Gaming

My Christian Leader’s Top 40

AFTER writing these points below, I asked myself, “Does the Church really need another article on ‘leadership’?” Although my answer was negative, I thought that these points were still worth refining and publishing to have clarity in my own thinking. Maybe they are also beneficial for your thinking?

First, my ‘qualifications’ as a leader from which this list is drawn. Mainly experience in the secular workforce, professionally. But I got my first “diploma” in team leadership almost twenty years ago. Most of the time I have been asked to provide leadership rather than being the assigned leader. And my leadership style has most often been that of group facilitator or individual mentor. As an advisor, the power I have had to use has been personal and informational, to achieve results through others due to influence, rather than through actual positional power.

Perhaps read the following list and determine for yourself my ‘grades’ based on how you feel about what I have written.

So here it goes. Here is my list of the top 40 traits of good Christian leaders.

They:

1. Reward innovation – A competent leader knows he needs good minds. They reward innovative thinking. There is no such thing as ‘leaving your brain at the door’ for a good Christian leader. Of course, role boundaries help with context.

2. Do not punish anything, why repress love? In leadership, tough love can easily turn into abuse. The punitive motive does not seek the best in whom it is directed. Let your own punishment be a consequence. Punish no more. Infuse relational dynamics with grace. Sometimes a lesson needs to be learned, but no “interest” should be added.

3. Embrace the heart: passion is fundamental in the Kingdom of God. As a leader, I want to embrace the passion of the people, believing that it is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

4. Speak of holiness – similar to Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, it is the leader’s responsibility to speak the Word and will of God, and the revelation of the Lord operates in our lives.

5. Usage Process: I prefer Ian Macdonald’s Systems Leadership Process to Team Leadership and Team Membership, which I came across in 1993. This process values ​​the roles of all players on the team. Competent leaders appreciate the importance of a fair, efficient and effective process, which is above all well communicated.

6. Teach to Enjoy: Passion comes from joy, and leaders understand that connection. Joy is inherently motivating, and a leader who typifies joy exudes what most desire as a trait of their being.

7. Listen carefully: The best leaders are humble enough to listen in a way that the speaker feels that they are the only ones present in that space at the time.

8. Encourage authenticity – It can be hard work being ourselves. Some need permission. Others just find it difficult. Others, again, do well; encourage them within the group. Then authenticity will be unlocked because people will not be afraid of being vulnerable because it is valued.

9. Model Encouragement: A competent leader is encouragement. They model what they value that everyone should do. These types of leaders do not believe that encouragement is an exclusive gift that is given to some; encouragement is seen as a fruit of the Spirit in terms of goodness.

10. Value history: A good leader understands that he leans on the shoulders of others before him. They understand that nothing is unfounded and they give credit when it is deserved.

11. Take responsibility: A good leader understands the value of taking blame for things that go wrong. They know that it is the leadership system that needs to be fixed, not the people. This creates a feeling of security and well-being in people.

12. Report regularly: many things and events are honored and benefited simply by taking stock. A good leader plays a capable advisor when necessary. This pastoral concern shows people where the heart of their leader is.

13. Make time: time is space and space made means that people feel valued, respected and safe. This is a radical concept in our time. But his wisdom is eternal.

14. Communicate clearly: the good leader knows that communication is more than what is said; it is what is not said, as well as what is communicated intrapersonally through reflective work done, often days and weeks after a crucial conversation took place. Communication is not just a one-time event. The meaning changes all the time.

15. They are conventionally radical: the competent leader does what adds value, but seems radical, somewhat conventional. Love is radical, but love is not extremism; the radical has so much value that it becomes conventional. We could call it innovation.

16. They are carefully responsible: A good leader does not use responsibility to hit people over the head. They themselves exemplify careful, measured and proactive responsibility, so when they exercise it, it is genuine, appreciated, and adds value.

17. Embody advocacy – A good leader respects that what appears to be a small thing to others is a big thing to someone else. They gently but firmly advocate for the individual with a lonely voice.

18. Keep perspective: The little things that outweigh power can make projects inefficient and ineffective. The leader leads by asking “How important is this?” with the implicit answer, “Not much.”

19. Handling Crises: Great leaders handle crises as cognitive challenges, not emotional battles. Good leaders are realistic, but in a crisis they become situationally optimistic to guide others through the confusion.

20. Clarify roles: a good leader gives everyone a different role; And, to the extent possible, each role is equally critical compared to the roles of the others. People appreciate being valuable for the whole purpose.

21. Trust Results – A good leader knows that strong input equals valuable production equals transformational results. They know good results will come.

22. They are positively appreciative: A good leader uses Appreciative Inquiry (IA). They recognize that there is more to be gained by focusing on strength than weakness.

23. Always be kind: In an often violent world, a good leader is a model of safety, security, and peace. With a good leader, everyone is safe.

24. Enduring Failure: The competent leader does not give much thought to failures other than where the system failed. Good leaders accept and appreciate that the human factors of failure are inevitable.

25. Celebrate with humility: Success is a sign of synergy. A good leader uses success to remind the team of TEAM (Treat every member real).

26. Lifting up the helpless – According to John 3:30, a good leader shows where love abounds: lifting the helpless off the ground.

27. They are constantly faithful: A good leader is emotionally adult. They are emotionally reliable and stable, and they deserve the trust that is placed in them.

28. Allow diversity: Competent leaders appreciate difference, recognizing equality of thought and the ideal as a limiting sign. Adversity is accepted in a diverse culture, and disagreement is encouraged and fought. A good leader encourages disagreement so that it can be discussed maturely.

29. Give up control: A good leader is not a bad manager. They understand the corrosive nature of a leader’s positional power. They would rather use personal power to make themselves liked by others and the power of information to empower others.

30. Have a Loving Determination: A leader never gives up when that’s easily the expectation. At the end of a good leader is the second wind of dependence on God, who inspires and innovates through them once again by his Spirit.

31. Enjoy the moments: A good leader is spiritually alive and maximizes awareness of the moment.

32. They are the blessed – the blessed of the Beatitudes. The biblical leader understands the power of Kingdom reversal: that the things that seem against us are for us when we continue through faith.

33. Put ambition aside: Progress and achievement have to do with the team and the Kingdom and ultimately God. The good leader does not put the cart before the horse. They achieve their personal goals through the noble work of working with and for others.

34. They are happy dying: the good leader is happy dying alone or in the actual practice of dying. They live within the tensions of the truth of Philippians 1: 23-24.

35. Avoid fame: too much notoriety is not good for anyone. The good leader deviates from popularity as much as he can. And they recognize their own envy for the success of others, and they resist that too.

36. Love for the family: what kind of testimony do we have of the truthfulness of the Kingdom if our families are in ruins? However, the good leader is happy to learn from his mistakes. But family is an area that they want to do well, as much as possible. Family comes first, always.

37. Rest well, good leaders care to rest and not be a burden to others, to the extent that it depends on them, due to their fatigue. But an exhausted leader also brings glory to God when he graciously deals with his weakness.

38. Value compassion: After having awakened your heart, a good leader will not fail in the area of ​​compassion. They feel that they need time to recover when their compassion wears out. They see compassion as the measure of their piety.

39. They are self-aware: a great ability for momentary reflection that good leaders personify. Their self-awareness causes them to repent, and often.

40. Desire God – There is no higher esteem that a leader can give than his esteem for God, who always guides him by his Spirit. Worshiping God is your number one love.

© 2016 SJ Wickham.

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