The Art of Leadership

1. Decide to Lead with Conviction and Purpose

A leader without a conviction is a lifeless personality.

Embrace the calling. Leadership is not accidental; it's a decision and a calling, especially in ministry. Many avoid it due to fear of accusation, disgrace, feeling inadequate, or selfishness, but the Bible says many are called. True leaders are driven by a deep belief in something, ready to sacrifice for their cause.

Know your vision. A leader is constantly aware of their life's purpose and vision, letting it guide their actions and time. This clear vision prevents deviation into unproductive pursuits like chasing money or fame, ensuring focus on the core mission, whether it's saving souls or building an organization. Your vision doesn't just guide you; it shapes you into the leader you need to be to achieve it.

Live by conviction. Men of conviction are hard to stop; they are prepared to die for their beliefs. This internal drive makes them effective and inspires others to follow. Decide what God has called you to do, have a firm conviction about it, and live by it, even if it means abandoning other paths.

2. Cultivate Essential Character: Integrity, Decisiveness, Courage

Decisiveness is truly the greatest attribute of a leader.

Build integrity. Integrity means being whole, sound, upright, and sincere. It's shattered by lies and deception, which is why trust in leaders is often low. Maintaining personal integrity is fundamental to being a good leader, ensuring you are sound and whole in character.

Be decisive. The failure to take a decision is the failure to lead; leadership is largely about making choices. God is decisive, and great leaders emulate this by facing realities and making important, often difficult, decisions quickly when information is available. Failure to decide is effectively deciding to do nothing, which hinders progress.

Develop courage. Leading requires immense courage, especially when facing fearful circumstances, uncertain outcomes, or potential failure. God exhorted Joshua multiple times to be courageous at the start of his leadership. It takes courage to start something new, stand for truth, and press on when opposition arises.

3. Master the Art of Relating to All Kinds of People

People are the most valuable thing a leader has.

Value everyone. People are more valuable than money, buildings, or cars; they are gifts from God. Leaders must invest in people, pay them well, teach them, and do everything to prevent their loss. People are attracted to places where they feel genuinely valued and respected, regardless of their background or status.

Interact broadly. A good leader interacts with both the "great" (influential, wealthy) and the "small" (poor, down-and-out), just as Jesus did. Relating to the great can bring resources and strategic advantages, while ministering to the poor fulfills a principal calling and indicates a higher anointing. Leaders must overcome the difficulties of ministering to the poor, such as their inability to pay or understand the gospel easily.

Rally people. Learn to make people feel wanted, appreciated, and respected. Show genuine interest in their lives, aspirations, and problems. Be an encourager, say thank you often, smile, and avoid partiality. These actions make you a natural rallying point, drawing people to you and fostering loyalty.

4. Prioritize Continuous Learning and Seek Wisdom

If you can’t read you can’t lead.

Become a reader. Reading is an essential habit for every leader, providing intellectual and spiritual growth, improving language, and offering fellowship with great minds. Leaders should spend time and money to acquire books, seeing authors as researchers working for them, transmitting years of experience. Daniel and Paul were biblical examples of avid readers who were also great leaders.

Learn constantly. Never stop learning new things from books, tapes, people, and the world around you. An old, foolish king refuses admonition, but a wise leader remains open to learning, even from younger individuals or rivals. Learning helps overcome the disadvantages of youth and inexperience by tapping into the lessons of history and the discoveries of others.

Seek wisdom. Wisdom is the master key to finding solutions and solving problems, distinguishing effective leaders. It comes through reading (especially Proverbs and Ecclesiastes), prayer (asking God liberally), and deep thinking about the situations around you. A wise leader contemplates, reflects, and analyzes, turning observations into understanding and instruction.

5. Focus, Plan Ahead, and Build Tangible Results

Build Something if You Are a Leader!

Use concentration. Great achievements result from concentrating on a single objective, distinguishing between the relevant and irrelevant. Distractions like phones, useless socializing, and unfinished projects steal focus. Inject urgency into tasks and finish one thing at a time to maintain momentum and prevent discouragement.

See the future. A prudent leader sees ahead, preparing for growth, potential evils, and necessary changes. This involves predicting general trends based on history, common sense, and divine wisdom, allowing for strategic moves like planting churches in expanding cities or diversifying businesses before they become obsolete. Seeing ahead enables proactive leadership rather than reactive crisis management.

Be a builder. Leadership is manifested by building things, whether houses, churches, or nations. It requires wisdom to rally resources and use them effectively. Wise leaders acquire properties and infrastructure, leaving behind tangible evidence of their leadership. Decide to be a builder for God, motivating others to rise up and contribute to creating lasting structures and organizations.

