Becoming the Kind of Leader People Can Follow - Part 2

When leaders lead: [and] the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord! (Judges 5:1-2)

The responsibility for this kind of fruitful, happy church begins with a good leader who is willing to take the lead. Let’s look at some key components and potential problems of being a leader that really leads.

First, Three Reasons Why People Quit On Us:

(1) Untrustworthiness.

"Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint" (Proverbs 25:19).

Working with someone we don’t trust is a miserable experience. When we act inconsistently in what we say and do, seek personal gain above shared gain, withhold information, lie or tell half-truths and become closed-minded we lose the trust of others. Trust is like a mirror; when it’s shattered it can be pieced back together again, but the cracks usually show.

(2) Incompetence.

The way to continually inspire confidence in people is not with charisma, but with competence. When a leader is incompetent he takes the focus off the organization’s vision and values and places it onto his behavior. If people working for an incompetent leader have a high degree of skill, they continually worry about the leader messing things up. If they don’t have experience, they won’t know what to do. Either way, productivity and morale suffer. Corporate motivation requires competence.

(3) Insecurity.

Good leaders must do two things to overcome insecurity:

a. They emphasize developing other leaders; and
b. They try to work themselves out of a job.

Insecure leaders never do that. They don’t want to train people to reach their potential and be more successful than they are. In fact, they don’t want them to be able to succeed without their help. Any time someone who works for them rises too high, they see it as a threat. People want to work for leaders who fire them up, not put out their fire. If they perceive that the leader is more concerned with maintaining authority and protecting his or her position, they’ll eventually quit and find someone else to work for.

No matter how good a leader you are, you will eventually lose people. When the relationship is over, you’ll go one way and they’ll go another. If you don’t understand that you’ll try to cling to them or control them. When you can’t you’ll be tempted to isolate and criticize them. But you can do things to make yourself the kind of leader people want, and when the time comes for them to leave they’ll do it looking back and feeling good about the way things turned out.

Things You Can Do To Become the Kind of Leader People Want:

1. Put credibility at the top of your leadership list. You may not always be competent; there are times when every leader finds himself in over his or her head. However, you can always be honest and trustworthy.

"He who walks with integrity walks securely" (Proverbs 10:9).

2. Take responsibility for your relationships with others. When a relationship goes bad, initiate action and try to make it better.

"You who are spiritual restore … in a spirit of gentleness" (Galatians 6:1).

3. When people leave you, do an exit interview to find out why. If you are the reason they are leaving see if it is something you can change or fix. If you are at fault apologize and make it right.

4. Put a high value on those who work with you. Look for the good, believe the best and help them to be successful and achieve their dreams.

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so" (Proverbs 3:27).

5. Recognize that your optimistic attitude helps create a secure environment for people. Therefore think positively, practice right behavior towards others, and follow the golden rule:

"Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them" (Matthew 7:12).

6. Maintain a teachable spirit and stir up your passion for personal growth. Have a personal growth plan and stick to it. Keep learning so you can continue leading.

"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning" (Proverbs 9:9)

Yours for the developing of an army of great leaders that people will want to follow.

Dr. George Hill
President/Founder
Victory Churches International