Often times I say that “Leadership is a greater form of
service in disguise”. Many people desire
a platform, but what they may not always know is what comes with the platform
they desire. As a Husband, Father,
Pastor, and Leader in the civic community I often get compliments on how great
I’m doing or how blessed I am. While I
agree totally, I sometimes think to myself “if they only knew what it costs”. I think the challenge of being a great leader
is to be able to keep the balance between your platform and your purpose. Leading will cost you something and it’s at
times easy to get caught in the “glitz and glimmer” of leadership. Don’t
ever allow where you are to get to your head.
You have to keep the purpose and the reason you wanted the platform in
front of you. This is why as leaders we
must always focus on service first.
Even Jesus said “the son of man did not come to serve but to
be served..” He also stated that “the
greatest among you must become servants”.
This my friends is the focus we must keep as leaders. We are “servants” first! Understand that the higher you go in the eyes
of others the more demand is placed on you and the more you must serve. Here
are 3 ways to remain a great servant leader.
1) To remain a great “servant leader” Step out of Administration
and into Conversation
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Often times as leaders we get so busy putting the
pieces of the puzzle together we forget that people are our greatest
resource. We have no one to lead if we don’t
have people that will follow us. At
times we need to take off our administrative hats and have some meaningful
conversations with the people we lead.
We must take time to really get to know what’s on their heart, what
their concerns are, and how we are called to assist them. This will connect our hearts with the people we
serve and allow us to serve them better.
2) To remain a great “servant leader” Step out of Position and
step into Permission
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A powerful quote by John Maxwell is that “people have to give you permission to
lead”. While you are placed as the
leader that does not mean people will follow you. Whether you know it or not people are screening
you to see if you can be trusted with their loyalty. The way to influence people to follow you is
to build genuine relationships. Give them
a call out of the blue. Send them a nice
card. Stop by one of their kids baseball
games. These simple things help people to
embrace you as their leader and commit to your vision. As they say “people don’t care how much you
know until they know how much you care.”
3) To remain a great “servant leader” Focus on the Reason as
much as the Revenue
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Yes we know that “money makes the world go around.” Let’s be clear you need money to run your
organization but is that all this is about?
Is it just about money, or is it about doing something to help
people. Even if you are running a top
corporation that brings in millions of dollars a year there has to be more of
an intrinsic desire to do more than just get a paycheck. You need to desire to make a difference. Now you need money because It’s hard to help
others when you are broke. However, let
the focus be the greater cause and why you truly desire to lead and the
succeed. If you keep the reason before
you the revenue will come.
Jonathan Richardson, M.Div. is the Pastor of Faith Forward Church
Faith Forward Enterprises, INC. and Faith Forward Group, LLC.
