Leaders recognize the importance of developing their capacity. Their leadership is personal before it is organizational. They also know their biggest hindrance to moving forward is themselves. Bigger leaders think bigger. Better leaders operate better. Stuck leaders think in “rut following ways.”
So, full-orbed leaders develop themselves. Their personal thinking and awareness serve as the lever for all other progress in themselves and the enterprises they lead. Your church/organization depends on it. Your organization moves forward or stagnates depending upon your own perspective and thinking.
Our best example comes from human history. Jesus of Nazareth stands alone as having the greatest impact on the planet. Today, some two thousand years after His arrival, more people follow Him than any other leader.
According to data from 2015, there are more than 2.3 billion people that practice some form of Christianity. This means that about one-third of the world’s total population follows this religion. Another source says the statistics make Christianity the largest religion on the planet.
His example gives us the five keys to leading ourselves personally. Five chunks of skills. Five areas that position you for success and kingdom achievement. Avoid any one at your own peril. And, by the way, there are only five. So, when you develop these five areas, you function at your highest capacity personally.
Personal Capacity Key #1: Great leaders possess a written personal mission.
Jesus stressed this repeatedly. “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Other great leaders follow suit. Ben Franklin wrote his “13 Virtues” https://www.thirteenvirtues.com.
For me, crafting my own personal mission moved me halfway across the country to follow it, twice. Finding your purpose unlocks what you were born to do. When used (not just written), it defines and describes your preferred future. That statement of mission also helps make daily decisions. And, those decisions add up to create your future.
The secret to your future is hidden in your daily routine.
Keys 2 – 5 come from the life of Jesus. We know about His birth from the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, chapter two. All we know about him from His birth until His public ministry occupies the rest of the chapter. Chapter two ends with, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.”
Personal Capacity Key #2: Wisdom.
Wisdom builds upon knowledge and goes beyond it. The wise person not only knows, she sees what others cannot. As leaders, we often must read the lines. People with wisdom also read between the lines. They see patterns of behavior and where they will lead. Wise people connect the unconnected for deeper insight and discretion. And, wisdom also defines the difference between merely good leaders and great leaders. Great leaders instinctively (another way to express wisdom) know what people will do and lead accordingly.
Wisdom goes beyond rote knowledge to include insight and discretion. Wise people choose the best path, considering the current, real-world variables at play in your particular situation at your particular time.
Personal Capacity Key #3: Stature.
Physicality, like the other three attributes, defines itself and also affects the others. Stature includes our physical bodies, what we eat and how we move. In our day, blood glucose levels, cholesterol, % of body fat, resting heart rate, weight, vision, personal grooming (haircut, facial hair) and the condition of our teeth impact our leadership. Personal hygiene affects us and affects others. The leader consistently covered (meaning, “covered”, not just a few here and there) in dog hair would have been more effective without it. I’m sure you can supply many other examples.
Put simply, our physical bodies reflect what we eat and drink and how we move (or don’t). Comfort eating. Stress eating. “Desserts”, after all, is “stressed” spelled backwards. We really don’t have weight problems. We have eating and exercise problems. Weight is a number and a result of managing the two drivers for the “weight” result. We all lose when great leaders who die because they won’t take the prescribed medication.
Personal Capacity Key #4: Favor with God.
You can count this as most important because it’s most lasting. Spirituality connects our spirit with God’s spirit so we see what He sees, hear what He hears and feel what He feels. Here are a few ways to increase the spiritual quadrant:
- Daily Quiet Time – Taking time each day to talk and listen to God
- Journaling – Spending time writing my thoughts to God
- Fasting – Going w/o food or something meaningful for 24 hours
- Solitude – Sitting for 30 minutes without distraction
- Prayer – Talking to God
- Simplicity – Choosing one instead of many
- Sabbath – Having one day each week when you don’t think about, read about or do work from the time you wake up until you go to bed
- Meditation – Choosing one Bible verse and asking God to show you its implications in your life
- Bible Study – Read a passage of Scripture and ask what does it say, what does it mean, what does the Bible also say and what does it mean to me?
- Stewardship – Giving the first 10% of my income to God.
- Secrecy – Doing or accomplishing something and only telling God about it
- Serving – Performing a physical act of kindness to another person
Personal Capacity Key #5: Favor with others.
Our social/emotional world reflects that we understand what others are thinking and feeling by reading their words, tone, body language, and actions. For some it’s instinctive. For all of us, it can be learned. Feeling despondent or elated affects the other areas. Do you attend to your physical body as well when you are upset? Don’t we connect more deeply with others when we get enough rest?
All four of these areas: wisdom, stature, favor with God, favor with people; connect with the others and connect us with each other.
Great leaders evaluate themselves. They build their capacity to impact others. They do that by understanding their personal purpose, and attending to their own intellectual development, physical selves, connection with God and with others.
Who We Are
LeaderINCREASE helps leaders get clear on where to go and understand how to get there, with less hassle. We understand that choosing to make a difference as a leader isn’t always the easiest.
We focus on providing leaders with resources they need to make a difference and become actionable leaders for their organization. We look forward to helping you achieve your goals as we have done for many others.
