Where Should An Aspiring Leader Begin?

November 2011

Leadership is often defined as an act or instance of providing guidance or direction.

This is a vague statement. Where should an aspiring leader begin?
I suggest you start with basic 3 basic resolutions to develop your leadership abilities.

Take Responsibility for your Actions – It’s extremely easy to tell people what to do and how to do it and then watch them fail. What’s NOT easy to do is realize that failure is most often times directly related to your actions, or lack there of. If something isn’t working should you punish those who you are leading? Absolutely not. An effective leader realizes what is being done wrong, accepts responsibility for it and makes changes to ensure success.

The bottom-line: The responsibilities of those you lead become your own responsibilities the second you assume the role of their leader.

Listen – Listening might be the most important skill of effective leadership. Many managers, supervisors, and so called “leaders” fail simply because they aren’t listening to their followers and seeking to understand their needs.

How exactly can you meet the leadership needs of a group if you don’t know what stands in the way of the group’s success? You may know exactly what you need to be successful but are you taking into account the individual’s and group’s common goals and needs?

The bottom-line: Listen to people before formulating a solution or course of action, it will prove to be a very effective leadership tool.

Be Consistent – Being consistent, like listening, is pretty self-explanatory, but very important nonetheless. You will find that in school, often times assignments will be due on the same day every week or every month, etc… Or on a certain night of the week there will be online homework to submit. Don’t think that this isn’t done unintentionally.

If the teacher were to change the due date every week or every month would he see no change, an increase, or decrease in assignments turned in? I would be willing to bet there would be a decrease.
Don’t confuse this with resisting change; change is NOT a bad thing.

I’m just saying, if you’re delegating tasks and planning things, implement a consistent system of doing so. This will allow everyone to be on the same page and will eliminate confusion.

Now this certainly isn’t all there is needed to get out there and become the greatest leader the world has ever seen. However, these 3 points are provided for your consideration as a foundational for your developing leadership skills.

Thanks for your consideration and prayers during the past few months as I, and many others, have focused on meeting the needs of disaster victims and forgone the opportunity to contribute to the KNCSB Baptist Digest. God bless you as you serve and lead.

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