Leadership Torque

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: Summary

This series has been written mainly to those who are just beginning in leadership, although I feel it is also a timely reminder for any who have been leading for a while and perhaps have drifted away from the basics, or are experiencing gaps in their leadership. If you want to flourish in leadership I think the following are necessary, if you are floundering in your leadership perhaps one or more of the following need your attention:

Initiative: See the problem and within your boundaries fix it.

People Skills: Relate to people well, know them and love them.

Problem Solving: Be the first to solve the problem and do it well, and if you don't try again.

Focus: Cull the distractions and hone in and do what is most important.

Follow Through: Always do what you have committed to do.

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 6.Follow Through

There is nothing more frustrating for me as a leader than to give someone n important task and have it not done. This may be the reason why I dislike excuses so much... just get the job done. But I write about it here, not as a personal gripe but to say it is absolutely essential that anyone wanting to improve their leadership needs to be strong on this. You have to have the ability when you agree to a task to then make it happen.

Many people who don't grasp this tend to think, 'I'm just letting the person down who asked me to do it.' The reality is far greater than this however. Yes of course your letting that person down but every task fits into a bigger picture, and the bigger picture cannot be fulfilled until all tasks within that are fulfilled. Ultimately this means that every time we drop the ball, don't follow through, forget to do something, can't be bothered, don't have it high enough on our agendas, then the ultimate consequence is that people who are yet to know God in an intimate way, miss out! The stakes are huge, follow through on tasks is essential!

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 5.Focus

Distraction, procrastination, laziness are all enemies of effective leadership. Which is why focus plays such a core and vital role in any leaders arsenal. The ability to define priorieties, dismiss the unimportant and target that which has to or needs to be done is what frees a leader to excellence.

You don't need to be an effective leader long to know that the better you get at your job, the more work you attract. Often that work is all important and necessary. But as a leader you need to develop the skills that free you to give those less important tasks off to others, to work out what is not urgent and to pour your energies into that which only you can do, which fulfills the vision God has called you to!

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 4.Restlessness

When someone starts out as a leader, and they begin getting stuck into tasks asked of them the most encouraging words they can say are "What can I do now?" Hearing that question is encouraging because it means the previous tasks are being accomplished at a faster rate than was first perceived. I think this comes from a  restlessness. An attitude that says "I'm hear to get things done, what's next, point me in the right direction and let me at it." This quality in a leader seems to lift the entire pace of the ministry or organisation, it creates  a positive pressure that everyone around feels, and it calls out the best in people.

Effective leaders are those leaders who are not content with the status quo, who are always seeking to push the envelope, who will do what it takes to get it done and who lead with a sense of urgency and passion. Restlessness whilst not spoken of much in leadership theory is vital to any aspiring leader.

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 3.Problem Solving

Problem solving is what leaders do. The better you are a problem solving the better your leadership skill set becomes. If you can't solve problems people won't follow you for long. Problem solving is a skill which you can hone and develop.

I think to effectively solve problems you have to:

a) Identify what the true problem is. Often the presenting problem is only a symptom of the real problem. This will require gathering all the appropriate information you're going to need.

b) Look at all the different options available to you that may be a solution to the problem. Use the wisdom and insight of others to facilitate the brain storming process.

c) Execute the solution you have settled on.

d) Evaluate the effectiveness of the solution. Ie. Did it solve the problem you had before? Did it create a new problem?

e) Don't be scared of acknowledging you got it wrong and moving onto a different solution.

If you stick at this leadership gig for long enough, you will have to solve problems and you will find that your first attempt doesn't always work. That's part of leading, move past it, and concentrating on doing what needs to be done to solve the problem!

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 2.People Skills

More has been written on people skills in relation to leadership than I will ever read let alone know about but one thing I am convinced of. Leadership is about managing people. If you can't manage people you will never get very far in trying to influence them.

To manage them well means you need to understand them:

A) You need to understand what motivates them. Why do they do what they do?

B) You need to understand what they love and value.

C) You need to know their fears and concerns.

D) You need to be aware of their dreams, goals and aspirations.

E) You need to know their strengths.

F) You need to know their weaknesses.

