If you were to ask me to give you one word that describes leadership, I would not say “authority.” In fact, the one word that I would give you is this: influence. Although that word is the fundamental foundation of leadership, that’s not what this article is about.
I recently attended two things this weekend:
- Lets Talk Church with Pastor Brian Houston
- Hillsong Men’s Conference 2017
Why am I telling you this? Well, I love going to these kind of events as these give me an opportunity to grow and to gain new insight in this journey we call “LIFE.”
I want to specifically share on an idea that I learnt at the first event of the weekend, Let’s Talk Church. There were multiple sessions but during the Q&A session, one question asked to Brian stuck out to me: “How do you become a better leader?”
So I thought I should expand on this and give some of my thoughts on the 4 points that were shared:
- Dominate Your Season
I shared this thought in my previous article but we live in a “Now — generation.” We want the reward without the work. Everyone is in a different season in their own lives but one thing we have in common is that we are all in a season.
Specifically talking from a leadership perspective, sometimes I have gotten so caught up in in the circumstances surrounding my season that I forget to dominate it. What do I mean by this?
We tend to think that the season we’re in could be so much better than it currently is. Yes, that may be true but that is where we miss the opportunity to take hold of our circumstance and not let it affect the journey and goal we’re pressing towards.
There is a stigma that a lot of people (including myself) struggle with at times: We believe that “something isn’t worth getting if it’s hard work getting it.”
I can’t explain it but there’s just something so satisfying about working hard for something. How different would our experience be if we didn’t let our circumstances hold us back from reaching our goals in life?
2. Be Teachable
The reason why I shared what I did this weekend is because I want to stress the importance of always learning.
I have missed out on so many opportunities because I refused to learn something new.
Quick life tip that I learnt over the years: You never “arrive.”
There is always something new to be learnt. As soon as we think we know it all, that is when we stop growing.
I was speaking to someone after church this Sunday who happened to go to the same conference (the second event) that I attended over the weekend. This certain individual also happened to be in his 70s. What he said to me really solidified the thought of always being teachable. He said, “There was so much life advice given at this conference that I WISH I had learnt when I was your age. You guys (and girls) have been setup so well on almost every important area of life that you face.”
We live in an age where so much information is at our fingertips. The question is: Are we going to take hold of all the “GREAT” information (because there is a lot of bad information out there) that we can get our hands and minds on in order to keep growing?
3. Have the Right Heart
What is the most important part of your body?
The heart.
I’ll prove that with this one verse:
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Why should you guard you heart? Well the heart is the very core of everything you do. The heart shows your true intentions. The way you treat those around you, shows the condition of your heart. The heart flows into your mission and vision in life, this affects your behaviour which in the end will determine how you approach culture and the world we live in. If your heart is focused on the right thing(for me — my heart is focused on Jesus) then, as the verse says, everything you do will flow from it. It just depends whether that outflow is constructive or destructive.
4. Never Develop a Wounded Spirit
As a leader, you’re always going to experience this one thing: criticism. This goes back to my second point: Always be teachable. As a leader you don’t know it all. Sometimes we fail, we don’t always get it right.
There are two types of criticism: good criticism and bad criticism.
My questions to you are:
- Are you going to take the good criticism and get better?
AND
2. Are you going to take the bad criticism with a pinch of salt and move on with life?
Another thing I’ve learnt is that you shouldn’t take things personally. When you have a great community surrounding your life that is giving you great criticism, you realize that they only want to see you succeed. By them telling you what you can do better is not a personal attack on you, it’s only there to make you a better person.
This is why I’ve been encouraged to live free spirited. I do not want to live life being held back by things that ultimately shouldn’t hold me down in the first place. You have the opportunity to get better.
So do it.
…
I haven’t been in leadership for long but what I’ve learnt is that there is always something you can teach and always something you can learn.
I think learning is the hardest of the two.
