, that changed my trajectory in life. I heard Maxwell say that the “definition of leadership was influence.” He nailed it! At that moment, I determined to become a student, a seeker of this influence. I learned that it’s a lot easier to dress like a leader, or walk like a leader, than it is to actually BE A LEADER!
Over the course of three decades, I’ve come to appreciate that influence is indeed displayed in leadership, but it cannot change the world if the influence being poured out is for all the wrong reasons and selfish motivations. I’ve come to appreciate that this world doesn’t need more great leaders. This world needs a handful of people that will commit themselves to Godly Leadership. Leaders that can open the windows and doors of their heart and allow the world to see the Divine in action as He leads them!
Here are 10 Extraordinary Leadership Lesson for you to Chew On:
- Transparency and authenticity will overcome most leadership flaws.
- If you never serve others, you have never truly lead them.
- If you really want to be a great leader, give more of your self than you ask others to give.
- Great leaders seek wisdom from on high, spend time in God’s Word and meditate on what matters most every single day.
- Great leaders chase after a vision that is impossible to achieve apart from Divine intervention.
- If you surrender your willingness to learn – you’ve surrendered your right to lead.
- Leadership is far more than influence. It is believing in the source of your influence.
- Leadership always includes failures and the willingness to own mistakes, learn from the failure and stay at it!
- Great leaders know themselves, understand their strengths and acknowledge their weaknesses. They know they cannot succeed alone.
- Really, really great leaders appreciate and elevate others that are stronger than they are in some way and let them lead.
Happy Thursday – Lead Well Today!
—AChuck
