Who's the Greatest?

When looking at the heart of a leader, those that follow really only have a chance to see the actions of the leader.  Your motivations, aspirations and purposes come out more in what you do than what you say.  This reveals the heart of the leader to those around.

If you are running out for lunch, do you offer to buy for others?  Do you even offer to pick something up?  When you walk past them in the office, hallway or building, do you always say hello?  Do you attend meetings on time?  Do you hold meetings with purpose?  Only invite those that need to be there?  Always be respectful of their time and opinions?

In posing the question, who's the greatest?, I am asking what is your real objective?  In order to be the greatest, you must be willing to be the last.  You must be willing to serve your followers and support them in their efforts.  As a leader, your job is to provide direction, support, vision, help, mentoring, guidance.  It is not to just shout out orders, give commands, expect and demand because you can.  This is leading others by fear, not by a passion to serve the interest of the group.

True leaders lead others by helping them, encouraging them, offering the proper amount of input based on their skill level for that task.  A leader that takes time to develop a team member will achieve long term results. 

Sounds like common sense and straightforward right, but do you always do it?  The challenge today is to find out the one thing from one person you lead that could help them WIN.  What can you do for them that will help there job by easier.  Whether at home, at work, in a club or small group, ask one person what you could do for them today, as their leader, that would make their job easier.  Trust me, instead of it being your agenda, you are working on their agenda.  This is how you become the greatest, by serving the greatest need of another.

The starting point

In thinking about what it takes to lead others we have to be prepared to start at the beginning.  Contrary to some that may suggest you begin by casting a vision, I will say it begins with ourselves.  In order to lead others, we must be able to lead our own thoughts and direction, and do so from our core thinking.
A successful leader is one that begins with a passion for something or someone, and from there the motives are to help build on that passion to achieve a greater result.  Ken Blanchard in the wonderful book Lead Like Jesus states "...we are leading any time we influence the thinking or behavior of another person." The point to note is that we are influencing them, not controlling them.  That is why the best leaders are leading from a core thinking of those they lead and not the gain for themselves.

So it comes down to a heart issue.  Is your heart searching for power, or fame, or control, or for you to personally gain millions of dollars by leading?  If that is the case, it is possible you can achieve those desires, yet they will not sustain over time.  People will no longer be willing to be influenced by your leadership if the real vision is for your personal gain.

I challenge you to consider the real purpose that you have in being a leader.  Pull out the list we discussed and review each item.  Simply mark whether the end goal is for yourself, or for someone else.  Focus on those that for are others and that becomes your starting point.

This is the first post on a new blog focused on sharing how to lead others in life, in a better way.  The focus of Leading in a Better Way is realizing one key thing, you aren't leading for you, you are leading for others.

So, my first question is, why do you lead?

Is promotion, money, status, fame, power, control and the like on your list? 

I would encourage you to begin by writing down at least 5 reasons as to why you lead.  If you have 10, even better. 

My plan is to keep in touch at least twice weekly.  We will pick up soon on core thinking that is imperative to lead.  Without a proper focus and heart to lead, the results will never be achieved or sustained.