6. Navigate Opposition, Criticism, and Familiarity

If you cannot survive you cannot be a leader because leadership involves surviving.

Survive challenges. Leadership is a long fight involving persecution, rejection, bad stories, crises, envy, jealousy, disloyalty, betrayal, and pressure. A leader must develop a survival mentality, continuing to exist and function despite adverse conditions. This requires determination, faith, self-confidence, and the ability to recover and live to fight again.

Handle criticism. Criticism is an inevitable part of leadership, often coming from frustrated, failed, or ignorant people who see nothing good in your actions. Jesus didn't answer his critics, teaching leaders not to waste time on unproductive arguments or advertise rumors. While some lessons can be gleaned, recognize that much criticism is intended to injure and should be left to God.

Deal with familiarity. Familiarity, a product of frequent interaction and knowledge, breeds contempt and disrespect, hindering a leader's effectiveness. It's detected through subtle signs like presumptuous comments or attempts to correct the leader. Leaders must quickly and unambiguously address familiarity, maintain some privacy, make clear distinctions between roles, and break monotony to prevent this leadership emergency.

7. Take Responsibility and Be Accountable

What you must realize is that every leader will give account for what he or she is doing.

Embrace accountability. Leaders are responsible for their actions and will give account, especially to God for those they lead. Being constantly aware of the day of accountability transforms a leader, encouraging them to do the right thing and look after their followers diligently. This responsibility is a significant cost of leadership, distinguishing leaders from ordinary citizens.

Be decisive. Failure to take decisions or implement them is a failure of leadership. Decisiveness requires courage and the ability to see ahead, considering the consequences of inaction. Leaders must move quickly when relevant information is available, implementing even hard decisions like removing disloyal elements for the good of the whole.

Choose wisely. Many crucial decisions involve choosing between imperfect options, not clear-cut good and bad. Leaders must analyze situations and choose the "better of two bad options" rather than being paralyzed by the lack of perfect alternatives. This applies to personal choices like marriage or career, as well as organizational decisions.

8. Inspire, Empower, and Reproduce Future Leaders

Being a good leader involves reproducing yourself in others.

Inspire followers. Leaders must be able to inspire people emotionally, as human beings often vote and follow based on feeling. Speak from the heart, be real, and let your own passion and conviction motivate others. Weeping after Paul's preaching showed the power of an emotional, inspiring leader.

Empower others. Help the people around you accomplish great things with their lives, aiming for their spiritual, financial, physical, and ministerial success. A true leader's heart desires the greatness of their followers, not just their own achievements. Create systems where others can prosper and fulfill their potential.

Reproduce yourself. Leadership is not about making people dependent but about reproducing yourself in others so they can eventually function independently. Be a father, teacher, and friend, exposing followers to challenges and sending them into ministry. Jesus constantly prepared his disciples for his absence by reproducing his life and ministry in them.

9. Manage Resources Wisely: Time and Money

A frugal person is someone who counts his pennies.

Be frugal. Frugality is a common characteristic of wealthy and successful people. Leaders need money to fulfill their vision and must minimize losses and prevent stealing. Counting pennies and avoiding waste are essential for prosperity, not impressing others with expensive displays. Jesus instructed his disciples to gather leftover fragments to lose nothing.

Value and manage time. Effective leaders distinguish between important and urgent tasks, prioritizing the important ones even if they aren't pressing. Avoid distractions, useless socializing, and things not on your schedule. Surround yourself with competent helpers, delegate effectively, and stay focused on your calling to manage your limited time wisely.

Master fundraising. Leaders need to know how to raise money for their mission. Trust built over time through integrity is key to successful fundraising. Be careful with long projects, avoid raising money for inappropriate personal luxuries, and understand that a few people will contribute the majority of funds. Pray for financiers and maintain integrity in handling finances.

10. Accept Leadership's Realities: Sacrifice and Loneliness

Leaders are lonely people.

Embrace sacrifice. Leadership often requires going the extra mile, putting in more effort and sacrifice than followers. This might mean working longer hours, using personal resources, or enduring hardships. True leaders give their lives for the cause, understanding that tiredness is part of this sacrifice.

Navigate loneliness. The nature of leadership often means being ahead of the crowd and making decisions alone. Leaders may have no one to share their fears or problems with, experiencing loneliness even amidst followers. Fellowship with other leaders and a strong personal relationship with the Holy Spirit are crucial for navigating this reality.

Understand privileges. While leadership involves sacrifice, it also comes with privileges and blessings. It's not foolish to accept these at the right time and for the right reasons, as refusing them can create disorder. However, leaders must avoid being opportunists who consume resources prematurely, like "princes eating in the morning." Privileges are blessings when they come in due season, after the work is done.

Last updated: May 11, 2025