Each one of these is extremely important when it comes to knowing people, working with them and helping them to bring their best to any situation you are requiring them to lead in. Most people overlook the importance of this and can often leave relational carnage in their wake. I would highly recommend that every person in leadership spend some time getting into the shoes of those they lead and see the world and issues from their perspective. The benefits are priceless.

To Flourish or Flounder in Leadership: 1.Initiative

If someone has initiative it doesn’t mean they are a great leader. But you cannot be a great leader without having initiative. A business dictionary describes initiative as “The action of creating or starting. A manager with initiative possesses the aptitude to bring forth new ideas or techniques; he will take action on his own without having to wait for instructions. People with initiative are self-starters and self-motivators. In the business world, initiative is associated with entrepreneurial activities.” Having said this however, to take initiative must be accompanied with permission from your leader. If you don’t have permission to do you’re walking into a mine field. In my opinion (to simplify the above) initiative is the ability to evaluate a situation, identify the felt need and respond to it appropriately without specific permission to do so from your overseer.

There are several things required to become and initiating leader:

A) Step over your fear of failure, because honestly you will muck up and it is ok.

B) Look for immediate ways to serve that contribute to a successful outcome.

C) Free yourself to think creatively about problems in order to solve them efficiently.

D)    Do that which you see needs to be done.

E) Make sure that your actions would fall within the bounds of acceptable actions.

Then you need to be wise but courageous. Taking initiative means that the scope to mess it up is substantially larger than it was previously, but lean on the fact that you have been given permission. Therefore embrace the opportunities that are before you and take initiative, but do it within the confines of what is helpful to the vision, in line with the aim and values and if pressed what you think you’re leader would agree with and support.

To Flourish or Flounder in leadership

It has occurred to me as I've thought more and more about it that there are certain things that enable a person to flourish in leadership and in the absence of these things that potential leader often flounders. I've identified six key things that I feel, if done and developed by a potential leader can lead to a flourishing display of leadership where people will follow. If these things are not implemented in the life and practice of a leader I think that leader suffers and never truly has a chance of fulfilling their potential.

I also need to say that I think these things can be developed, some people have them naturally others will have some and not the rest. What is important is that they are identified, or their absence is identified and then an appropriate response occurs to develop one's leadership. I hope you enjoy the next 6 blogs. I'd love to hear your feedback.

Teachability is almost everything

I'd been at Newlife for only a month, barelyknew anyone here and into my office walks a young adult who promptly says to me, after the chit-chat conversation, "what do I need to do to become a better leader?"

I was speechless. Because I'd all but given up that people actually cared about extending and developing the leadership gift that God has given to leaders. I was taken a back and then realised that I didn't know this person well enough to be able to give any sort of valid, worthy response. But since then, many conversation with this young adult and with others have unfolded around this question, which have been enormously beneficial to increasing our leadership depth and breadth.

But it all boils down to a single trait, passionate teachability that I believe every leader and potential leader needs to have. If as leaders we are not willing to be taught, or to pursue teaching opportunities that will stretch and equip us as leaders, then we SHOULD NOT BE LEADING!

I've worked with so many different leaders in the past, older, younger, mature, immature, brilliant, half average, etc. But the leaders who have left a bitter taste in my mouth are the ones who refused to be able to receive guidance, or be responsible for increasing their skill base. And I'm not only talking about leaders who wouldn't accept my instruction or insight, the leaders I'm thinking ofencapsulate that old saying 'they are a law unto themselves'. Leaders (who aren't actually real leaders mind you), or people in positions of power and authority abuse those they lead and those they lead with when they refuse to be teachable.

But it is an act of submission that defuses pride. And pride can have no place in servant leadership.

Look for those who are teachable, and then teach them well!

Serving reveals character

I was on a panel at the GLS and was asked what qualities I look for in a leader. There are a few, but the one that struck me was now days I always look for a servant. You see you can't really make leaders serve by guilting them into it, demanding it of them, asking then nicely, encouraging them, etc. It has to be in their blood.

Now not everyone who serves is a leader, but everyone you consider for leadership should be a leader, because when someone's serves it reveals their true character. And if you are able to serve alongside them you get to see a side of them that can only be seen in the chaos of a serving opportunity. Someone's willingness to serve and their execution of this willingness reveals something about who they are that no other means (except mind reading) can!

Always look for the servants!