5 Leadership lessons part 1

My first official leadership experience was in our church youth group back when I was 14. Not long after that I started a band/ministry where I assumed or landed the leadership role. It wasn’t assumed by everyone else though:-) I continued to lead in that capacity for the following 18 years, and learnt much about leadership ( one never stops learning). 

Here are some of my earliest leadership lessons:

Being on time is not optional - Being late is so overrated. There are undoubtedly times when circumstances cause us to arrive late for meetings or connection times. However when circumstances regularly lead to you being late, the circumstances can no longer be blamed.... it’s just bad planning, plain and simple. Being on time says that you honor the people you are meeting with and want to give them every minute that is set aside. Being on time whether we like it or not, says something of how you manage the rest of your life. And then lastly being on time allows for your life to be well ordered inspite of the busyness of life, which ultimately benefits your family who are always the ones who suffer when time runs away.

You are not always right - In my early years I naively thought that to be a good leader you had to be right.....all the time. Of course a good leader generally has a track record of making good decisions, but reality is, that is not always the case. A good leader recognizes his/her own fallibility and is not shaken when a wrong decision is made. 

When you have made a bad decision, an apology is in order - A good leader is never above an apology. If anything the willingness for a leader to apologize, is often in my experience, a sign of strength. Your team or co-workers respect of you will increase, giving you leadership capital that you cannot buy. Interestingly enough, the kind of leadership capital you earn from an apology is different to the kind you earn through a good leadership decision, and as leaders we need both kinds.

Just because you lead, doesn’t mean you are the most spiritual - Once again I naively thought that I had to set the spiritual temperature of our ministry. Immaturity caused me to pray louder than the person next to me, and increase my spiritual talk. All a lot of hot air if you ask me. Of course in my situation as a leader of a ministry, to walk close to God, and continue to grow closer to Him in my relationship was an absolute necessity. But I learnt very quickly that a good leader is a good facilitator. He/she realizes that they can’t do everything themselves. They create space for others to exercise their gifts.

Give before it’s asked for - When a member of you team in some way asks for affirmation or encouragement, and you then as a leader give it to them, they will walk away thinking and feeling that they deserved it.  However, when you as a leader give affirmation or encouragement when it is not asked for, your team member will walk away feeling affirmed and encouraged. This applies in the corporate world as well with employer/employee relationships, with salary increases and bonuses etc. : when we as leaders give before it’s asked for, it’s always appreciated more.

We never stop learning about leadership, what are some of your thoughts?

God bless,

Steve and Bron