HEALTHY CHURCH: Leading Others (Part 2)
Are you a leader worth following? Are you passionately and persistently following Jesus? Can you say, as Paul did, “Follow me as I follow Christ?” This is part two covering the 12 Indispensable Leadership Skills from Leader’s Summit. There are three areas to consider in determining your sweet spot in ministry and leadership:
• The first component to consider is your passion. What fuels you the most? Passion is a conviction that becomes contagious because it withstands the test of pain. In Philippians 1, Paul reminds us that the things that happened to him (prison, being in chains) “had fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.” Passion is what propels you forward.
• The second component is the ability to carry out what you are passionate about. What can you do best? What are your natural talents and skill sets? What is your Spirit-given gift? Have you taken a spiritual gift inventory, and have you identified yours?
• The third component of determining your sweet spot is your context. This is the most overlooked of the three. It asks, where is my greatest impact? How can I improve my influence where God has placed me?
A proper biblical understanding and awareness of these three areas will help point you toward being a leader worth following.
The 12 leader characteristics include six hard skills (what a leader does) along with six soft skills (who a leader is). Each hard skill corresponds to and is supported by the soft skills that are a part of the leader’s composition and disposition.
• The seventh characteristic (hard skill) is execution. “A leader is ultimately responsible for and involved in getting the right things done.” Execution, in this context, is defined as “the carrying out or putting into effect of a plan, order or course of action.” Are you carrying out the steps God has directed your team to develop? Once you determine, with much prayer, the steps that need to be taken, you must execute.
• Now we move to another one of the soft skills — character. “A leader must excel in character, ethics and morality, and possess key character traits essential for leadership. The Scriptures tell us Jesus was full of grace and truth, and His consistency is seen in how He always led out of who He was, established by His close walk with the Father. Everything Jesus did was God-initiated. A leader must always be willing to examine their motives and not allow pride, ego, envy, jealousy or a competitive nature to drive or dictate what they do. Your close walk with Jesus is the only way to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
• The ninth characteristic is communication (hard skill). “A leader is responsible for communication throughout the organization.” The challenge is to say the right thing in the right way while communicating the message in a way that is being received and understood. Just because you spoke does not mean those who heard it truly understood. The message you are communicating may need to be decoded so those receiving it can properly grasp where you are headed, what you are doing and why you are doing it. Clarity is kindness, and it hopefully removes a lot of potential frustration. Remember to move slowly, not fast.
• Having people skills (soft) is number 10. “A leader must possess the attitudes and abilities to relate to people in a productive and wholesome manner.” How much do you value those around you? Do you value them enough to give them the tools and training they need to help them succeed in the task for which they are responsible? Do you value them enough to listen to them, not just in what they are saying but in how they are acting and their body language? In The Multiplication Effect, Mac Lake stated, “The greater reason for developing leaders is to cultivate the God-given leadership gifts in others.” It is not just to get the job done.
• The 11th characteristic (hard skill) is to inspire. “A leader knows that ‘leaders lead by pulling rather than by pushing; by inspiring rather than by ordering.’” (Bennis and Nanus) How do you inspire? You lead by example, demonstrating servant leadership where you believe every leader should be willing to do whatever the Lord asks them to do. You inspire through your life and with your words because this godly example will enable Heb. 10:24 to become a reality in your leadership culture — “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.”
• We conclude this list of indispensable characteristics with social intelligence. “A leader understands ‘the accumulated wisdom that comes from constantly observing and learning what works and what doesn’t in human situations.’” (Albrecht) How smart you are (IQ) is less important than emotional or social intelligence. Social intelligence is seen in things like decorum (propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance), etiquette (conduct appropriate in observed social or cultural life), manners (rules of conduct as shown in the prevalent customs) and politeness (marked by being considerate, tactful and courteous). A godly leader should never be seen as crude, clueless, inappropriate, awkward or mean-spirited. Jesus knew the crowd He was speaking to and understood, because of that awareness, what needed to be said and how it needed to be said. Jesus was fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the leaders He had called to follow Him. If anyone was ever able to read the room, it was Him. Leader’s Summit stated: “Social intelligence requires having the wisdom and grace to accommodate individual differences within the context of the whole. Establish standards, but allow for some slack and margin.”
These 12 characteristics give you a great template to examine your leadership style and culture. Examine what kind of leader you are and have the conviction to settle for nothing less than God’s standard. A conviction is not something you hold; a conviction is something that holds you!
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Larry Barker
Director of Church Planting and Church Health Larry Barker submits a weekly column titled, Healthy Church Solutions, designed to strengthen and encourage the local church.
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