6 Leadership Traits: The Leader I Want To Be
If you look at my website, you’ll see that I write about leadership. If you look at my blog, you won’t find a single blog on leadership until now.
Why is this, you ask?
I haven't known where to begin. Leadership training classes and books that I've read spin through my head every time I approached the subject of leadership. So, I'm starting with me.
I've never taken the time to create my own set of leadership principles until now. I've always worked for organizations that would hand me a professionally printed list of leadership principles to lead by. Once I was handed those leadership principles, I'd go all in and never give a thought to what I wanted my own personal leadership principles to be.
As I began to make my leadership traits personal, I learned how incredibly awesome and scary it is to start from scratch. I don't take the opportunity to "serve YOU through words" lightly. And, yes, I've had to silence my fake rule that someone needs to give me permission to lead and validate my ability to write this post.
Without further ado, here are the six leadership traits that I want to imitate as a leader:
1. I want to be a servant.
Before I publish any of my writing, I ask myself this question, “Does this add value to my readers? Does this serve them?” I truly mean it when I say that I want to “serve YOU through words.” I want my words to point you to Jesus. I want to be a small catalyst in your life to help you grow in your faith. I can’t think of any better way to point you to Jesus and all that He has for you than to serve you.
2. I want to be compassionate.
I get things done, but I also have a soft heart. If you cry, I will cry with you. I will say “sorry” when it’s warranted. None of this makes me weak as a leader. It’s simply who I am and most definitely how I want to lead.
3. I want to be courageous.
Jesus commands me to be strong courageous and that He will be with me wherever I go (Joshua 1:9). I have nothing to fear when I am living out God’s call for my life.
Scott and I have seen God’s faithfulness time after time over the past few years. It took courage to walk the road of adoption and for our family to move to another state, but God's faithfulness has been present through all of the highs and lows. If God’s past performance predicts God’s future behavior, I have no reason to not be courageous.
4. I want to be honest.
I never want to manipulate the truth as a leader. I think this can easily happen when we are doing kingdom work because it has an eternal purpose. I never want manipulation to creep in and take away my honesty. God doesn't need me to manipulate plans or people to get His work done!
5. I want to be disciplined.
I want to soak up God’s word and spend time with Him. In the chaotic world that we live in, this takes discipline. I want to take care of myself mentally and physically so that I am equipped to do the work that He calls me to. Resting is hard for me, but I want to learn to rest weekly. Godly discipline always halts the devil’s schemes to try and destroy any Godly work that I am completing.
6. I want to be faithful.
Faithfulness to God’s calling is true success. I’ve spent too much time chasing the illusion of perfection rather than faithfulness. Perfection kills faithfulness because a lot of times stepping out in faith means stepping out into an imperfect unknown. I’d rather be known for being faithful than for being perfect.
We all influence people in some way whether it’s in the workplace, in a volunteer role, or at home. Leadership is never a position that someone puts you in. I encourage you to spend some time establishing the type of leadership traits that you want to imitate. (You can even use mine!)
If you feel like you are waiting for permission to lead, go read Moses’ account with God in Exodus 4. Moses questioned and fought God about becoming a leader. No matter how inadequate Moses felt, God still wanted him to lead. Are you allowing God to use you as a leader?
People (including children) are searching for strong, Godly leaders in their lives.
What are your leadership traits?
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*Photo taken by Melissa Schlabach at Small Things Photo Co.
