My pastor of many years was a wise man. A leader. And funny. I remember him once saying, “I’m the leader of this church! And if I look around and see the church is not following me…I’ll just run around and get back in front of them!” He understood a leader must have followers. You may have a title, but that doesn’t automatically make you a leader. Management expert Peter Drucker says, “The only definition of a leader is someone who has followers.” True, but maybe a bit simplistic. John Maxwell puts it this way: “Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.”

Influence. That’s an important concept for any leader.

Richard and Henry Blackaby wrote a book in 2004 called Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda that has some amazing insights for leaders today.

“The twenty-first century provides unprecedented opportunities for leaders to impact positively their organizations. However, the new millennium also brings unforeseen challenges to leaders. The digitized nature of the twenty-first century has created increasing expectations among followers, and the unrelenting advances of technology has made communications both a blessing and a curse.”

Even in those early years, these spiritual leaders were already seeing the growing communication world as a plus and a minus in the area of leadership.

The Center for Creative Leadership lists what they see as the characteristics of a leader:

  • Integrity
  • Ability to delegate
  • Communication
  • Self-awareness
  • Gratitude
  • Learning agility
  • Influence
  • Empathy
  • Courage
  • Respect

I love that integrity is right at the top. Other key words to me are communication, gratitude, influence, courage, and respect. How do you measure up on these qualities of a true leader?

One of the more popular concepts of leadership over the past 20 years is that of a servant leader. Many in Christian ministry understand that concept quickly and recognize the biblical foundation for that important quality of a leader. And many successful secular companies have effectively embraced servant leadership in their organizations. What is a servant leader? Here is a good explanation:

A servant leader’s focus is on serving others rather than serving themselves or being served by others. A servant leader meets people where they are so they can climb to the top alongside them rather than charging ahead.

Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, sums up great qualities for those of us in leadership:

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT

So, you’re a leader? How do you measure up? What can you do differently today that will help you be the godly influence the Lord wants you to be?

God’s best…