Are You Interested In Becoming An “Exemplary Leader”?

You may have been born with some leadership traits but an Exemplary Leader is created over time and of course the whole process starts with a right spirit toward God. You see we’ve been created for excellence and to operate with a Spirit of Excellence.

The mind ultimately becomes a battlefield where God’s vision, desire, and action mapping for our lives collide with soulish emotional issues like insecurity, worry, anxiety, doubt, fear, etc.

An Exemplary Leader creates a lifestyle of seeking, obtaining and imparting Insight, Growth, Impact and Legacy as is the focus of Convene.

You begin this journey with the end in mind, “What legacy do I want to leave this earth with?”, “How can I best honor God with my life” and work backwards from there. This vision of a future state actually starts attracting resources to fulfill your vision of legacy. I often say that where God’s vision is for you that’s where His provision will be and where it will start showing up. “Seek FIRST The Kingdom of God and all that you will need will be added unto you.”

“How do I know His vision / legacy for my life”, you ask? Well, it’s in His Word and it is in your desires; “When we delight ourselves in the Lord He give us the desires of our hearts”. When we are God focused, dwelling in His presence continually, living in the awareness of His presence He places His desires for us in our hearts to be acted upon. Jesus says to us, “My sheep hear My voice”…. “The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord”. On a business level and as a business and organization leader, a CEO | Business Owner | Solo Entrepreneur, how are you going to develop into an Exemplary Leader? A leader who inspires others, drives people toward excellence, holds people accountable, instills a sense of trust promoting sustainability and profitability for your organization honoring God in the process and changing the culture?

Learning what exactly makes an Exemplary Leader is your first step. Among other things, an Exemplary Leader centers around character, purpose, integrity and values all converging creating a leader driven by a Spirit Of Excellence and this attitude, “Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.”

Manifesting a Spirit of Excellence is allowing the manifested Glory of God to be seen.

Here are a few initial steps to start taking in order to becoming the Exemplary Leader you’ve always wanted to be:

1. Defining Your “WHY”! | Establishing Your Vision

What is the “one thing” that, as a business, you are most passionate about, solves a problem, and honors God? “And He who sent Me is [always] with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.” Jesus

What is your “Why” [vision / purpose]? What are we in business to provide a solution for?

The most useful vision statements are laser focused on your primary customers desired results; a solution that solves a problem. “I have come to seek and save the lost” Jesus stated.

What ‘need’ are we developing a solution for?

In conjunction, “What’s” the one thing you must measure to know if your successful.

When there is a big enough reason “Why” [vision / purpose], you will always figure out the “how”. What purpose and passion [The Why] is burning in your soul for your business?

Vision should then result in priorities being established; it is about getting and remaining focused on it. Laser-Focused.

2. Self-Control

“… the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control…. those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.”

Exemplary Leaders are effective and efficient, exercising the character quality of self-control; self-discipline and willpower in order to stay focused on the big picture, stay the course, and create enough margin in your life in order to focus and keep driving toward the vision. “Do everything decently and in order.”

Self-Control as well has to do with inner motivation; pleasing God or seeking people’s approval.

Exemplary Leaders establish clear goals and objectives, leading others on the journey to manifesting excellence. An Exemplary Leader develops a clearly articulated vision [The Why] for their business and the self-control to become laser-focused on bring the vision into reality.

This laser-focused approach includes creating the right business model and organizational design: systems, structure, strategy, style, staff, shared values, and skills. The truth is, “organizations function the way they are designed to function”. It is up to the leader to create the environment and culture to realize the vision, honoring God in the process and influencing the marketplace toward the Kingdom of God.

Self-Control, among other things, has to do with following through in everything you do and measuring the results of the core activities that drive the business to its intended vision. Remember, what you don’t measure you can’t manage and targeted adjustments are not possible.

Being strong in your resolve and resisting the inevitable temptation to give up, or lose your identity for short term gain you are honoring God and setting an example for others to live up to. Jesus was tempted in this way and He responded with, “It is written”. His identity was clear and His mission was non-negotiable.

3. KEEPING A “CLEARLY DEFINED VISION” IN FRONT OF PEOPLE

This has to do with keeping the corporate mandate visible. Mandate is something you do that you would die to accomplish.

God has created us with a desire to be involved in a cause and we operate better together when the cause is clearly understood by everyone. What is your “Why”?

The people you are leading need to completely understand the vision of the enterprise in order to gain meaning in their work, share your vision and work ethic in a heartfelt way. Every step of the way, communicate with your team to make sure they’re on the same wavelength and know what you expect of them.

