The Why of Leadership: Part 1 – Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

We are in a blog series entitled, “The What, Why, and Who of Leadership.” It is based on materials used in impartations I gave the leadership of Elevate Life at its fifteenth annual Leadership Weekend. Since inception, I have strategically and intentionally placed emphasis on what I call “The 4 Pillars.” Each pillar represents a strategic area of focus – Marriage, Men, Women, and Leadership. When led well, these areas bring health, balance, and growth to our organization. Although each of these is part of the ongoing impartation at Elevate Life, we dedicate one weekend every year to bring an elevated emphasis to each. This strategic focus has enabled us to establish a transformational culture that impacts and influences the world with the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel!

My last six entries were related to the “What of Leadership” … I encourage you to take a look at them if you have not read them. Today, we begin the “Why of Leadership,” specifically exploring Five Reasons Why Leadership is Important.”

Everything rises and falls on leadership. I define leadership as, “the capacity of an individual to discover their passion, develop their vision, and deploy their greatness that elevates them personally and creates the ability to empower others to do the same.

There are three kinds of leadership:

1. Self-leadership– The most important person you will ever lead is yourself. Your ability to lead yourself is what will qualify you to lead other people. If you are not changing and growing for the better, nothing around you will ever get better. Self-Leadership is the first step to making anything in your life better.  When you are better, everyone in your life will be better or at least, feel better because you are better!
2. Servant-leadership– Your self-leadership develops to the fullest when you serve others. As a leader, you give up your right to think about yourself first. Leadership is always about others first. Jesus said the greatest among you is a servant. In one word, Servant Leadership is generosity. You are generous when you focus on what you have to give, not what you want to receive. As with most things, Servant-Leadership is a way of thinking. It is the desire to live with a transcendent cause. Most people live for today with little thought for the future so how can you live with a transcendent mindset? By choosing to focus on what you have to give others. When you choose to be generous with a heart to give and not receive: you are truly leading yourself to become not just a Self-Leader, but a Servant-Leader.
3. Transformational Leadership– Leadership is a way of thinking before it is anything else and that is why leadership can be Transformational. The greatest challenge any of us will ever have is to challenge our own natural way of thinking. Why do you think the way you do? We are all receptacles of our environments: family paradigms, tribal or ethnic traditions, academia influences, and so on … consciously or unconsciously, we all leads ourselves according to our unique thought processes. That is why I say, “When you elevate your thinking, you elevate your life” … and the lives of those around you.

More tomorrow!