Pete Brookshaw Leadership Podcast - Episode #2 - The crisis that shaped the world

Easter has come and gone, and we are still navigating our way through multiple crises; a health crisis and an economic crisis.

I don't know about you, but I find that the challenge is to learn how to live through a crisis and as leaders, know how to help others sift their way through the minefield of doubt and uncertainty.

I want to share with you in this episode about 'CRISIS'. How do we move forward in a crisis? How do we cope? What can we learn as leaders to help our people through a crisis?

I'm believing you'll find this episode helpful as I share with you, 'The crisis that shaped the world'. 

SHOWNOTES of EPISODE #2 - The crisis that shaped the world

In Jared Diamond’s 2019 book, ‘Upheaval: How Nations Cope with Crisis and Change' he writes about personal crises.

Jared Diamond’s wife is a crisis therapist, and from her field he borrows a list of factors related to the outcomes of personal crises:

1. Acknowledgment that one is in crisis
2. Acceptance of one’s personal responsibility to do something
3. Building a fence, to delineate one’s individual problems needing to be solved
4. Getting material and emotional help from other individuals and groups
5. Using other individuals as models of how to solve problems (He writes, ‘It’s a big advantage if you know someone who has weathered a similar crisis, and who constitutes a model of successful coping skills that you can try to imitate.’
6. Ego strength 
7. Honest self-appraisal
8. Experience of previous personal crises
9. Patience
10. Flexible personality
11. Individual core values
12. Freedom from personal constraints

Pete's 4 concepts to embrace in a crisis:

1. Adaptability
2. A strong foundation of what you believe
3. Clarity of direction for those around you
4. Creativity

The 5 Stages of Grief:

- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Sadness
- Acceptance

These are the days where we need to know how to navigate our way through a crisis. I hope you've found this Pete Brookshaw Leadership Podcast Episode helpful for you.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know, 'How do you lead in a time of crisis?'

5 Leadership Development Principles I Wish Every Leader Knew

Maybe you've taken on new responsibility at work, or began to take on the leadership role of a ministry in the local church. Maybe you've been a seasoned leader for many years. In recent days I've been thinking about important, yet simple leadership development principles that we often miss (especially when we are starting a leadership journey).

I have some really sound advice. Here are 5 leadership development principles I wish every leader knew.

If you're going to be in a leadership position, then you need to act like a leader. Let me explain:

1. Leaders draw others around them
If you are making the transition into an area of responsibility, you have to understand, your job is not to do everything. You job is to build leaders so that together you can achieve the vision in front of you. I have seen too many new leaders, who don't lead. Some leaders run around busy, photocopying, buying things, coordinating activities, and forget the other aspects of leadership: drawing together a team, articulating what goals they want to achieve and focusing on reaching the vision before them.

Stop for a moment, and begin to think like a leader, not simply a busy volunteer. What would you do differently, if you were to lead effectively right now? How can you draw others around you to be more effective as a leader?

2. Set some goals
Take a few moments. Grab a piece of paper and set some goals. If you aim at nothing you'll reach it every time. I've been challenged recently to set SMART goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. You may well be running a business and having a quick speed read of this. Honestly, have you set some goals? Do you know what you seek to achieve in 2019?

Some of my goals in the past, have not always been that realistic. That's why this year, for instance, this blog has a new focus. I have a new goal:

Train and mobilise 100 leaders through this blog by the end of 2019  

This for me is specific. It's measurable (through analytics, feedback on facebook posts, etc). It's achievable and realistic (If I said 1,000 leaders, then to be honest, it wouldn't be as realistic - though possible). Lastly, it's time-bound: by the end of 2019. This is important, I will know whether I have achieved this goal or not, because it's a SMART goal.

Leaders set smart goals.

Stay with me friend. This is important. If you have a vague goal in your head at the start of 2019, you'll only have a vague idea at the end of the year on whether you've reached the vagueness.

Turn a goal like: "Have a great Children's Ministry." to something like, "Build at least 20 young disciples, who choose to follow Jesus by December 31st, 2020."

3.  Leadership and servanthood go hand-in-hand
It's best expressed by Jesus, when he washed the disciples feet (John chapter 13). We see servant leadership epitomised by Jesus. Leaders are willing to go the extra mile. Leaders are willing to stay right til the end. Leaders are willing to serve in whatever capacity is needed to get the job done. Servanthood is a must. It doesn't mean you do everything, because your role is also to empower and equip others to express servanthood alongside you, but leaders have a servant heart and a servant attitude.

4. Have a clear vision of why you're leading
I want to mobilise an army to change the world. I have that stamped upon my heart. It drives me from day to day. It gets me up in the morning. It keeps me awake at night. Leadership is about understanding where you're heading and inspiring others to come with you. As a follower of Jesus and a Salvation Army Officer, my goal is to lead people, ultimately to Jesus.

And so with that in mind, irrespective of leadership position, you can be a leader. You can lead people to the Lord.

So, develop some clarity. Why are you working where you're working? What are you trying to achieve? What's the big why? Why are you doing what you're doing?

