Tag: Influence

Make the Room Better

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I generally rival elephants when it comes to my memory. Is that right? Do elephants have an incredible capability for memory? Okay, well, honestly, I generally forget most things. But there’s one Sunday in high school I still remember.

I went to a small church in a small town. The Sunday routine was well within my muscle memory, but this Sunday was different. There was a different spirit in the room. The music was great. The sermon was on point. I walked away truly refreshed, more so than usual.

I remember making a comment about it to my prayer grandmother, and her reply has still stuck with me: “It’s because (former missionary) was here. She’s an incredible prayer warrior.”

Think about that for a moment. This woman was such a prayer warrior that her being in the room meant she was actively inviting God to move, and He did. I still cannot fully fathom the weight of that concept.

But here’s what I know: I want to be that way. I want my presence in a room to be so influential that someone walks away having noticed a difference.

I don’t want to get into a spiritual diatribe at this point, but stick with me for a moment. I want my spiritual life to be so connected to God that people are drawn closer to Him because I’m around. I want to be the light of the world in such a way that darkness flees when I am nearby.

And I want the same to be true of leadership. I want to be such a servant leader that any room I walk into is better served because I’m there. I want any organization where I contribute to be stronger because of my involvement.

I want to make the room better.

But this doesn’t happen by accident. Intentionality is key. The choices I make determine the direction I move. The choices I don’t make determine the direction I can’t move.

I want students to practice the same concept (I mentioned this earlier this week). If I can teach a student to contribute and to equip others to do the same, then the ripple effects begin.

One way I do this is through teaching the three questions. As I begin to help students see the opportunities around them to not only step up, but to invite others to do the same, then growth begins to multiply.

So, into what rooms are you walking today? How can you make them better because of your presence? Are you willing to take the necessary steps to grow your leadership influence?

Understand Your Impact

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Leadership so often boils down to the impact we make.

Think about someone in your life who has had a leadership influence on you. How would you describe their leadership?

The number of books they read?

The size of their house?

The way they made you feel?

The way they made others feel?

Each of those things, in their own way, reveal the impact they had. Some, more than others.

I think some of the best leaders are not necessarily people who set out to be great leaders, but those who set out to be faithful.

What if our greatest impact as leaders is not because of any program we adopt or implement? What if our greatest impact as leaders occurs because we choose to be faithful to our calling?

Let me rephrase.

Our greatest impact as leaders does not come because of a program we adopt or implement. Our greatest impact as leaders occurs because we choose to be faithful to our calling.

How are you being faithful today?

Tim Elmore has a habitude called the Starving Baker. The idea is simple: a baker who neglects his own hunger in order to bake more will eventually die of starvation. Seems brutal, right? But does that mean it’s not true?

Invest in someone today–yourself. Take a 30 minute silent walk. Pick up a book you’ve been wanting to read but just haven’t made the time for. Listen to a podcast that nourishes you. Listen to some classical music, or some classic rock.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, if our desire is to impact others for the long haul, we have to remain emotionally and spiritually healthy.

Take a moment to eat some of your bread, baker.

Reframing Student Leadership

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I saw a youth ministry related facebook post the other day asking how the collective hive mind selects student leaders. I think this is an extremely legitimate question, but one that needs a quick reframing.

Let me start by zooming out. The bottom line when it comes to leadership development is that I am not the only person interested in developing students into growing leaders. In fact, depending on their extracurricular activities, I may be one of multiple people interested in helping them expand their leadership influence.

As we zoom in, however, we start to see a few key differences. Of all the people in a student’s life who want them to grow as a leader, I may be one of a select few who are interested in teaching servant leadership, and more specifically, servant leadership as modeled and taught by Jesus.

So, when I look at a room of students and want to select a few student leaders, my approach is a little different. I have written about two key traits for student leaders previously (you can read that here), but one of my criteria is willingness to serve. If a student is unwilling to serve, then neither of us grow from the time we spend.

I watched this play out first hand. I used to think if I saw leadership potential in a student, they would benefit from me calling it out of them. But there was a flaw in my approach. I was calling something out of a student who wasn’t willing to serve, and as a result their commitment level was abnormally low, and even started to resent me for expecting them to show up.

Now I take a different approach. Most recently, I have students fill out an application and sit down for an interview before joining the leadership team. If a student is willing to put forth the effort of filling out an application and scheduling an interview, then we have an agreement there will be a time commitment to what they’re doing.

I cannot call something out of someone who is unwilling to grow.

Guilting a student into leadership misses the point.

Only allowing the popular kids to lead misses the point.

Establishing leadership as a higher rung misses the point.

On Thursday I will continue this thought, but for today let me ask you to join me in considering this: is your approach to developing leaders around you a healthy one? Are you willing to make the changes necessary? Are you willing to keep what needs to be kept?

Watching leaders grow their leadership influence is one of the most exciting parts of what I do. But that doesn’t mean everything is a win. I have had to adapt over the years. Maybe you need to do the same thing.

Want to stay in the discussion? Click here to subscribe to make certain you get Thursday’s post continuing this thought.

Leadership & Relationship

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This morning I found a journal that was given to me almost 17 years ago. In it were notes written from youth group members of my home church. The words were encouraging, hopeful (stay in touch!), and affirming, even 17 years later.

As I was reading their words, I was reminded of something: the most impactful leadership rarely happens outside of relationship.

Reading people who write (or blog) about leadership is imperative to leadership development, but the most impactful leadership happens in relationship.

I have a regular habit of watching a video on leadership development at the beginning of each work day, but my life is impacted more by personal relationships.

Our greatest leadership impact is to those whom we lead relationally. When we invest in those around us, our influence begins to grow exponentially. The mistakes we make, the victories we experience, and the joys we experience grow because of the one on one relationship.

But the relationship has to start somewhere.

How are you doing at developing relationships? Are you listening to people, or simply waiting for a chance to speak up? Do you care for those around you, or are they simply a means to an end?

The words I read this morning reminded me–those words came as a result of relationship. Not because of my “great” ability to lead, my wisdom, or my extreme good looks. The impact that was made blossomed out of relationship.

How are you investing in those around you? Is there something that needs to change? Is there something you’re doing that needs to be duplicated? Make a difference today, build a relationship.

Silent Victories

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On Tuesday I posted about watching as two airport fire trucks doused a plane as it was pulling up to a terminal. If you missed it, click here to go check it out.

Now, the rest of the story. Contrary to my worries, the plane was fine. In fact, it was a plane filled with military veterans. They were arriving in Washington DC on what is called an Honor Flight.

Those of us in the terminal gathered around as the passengers disembarked, and clapped as they passed by. It was remarkable.

I could wax eloquently about the lessons we could learn from the faithfulness of those walking by, or the impact it had on my life, or the joy of sharing that moment with my daughters. But I’m not going to do that.

Instead, let me tie into Tuesday’s post and unknown reasons.

I had no clue what was happening. I had no idea an Honor Flight even existed. But there’s a large network dedicated to Honor Flights. People spend countless hours and energy preparing and carrying out trips.

I watched as one stood in the terminal. She was beaming with joy not because people were recognizing her effort, but because people were honoring these heroes.

The core of leadership is setting other people up to win, regardless of recognition.

My leadership is not better when I get recognized My leadership is best when someone I’m leading gets recognized.

This is why I love working with student leaders. I want to set them up to win long after they are in my realm of influence. I want them to grow and achieve more than I ever could dream, but it has to start somewhere.

We all have to start somewhere.

Are you ready to invite and equip leaders around you? What are you waiting for?

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