Leadership in Context

The evidence of effective leadership is that people know the next step. Spiritual planning does not lack faith; it is a testament to your faith. You are not waiting for something to happen. You are allowing God to instigate you to cause something to happen. What is your plan for the things you say are important to you?

A lot of people never become the steward of their own life because their thinking is stuck in a victim mentality. A lot of bad things happen to a lot of good people. A planner says, “What am I going to do with what I have?” At some point, you will give an account for the things the Lord has given you.

You will never be prosperous or free in your soul if you are jealous of others or compare yourself to others. 

Jesus came in the flesh. He humbled Himself and took on the form of a man. The Spirit of God lives in you. You are a model of Christ, an example of Christ. You have a purpose. God wants to use you to touch this world as the representation of Christ.

What drives your life–problems or purpose? The 80/20 Rule is that 80% of the effort from ministry teams is spent taking care of needs and not moving the vision forward. When a leader can begin to tilt that seesaw, then you have exponential growth in leaders. Therefore, you can meet more needs.

Leaders set goals by defining where they want to go. Goals are not just about productivity. They are about clarity of direction. If the destination is clear, you are more apt to fight through (and win) whatever happens along the way. If you aren’t sure about the destination, there will be a hesitancy to give it your all. If you see a group of people who have gifts but they aren’t giving their all, then the destination isn’t clear.

Are we leading people or just ministering to people? Ministering to them is helping them get whole and self-governed. That is a key part of discipleship. Often ministry leaders spend 75% of their time doing ministry and not leading. As a result, they have fewer leaders and more needs. Even if they grow from your ministry, they aren’t able to multiply.

Often we look for people who can help us do a certain thing rather than looking for someone to help us be a certain kind of person. Having someone in your life who will help you be a better person will, in turn, help you do better. Who is that someone in your life that you have given permission to drill down on you, even when you don’t like it?

How do you get better? Change the way you prepare. Practice. Practice involves attitude and aptitude. If you don’t have a desire to get better, you are going to have a bad attitude about practicing. Practice helps our aptitude. We keep getting better, and that becomes the culture.

We all have to do things that we are not called to do so that we can do the things we are called to do. God placed man in the garden to cultivate it and keep it. He placed him there to work. Our work should be a reflection of our worship. Work is not a necessary evil. Work is a divine assignment. If you don’t do it in the workplace, you won’t do it in the ministry.