Clarity helps you say no to the many demands of leadership. Clarity helps you stay focused on what matters most.

5. Don't let your competency outstrip your character
Keeping your character in check is important. I always come back to the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22). Am I expressing unconditional love? Am I joyful? Am I self-controlled? Some people let power corrupt them, and they end up being more competent than they are controlled. They become arrogant and self-seeking. They forget that the ideals of compassion and common-decency got them to where they are in the first place. Most leaders I know, would always choose character over competency, but ideally, a leader has both.


This is naturally one blog post. There's so many more leadership development principles to consider. So I'm interested to hear from you. What leadership development principles do you think are most important?


 

The Beginner's Guide to Becoming a Leader

Welcome friends, thanks for taking time to stop by. I'm writing this today, because I feel like some people need encouragement to step into leadership. Now, I'm not talking about stepping into a leadership position, but rather making a proactive shift in your mind, to one of a leader.

See, you influence things already. You already have leadership influence. If you are parent, whether a good one or not, you are making a difference in the lives of your kids. If you a ministry helper in the local church, you have more influence than what you probably think. If you are a young adult, then you no doubt influence friends around you; you probably even influence your boss.

So I want to pass on a few thoughts on starting out as a leader. I'm calling it The Beginner's Guide to Becoming a Leader.

1. Begin to realise you ARE a leader

When the penny finally drops, you look around and see that you already are a leader. You are already making a difference. By choosing to realise you are a leader, you begin to explore a whole new avenue of potential growth opportunities. For the last couple of years at The Salvation Army Craigieburn we've taken half a dozen people to the Global Leadership Summit. It's jammed packed with leadership teachings and bite-sized learning to think about. But the challenge is this:

People who don't think of themselves as leaders, don't immerse themselves in leadership development opportunities

The reason I mention this, is because some people don't attend leadership conferences or leadership growth opportunities, because they've already ridden off in their mind, that they are not leaders. I argue that that is most likely not true.

So, begin to realise you are a leader, and have a greater influence towards people around you.

2.  Choose to grow as a leader

Immerse yourself in world politics for more than 2 minutes and you'll see a world bereft of good leadership. Scratch a little deeper into small businesses, schools, churches and your local sporting club and you'll see a need for more leaders and better leaders. If you first begin to acknowledge you are potentially a leader (again, not dependent upon status as a leader), then you'll see there's now opportunity to grow as a leader.

I don't want to be at the same capacity five years from now. I want to be teachable, reliable and faithful, to becoming a better version of myself than I was the day before!

Choose to grow as a leader.

Here's some ways you can do that:

• Attend a leadership course
• Read a leadership book (ask me and I can recommend some!)
• Have a coffee with a respected leader and ask them what they know
• Read the Bible regularly (how did Jesus lead? how did Paul lead?)
• Listen to a podcast: Try the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast, for instance.

3. Think like a leader

I spoke to our church recently and identified the difference between the mindset of a volunteer and the mindset of a leader. There's a difference. I think we need more leaders, who realise they're leaders and think like leaders and operate like leaders:

 



Clearly, leaders act differently. Leaders make it a priority to thank others. Leaders are generally the first ones there and the last to leave. Leaders don't wait to be asked, but they take initiative. So if you're starting out as a new leader, understand that there's a paradigm shift needed to begin to think like a leader.

4. Moving from a me-mentality to an others-mentality

A new Salvation Army magazine was launched some time ago called Others. The more I think about it, the more I love the title. See, it's about others. Your salvation in Christ is important, of course, but as spoken about in Luke's gospel (15:3-7), we see the parable of the lost sheep:

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

We are clearly called to consider others. Paul puts it succinctly in his letter to the church in Philippi (2:3): 'Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.'

Followers of Jesus make their life about others. Leaders make it a priority to do something about helping others. If you are just starting as a leader, check your motives: is it about others?


If you ask yourself, 'How do I become a leader?' I suggest, look around, and realise, you probably already are!

Naturally, there is more to be said. But this is a beginner's guide to leadership. If you've found these points helpful, please share the blog, make a comment on the blog, or comment via facebook. Tag a young leader via social media. And just for the sake of it, grab a copy of my new book JESUS CHRIST!

What can you do to become a better leader today?
God bless,

Pete Brookshaw.

Related: Pete's Mammoth Guide to Effective Leadership

Salvation Army Leaders - I Have to Change...

I was not ready for this word from the Lord.

And you might not be either.

I preface what I'm about to say with this:

Have you ever had to endure discipline? Maybe you made a wrong decision or you said something offensive and you had to apologise. We've all been there. Discipline from someone holding you accountable is painful and humbling.

The writer to the Hebrews sums it up well. In the start of chapter twelve he writes that first of all we should throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1b). Then the chapter continues by highlighting the importance of God's discipline in your life. Check out these verses:

'Endure hardship as discipline. God is treating you as his children.' (12:7)

'God disciplines us for our good.' (12:10)

'No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.' (12:11)

Now, if you're still reading (because no one likes to talk about discipline, let alone read about it on a blog), I'm about to tell what I feel God is saying to me.

