Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

The Leader – BE

We continue to reflect upon a good way to organize our understanding of the complex subject of leadership.  Using the simple outline of Know – Be – Do – Reproduce we can categorize the important functions of this vast subject called leadership.  Today we will address the category of “Be – Who a Leader Is.”

1. Develop personal depth

Lead from an overflow of your walk an intimacy with Christ

• Your intimacy with Christ grows as you spend time with Him in the Scriptures
• Seek to know God’s ways, not just His actions
• Develop depth and breadth in the Bible!
• Bible reading plans can be very helpful – repetition is the key to learning

Read more and read selectively

• Read and re-read good books!
• Good books are tested by their continued influence over a long time
• Read critically – always compare what you read with the Scriptures to insure alignment with Kingdom truth
• Just because a book is popular today does not mean you should spend your precious reading time on it
• Often our egos get involved because we want to seem “with it” by saying that we have read the “cool and current” rather than the “tried and true”
• Create a “To Be Read” bookshelf and a folder for  current articles

We lead more from who we are, rather than from what we know

• Lead from the inside out!
• Lead from the strength of your God-given design and gifting
• Lead from your ‘life messages’ given to you through your life experiences
• Speak truth to those you lead, but always tempered with love

2. Develop Christlikeness

Be intentional about your character development

• Leaders are like toothpaste tubes, when you squeeze them, what’s inside comes out!
• We default to who we are when we are under pressure
• Foundational areas for Christlike character development – love, humility, integrity, courage
• Remember ‘The Golden Rule of Leadership’ – “Lead others the way you would want to be led.”  –  see Luke 6:31

3. Recharge your batteries – even the Energizer Bunny runs out of power!

Get some time away from your leadership responsibilities

• Insure that your daily and weekly schedules have margin
• Turn off your cell phone – you’re really not that important
• You don’t have to answer every call immediately – use voice mail to your advantage to maintain your daily work efficiency and flow
• Limit the number of times you check your email each day – you’re really not that important

Get a life outside of your ministry / work

• Develop friendships with people outside of your work or ministry circles
• Recreation and hobbies – know yourself and do what ‘fills your tanks” not what others think or do to fill their tanks
• Take a break / take a vacation  –  you’re really not that important
• Push yourself to learn something new!

Lead from an overflow and from a reserve!  How’s your leadership ‘gas gauge?’  Are you running on fumes?