Success vs leadership

Success is a moving target, but leadership is a fixed goal. That goal is Jesus Christ.
– Dr Paul Chapel

Good managers do things right, but good leaders do the right things.
– Warren Bennis

Our church just completed a 24hr prayer vigil, in which we had groups in our building praying for different topics for a 24 hour period. After the completion of our prayer time I paused to evaluate it’s spiritual success. There were plenty of people praying, I saw lives changed, and many came to prayer that had not been active in other areas of our church ministry. These factors initially caused me to ascertain that the day of prayer was successful. Then I took a more critical approach. I wondered what “so called” spiritual leaders of our church did not attend, could we have either given something to each attendee or should we have offered the option for financial offerings to be given, and did we meet a need tangible need as well as spiritual need during this prayer? Idk ( I don’t know) if we could have done it better. I knew we could have done it different, but I don’t know if different would have been better. Then I listened to this podcast while preparing for Sundays message (Habakkuk 1:2-4; 2:1-4 The Power of Perception) and the above quote jumped out of my iPad, grabbed me by the collar, shook me up and down, then screamed at me. What did it say you are wondering?… It said don’t try to figure out how successful it was by tangible barometers, ask yourself did you do what God told you to do? Did you lead Gods disciples into a place that they have been before or in an act that they would not have ordinarily engaged in? Did you make it to the fixed place of leadership? It was then that I understood the meaning of this quote for me. I encourage you to stayed focused on your fixed goal. Don’t be distracted by the quickly moving ideas of success, or mirage of mental concepts that the majority of your peers have deemed necessary for success.

The lesson here, is don’t concentrate on success but instead be a leader. Someone once said that good mangers do things right, but good leaders do the right things.

21 irrefutable laws of leadership

Here is a summary of one of the greatest leadership books ever printed.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John C. Maxwell.

1. The law of the lid. Every leader has a ceiling. Maybe you’re destined to be the supreme master of the universe or maybe you can’t even get your dog to come when you call him. Think about your leadership lid and what you can do to push it higher.

2. The law of influence. Leadership is not about your title or position. It’s about leading. Can you lead in a situation where your title or position don’t matter? Practice some anonymous leading.

3. The law of process. Leaders use a process whenever they build something. It makes your ventures repeatable and scalable. Build a step-by-step process for doing something.

4. The law of navigation. Setting goals is important. Navigation takes it one step further because you’re plotting a course of actions that take you to the goal. Define a goal for yourself and plot a course to reach it.

5. The law of E. F. Hutton. This law is taken from the old commercials “When E. F. Hutton speaks, people listen”. Find someone who’s a stronger leader than you are. Now just listen.

6. The law of solid ground. Leaders build trust. Spend some time today building or strengthening the trust that someone has in you.

7. The law of respect. Loyalty and respect take trust a step further. Think about who you would follow no matter where they wanted to go. And why.

8. The law of intuition. With experience, you’ll build great instincts. Leaders go with their gut many times because they need to make quick decisions. Practice making quick decisions using your intuition.

9. The law of magnetism. Leaders attract people like a magnet. And good leaders always attract the right people to get the job done. What kind of people do you need to attract? Figure out how you can do that.

10. The law of connection. Remember, without people there’s nothing there. Network and really connect with someone today.

11. The law of the inner circle. Every leader has an inner circle of people they trust and rely on. Inner circle people have great talents and vision of their own. Better than yours in some things. Start building your inner circle.

12. The law of empowerment. To build a team, you have to give other people ownership of what they’re doing. You have to let them lead. Empower someone else and let them lead.

13.The law of reproduction. Leaders create followers. Great leaders create other leaders. Start being a leadership mentor to someone today.

14.The law of buy-in. You believe in someone’s ideas after you already believe in the person. Practice selling YOU instead of just your ideas.

15. The law of victory. When something doesn’t work out, you learn something new. But it’s important not to start with that idea or else you might give in to it. Strive for nothing less than total victory today.

16.The law of the big mo. Momentum is capital. With every success, you build momentum that makes the next success easier. Take something small and use its success to do something bigger.

17. The law of priorities. Leaders are busy. And some things are more important than other things. Put together a list of everything you have to do and prioritize it from most important to least.

18. The law of sacrifice. You have more responsibilities to other people and other things as a leader. Sometimes, you have to give something up to take care of those responsibilities. Sacrifice something you care about for someone else today.

19. The law of timing. Opportunities are everywhere. One of the big things that makes something a good opportunity is timing. Recognize an opportunity and pounce on it right away.

20. The law of explosive growth. To grow, you need to lead everyone in the right direction. To create explosive growth, you need to lead other leaders in the right direction. Reach out and start leading other leaders today.

21. The law of legacy. Eventually, someone else will do what you’re doing right now. More than building other leaders, more than being a mentor, you have to build the leader that can take care of and do everything you can do. Start building a leader you can pass the baton to.

If by Rudyard Kipling

This poem has been for me a precious jewel of wisdom constantly keeping me focused and in potential times of confusion it always provides the 411. It is written by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on”;

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings – nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run –
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man my son!