Leaders Of Excellence
The moment any leader believes they are boss is the moment that leader forfeits the mantle of leadership.
It is NOT the work of a true leader to serve as a "BOSS." For example:
Being a BOSS comes with the authority to command. A LEADER comes only with the privilege of service.
· A BOSS has prerogatives of control. A LEADER uses the prerogatives of teaching, of orienting, of serving.
· The BOSS may get results by pressuring people to produce. The LEADER gets results by enabling them to produce. Through counsel and demonstration, he commits them to their own ideals, and he stimulates a desire from within to be productive.
· A BOSS tends to live by his authority, and trusts the powers invested in him. The LEADER does not need to exhibit a credential of authority, for he has found strength in the dynamism of his own walk with God and His call to leadership. These are his best letters of authority.
· The authority of a BOSS imposes, while the authority of the LEADER is in that which charms, inspires, sympathizes, and wins hearts. His personal atmosphere is healthy and free of hierarchic ambition. This is a leader of excellence.
· A BOSS may inspire fear. A LEADER inspires confidence and enthusiasm. He encourages, fortifies and motivates to good works.
· A BOSS may sanction, punish and reprimand. A LEADER seizes the learning opportunity found when a mistake is made. He does not extinguish the flickering flame of hope within the heart of an erring worker, but he forgives, corrects, teaches and inspires. He mends the torn fabric of relationships, and he rehabilitates the fallen.
· The BOSS may make unbearable the work load at hand. The LEADER organizes the work, distributes responsibilities, promotes team work and upholds ideals of service. The work becomes a privilege to undertake with enthusiasm.
· A BOSS may know what should be done and how to do it. The LEADER studies what is to be done, learns how to do it, and personally demonstrates his findings.
· A BOSS may manipulate people, even reducing them to a number and a card. The LEADER prepares and educates them. He sees their intrinsic worth.
· The BOSS arrives on time. The LEADER of excellence arrives ahead of time
In summary: Leaders of excellence look beyond the present capabilities of their followers, and see a picture of what they may become. Leaders prophesy and predict, so to speak. They paint verbal and mental pictures of what they believe they and others can do. They motivate others to try. They derive extraordinary achievements from ordinary people. They instil a sense of mission. Leaders inspire hope. They show people how to actualize the fulfilment of their dreams. Leaders lend meaning to life by living and breathing the ideals that build people up to be what they were created to be.
Jesus, the most excellent Leader of all, gave us His example. When Andrew presented his brother, Simon, Jesus said: "So you are Simon the son of to John? You shall be called Cefas (which means Peter)" (John 1:42). Jesus, when speaking to Simon, conjugated the verb "to be" into two tenses-“You are” and "you will be." In other words, Jesus was saying- "You are Simon, a fisher of fish--but you will be Peter, a fisher of men.” Jesus looked beyond to what Simon could become, and from that lowly fisherman, a powerful leader arose.
Fortunately, God looks not only to our outer aspects, nor to the defects of character we may now have. He looks beyond, and He sees what we, under the power of His influence, can become. May God place the seed of His love firmly into your heart. May it grow to fruition, as with the apostle Peter, unto the full stature of God's expectations for your life and mine. Take courage! We too, can become leaders of excellence in bearing the Good News to the world.
| 16For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten ([a]unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life |
17God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! 18No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son. |