“Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards the
achievement of a goal”. ~ Kevin Kruse
What is leadership?
Do you know how many times I’ve been asked this question? I, like some of you, never gave
thought to embracing a personal definition of leadership as it relates to my ability to add value
to another life.
Pause.
Add. Value.
Over the years I’ve come to understand that a key component of leadership is the ability to add
value and make an impact in the lives of others in such an extraordinary way that lives are
changed as a result of my influence to help get them from where they are to where they want to
be.
There was a time in my life, as I was learning to navigate my way through various leadership
positions, that what was demonstrated before me didn’t align with the heart of leadership.
What I’ve come to learn is that leadership is a matter of the heart.
Leadership goes beyond having a title; leadership is about service.
Our perception of leadership excellence is primarily shaped by the influences of those around
us. Good, bad or indifferent, our definition of leadership can be attributed to what is
demonstrated before us. I’ve been blessed to witness leadership excellence at it finest and I’ve
also experienced not so great leadership examples where I’ve had to “eat the meat and spit out
the bones”. As we stay in the posture of humility, we position ourselves to learn from our
experiences in ways that will help us grow in our ability to lead well.
You have a unique gift, talent or ability that is needed in the earth and GOD knew He could
trust YOU to lead {add value, influence, inspire} others for His glory.
In my experience, I’ve learned to lead the way GOD has wired me to lead. For me, mediocrity
has no place at the table when it comes to operating in leadership excellence. It took me years
to learn that I didn’t have to apologize for my wiring to consistently operate in the spirit of
excellence. I soon realized that excellence looks different for everyone and that the level of
excellence that you demonstrate shouldn’t be compared to the level of excellence of the next
person. The comparison trap is real and oh so dangerous.
Excellence is not extravagance, its simply doing the best with what you have.
What is excellence and what does it really mean? Does excellence suggest perfection? Let’s be
clear – excellence should not be confused with perfection. I’ve come to understand excellence
to mean doing your very best with what you have. As Servant Leaders, we serve a GOD who
gave us His very best. GOD doesn’t require you to match the level of service to Him as the next
person, but what He does require of us is our best effort.
Every leader must engage in self-introspection.
Leadership excellence requires that we be self-aware. What are your motivations? What are
your strengths? Weaknesses? To whom are you accountable?
You cannot change what you are not willing to confront.
What’s the ratio between your strengths and weaknesses? For some of us, our list of
weaknesses may appear to overshadow our areas of strength and contradict our motivations. If
not checked and properly managed, our list of weaknesses could cause us to feel unqualified to
serve others in the spirit of excellence and opens the door for you to fall victim to the
comparison trap. Here’s a thought: forget your weaknesses. That’s right. Forget them. Why? To
be good at leadership you have to be very honest about your weaknesses and find people who
excel in those weaknesses, and be secure about it.
Chew on that one for a minute.
It is absolutely OK to be surrounded by people you trust to fill in the gaps in areas where you
cannot. It takes nothing away from your ability to be a great leader. As a matter of fact,
recognizing your weaknesses and deferring to others who are more proficient in those areas
allows you to capitalize on your strengths to maximize your potential. A great leader looks for
way stop to sculpt their leadership around the strengths that make them stand out.
GOD does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
Now that we’ve addressed the fact that your service to the kingdom of GOD or your ability to
operate in the spirit of Kingdom Excellence is not based on your qualifications or the fact that
you’re flawed, give thought to the type of leader you aspire to be.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. ~ Proverbs 23:7b
Ever heard of the saying, “rid yourself of stinkin’ thinkin’?” The mind truly is the battlefield.
More often than not, we fail to accept who GOD has created us to be and embrace His desire to
use us despite our shortcomings. In what ways must your paradigm {your way of thinking} need
to shift in order to align with the type of leader you aspire to be?