10 Points for a Good Leader

Cheryl Gowin and Dennis Gowin.  Call us at our counseling practice with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions at 434-808-2637.

Do you know?  Or should I ask do you recognize his name?  How about his song Resurrection Power?  A few years back he talked with CNN about his ideas relative to being a Christian leader.  Here are his 10 pointers on how to be a good leader.

Now, don’t stop reading because you aren’t a pastor or leader in your church.  These same principles apply to all of us.  Each one of us in some ways takes on leadership roles.

1. Step away from the microphone.  Many people feel they need to spout out more words for God to get his work done.  Yes, worship leaders easily fall into this trap.  How do you talk with your children or family members?  Could you say less and say more at the same time?

2.  Involve others.  Is it always about what you can do?  When is the last time you asked someone to participate in your projects or even to take the lead role on the project?  Do you struggle with giving up control?  How often do you say I can do it better myself?  Are you comfortable asking someone to help you?  It could be that your fear of rejection cripples your ability to delegate and empower.

3.  Is it about you?  Chris Tomlin talked about what a colossal waste his music would be if the music and his performances were all about him.  Ask yourself; when are you willing to walk off stage and let the people around you take center stage?  Queen Latifah, playing the character Georgia in the movie Last Holiday, tells the president of her company, Matthew Kragen, to take his face off the company’s magazine, to let others shine.  What would Queen Latifah say to you?

4. Use the talents you have been given.  His advice is to take inventory of what God has given you.  Use your gifts and talents for good; don’t focus on other’s gifts.

5. Don’t let money motivate you.  This is not an easy assignment in our culture.  Our culture puts the focus on stuff, money, and status. 

6. Don’t give up, even when you fail.  As Babe Ruth said, “Don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”  He did not say this without knowing what it meant to strike out.  Babe Ruth led the American League in strikeouts five times, and accumulated 1,330 strikeouts in his career.  How many times do you freely admit that you’ve failed more than you’ve succeeded?  Bath Ruth by virtually anyone’s metric has succeeded in life while he still recognized his many failures.  Don’t give up.

7. Allow God to use your past.  Would you think that a person who lost his temper and killed someone would make a good leader?  God did when He chose Moses to negotiate the release of the Jewish people and to lead them out of Egypt.   

8. Embrace simplicity.  Remember the rule KISS, Keep It Simple and Straightforward.  In the 1960’s the US Navy found that most systems work best if they are kept simple and therefore simplicity should be a key goal, and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.  Don’t make life too complicated.

9. Strive for quality.  That means being open to testing and revising your ideas, plans, and strategies before making them public.

10. Stay humble.  If your music was played more than any other music in the world, would you be proud?  Could you be humble if your name appeared in this sentence; _____’s  2013 album Budebuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, becoming the fourth CCM album in history to do so.  Ok, you can’t sing, but when things happen in your life who gets the credit?  How do you speak about yourself? Do you consider the needs of others above your own?  Does the buck stop with you? Or do you side step trouble, and put the blame on others?

This is a lot to take in; so to summarize, a good leader follows the golden rule.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.  Matthew 7:12

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Call us with your feedback, comments, issues, or questions; our phone number is 434-808-2637.