The implementation of a defined vision requires a defined method. You need a plan, a method, a course of action in which you’ve gotten those around you involved in.

A mandate requires a having a razor fixation which then engages people. Take that a step further and get them involved in the planning process. This gives everyone a greater sense of ownership toward the end result; it results in greater retention and sustainability leading to greater customer satisfaction, profitability and legacy generating. This honors God.

“But I do not consider my life as something of value or dear to me, so that I may [with joy] finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify faithfully of the good news of God’s [precious, undeserved] grace [which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life].” Paul

4. VISION INVOLVES OTHERS

To me money is not the most important thing in your purpose. What we need more than money is people. In God’s Kingdom and Way of acting and behaving money is considered temporal and a “little thing” but people’s souls are for eternity.

Vision and Purpose involves others. It requires us to become “others focused” and not “self-focused”. How do you help the people around you grow and improve? Provide for their families? How do you teach, lead, and succeed together. How do you disciple people in a marketplace environment?

Exemplary Leader praises highly and in public while criticize constructively and in private. The way you praise and criticize others can make all the difference.

Publicly praising the people who do excellent work for you will feel a sense of accomplishment and the drive to do even better.

When someone does something wrong, offer constructive criticism and do it privately. Suggest solutions on how they can improve and take the time to answer any questions. They’ll accept your input more willingly if they know it’s done to help and not to harm.

Exemplary Leaders make it a point to understand their people. You can’t truly lead a group of people unless you truly understand their hopes, dreams, struggles, pains, and goals. All the good intentions in the world mean nothing unless you have a true sense of the people you’re working with.

Getting to know each other on a personal level will strengthen the bond between you. They’ll want to do better for you because you’re more than just a “boss”, you care.

Be their leader, first, and their friend second. You’re their leader and that means that you have to make difficult decisions from time to time. These decisions cannot be affected by personal relationships.

Choose your emotional response to a situation carefully. Sometimes you’ll need to practice the art of silencing your inner thoughts when they’re not appropriate in order to set a positive example. “Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.” One way we exalt God is by the way we treat others with love and compassion. Make the hard call. There are times when you have to bite the bullet and make some unpleasant decisions. Firing, demoting, and holding people accountable for their actions can be very hard at times. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to handle these matters. Being Christ like in how you handle it is how you please and honor God.

No matter where your leadership role takes you, believe that you can be a strong leader. Remember that in order to lead others, you must be disciplined yourself. After all, your actions will speak louder than anything you can say.

In order to gain the respect of others and honor God in the process, strive to lead by Christ’s example in every area of your life. You’ll be well on your way to becoming an Exemplary Leader!

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].”

Can You Really Make An Impact On Someone's Life?

Every day we are presented with an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. In that very moment, we wait for the “nudge”, we look for the “opening”, sometimes it passes us by and we wonder what could have happened if we would have done something. However every now and then we take the leap of faith and are amazed at what happens when we choose to make a difference. As you begin to ponder all you can do to make a difference, I want to share a few stories with you and will let you come to your own conclusion.  In our company, we encourage our members to give $100 to people when the “nudge” comes.  The stories we have heard over the years never cease to amaze us.

What if we told you $100 has ultimately impacted over 10 million people (and we are probably being way too conservative). Paul Young, author of the The Shack and Crossroads, has one of the most incredible stories I have ever heard. Paul Young has the ability to literally change the way you look at the world, your own life and what you believe. However you have to wonder after you listen to his story if all of his successes and influence would have ever happened without the generosity of one individual who thought he would attempt to make a difference on one evening.

Click here to listen this incredible story – http://bit.ly/1thfuvE

If that story is not enough to get you thinking about what is possible, watch the following video that we recently came across:

Click here to watch -

http://youtu.be/VumKim-tWIk?list=PLEb3ThbkPrFYcsA7NXKOk4DhT_MQpNAjw

You have a choice every day to use your time, talent and/or treasure to make a meaningful impact on those around you. Your spouse, your family members, your employees, the person standing behind you in line at the coffee shop are all in need of something, you could be the catalyst that allows them to find the peace and freedom in this world they are starved for, that we are all starved for.

Romans 12:4-8

4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

We have all been given different abilities, talents and treasure. It is our responsibility to leverage those gifts to serve those that are in our circles of influence.

We can all make a difference.

During this holiday season, I challenge you think differently and listen for the “nudge” to see if  $100 can make a difference.

To learn more go to www.whatcould100dollarsbuyyou.com