LEADERS WHO MAKE OTHERS LOOK GOOD

What makes great leaders? It is their quality of empowering others.

Servant leaders empower others to glorify God. They are more than happy if their followers outshine them.

Such leaders are not self-centred. They help others find their destiny. They help them nurture their calling. Then they release their followers to serve once they can stand on their own feet.

In Transforming Leadership, author Leighton Ford notes that “Long before modern managers, Jesus was busy preparing people for the future. He wasn’t aiming to pick a crown prince, but to create a successor generation. When the time came for Him to leave, He did not put in place a crash programme of leadership development — the curriculum had been taught for three years in a living classroom.”

Notice how Jesus tested the disciples by telling them, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13). It was a gargantuan task alright to feed five thousand hungry people in a secluded place.

And also observe how He allowed them to fail when they encountered the demoniac boy. Later Jesus cast evil spirit out of him, showing them that such cases needed prayer and fasting (Mark 9: 29).

An ego-driven leader will not invest time and energy preparing others to take over after his season of leadership is over. But a servant leader is willing to impart all that he has and knows to his successors.

Unlike the kung fu sifu (master), who keeps certain techniques to himself, a servant leader is humble and secure, not afraid or jealous that he might be upstaged by his disciple.

Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges writes in The Servant Leader: “Your personal succession planning efforts will speak volumes about your motives as a leader.” 

 “It is why I didn’t go to the people of my church and say, let’s build a great ministry. I went to them and said, what ministry does God want to build in your life?” – Pastor Duke Taber

GREAT LEADERS EMPOWER OTHERS

Great teams, great companies and great families have great leaders. Real leadership is the process of empowering others by abdicating one’s power over them.

It means to set others free to become all they can be in an atmosphere of inspiration, innovation and mutual respect.

The real challenge is to maintain balance and harmony, while excelling in one professional endeavor. After the season is over, the champion must change into street clothes and become a parent, companion, spouse, citizen and neighbor. The greatest mark of the authentic champion is the way he or she relates to society beyond the arena or stadium, and translates superb performance in a specialized field into a global perspective to benefit this and future generations.

Denis Waitley.