The words have come from hanging out with many different ministry leaders and other pastors and teachers in recent days. One moment was at a wedding sitting on a table chatting with other Christian leaders. One moment was listening to a leadership podcast. Another moment was listening to a great leader of an effective church speak on leadership.

Here's what I feel like the Holy Spirit has said to me in recent days:

'Pete, your leadership style is not always conducive to producing a flourishing church.'

Ouch! 

Come again Lord... That can't be right?! Are you telling me, I'm not leading well? That I need to change?

I felt a little rebuke. Not a huge one, but like a father disciplining his son. A nudge that says, 'You realise you could change your behaviour and be more effective?'

You may wonder what I'm talking about.

I spent a few hours this week buying skewers to hold together chicken burgers, and a plastic tub for a new ministry. Last week, I spent a few hours in the hardware store buying a new broom and double-sided tape. We needed to purchase these items, don't get me wrong, but the truth is this: When I'm running around buying items for ministry tasks, I'm not doing leadership. Let's not beat around the bush friends. I may be doing nice tasks, but I'm not leading. I'm not empowering someone. I'm not casting vision. I'm just busy doing nice things.

The fact is, I work in the ministry far more than I work on the ministry. It's powerful when you grasp the difference. Salvation Army leaders, dare I say, work tirelessly in ministry, but we don't work on building the ministry. We spend too much time on pragmatic tasks, than we do on developing leaders.

See, failure to operate in a way that identifies, trains and releases leaders into ministry will always cause my ministry to be small. The ministry is like a small tree in a pot; that tree will only grow to the size that the pot allows. In that modus operandi I can only do as much as what my own time and energy allows.

Think about The Salvation Army more generally. The pragmatic nature of Salvos has caused us to neglect leadership development, which has been at the expense of the growth of our movement. We then have had to shift our theological position of 'size', in order to justify to the Lord that we're not doing as bad as what we think we are. I believe (and you know by now, these are personal opinions), that our hands-on approach to serving the lost has not been coupled with an intentional desire to train up people for the work. We have neglected that. At least from a personal perspective, I feel the Lord saying, 'Right, Pete, it's time for your to invest in building leaders! You can do ministry until you fall asleep at night, but unless you raise up other leaders for this work, you are just a one-man-band trying to be a Messiah!'

We must fundamentally shift how we view ministry as leaders. We need to be comfortable with the idea, that as leaders, often we need to spend more time in teaching, leading and empowering ministry leaders, than actually doing the ministry. I am happy to debate this. I think, irrespective of the differing views, discussion on this is worth having. We spend too long doing pragmatic things at the expense of leadership development, which ultimately is at the expense of the growth of what we do.

Maybe the fear is that we are not being true to Salvationism, if we step too far away from the front-line. I understand that. We need to model servant leadership. Jesus washed the disciples feet. He multiplied the bread. He healed the sick. Though he also, sat in the Synagogue and taught. He regularly took the 12 disciples aside and explained what the parables meant. There was a balance in the ministry of Jesus between just doing ministry, to actually training up 12 disciples, who after the resurrection would take on the leadership of the early church!   

When we are doing kingdom work, we should see that work flourishing and multiplying. When we don't see it flourishing and multiplying someone needs to ask some critical questions. But no one likes accountability or discipline right? Also, being nice and happy to leaders, is not necessarily developing leaders. Having coffee with leaders is not necessarily building them up or increasing their performance. Sometimes we can simply become busy touching base with people, with very little intention about growing the person's capacity and maturity in Christ.

Sometimes we can even keep someone in a leadership position long after the ministry has outgrown their capacity, simply because it's too difficult and painful to have a conversation about the reality of such matters.

Lastly, the way I spend my week, is not always directly related to my heart for God to transform people's lives. That is, often, if I'm honest, my time is taken up on things that do not add direct value to the kingdom of God, but that I find easy to do. I am challenged to consider what I should do differently to move beyond mediocrity and embrace focused, passionate, intentional leadership that seeks to empower generations to lead the mission of The Salvation Army forward.

There you have it. The discipline of the Lord is gentle, but loud in my spirit. I must change the way I lead. And I say that, because failure to do so will cause me to miss the flourishing and growth that God so intends to provide.

I have to change.

What about you?

How to Grow as a Leader - Day 8: 100 Days of Leadership

How do you grow as a leader? Good question. Leadership growth is not inevitable. 

Do you think famous basketballers just fell upon success? Do you think movie stars become great at their craft overnight? Do you think great preachers simply became great preachers one Sunday morning? So, why then do some presume leadership skill and ability is a given? It is not. Grow as a leader and be intentional about it. What you do today as a leader, will determine who you become as a leader tomorrow.

How do you grow as a leader? Let me offer some thoughts on leadership development:

·         Read leadership books

·         Apply leadership teachings to your particular context

·         Meet with a coach/mentor

·         Work on your character (holiness)

·         Explore the Bible from a leadership perspective

·         Lead something! Then reflect on what worked and what didn’t work

·         Develop an understanding of people: Myers-Briggs Personality Types are good, or a good book on ‘developing relationships’. 

To grow as a leader, takes practice, or rather intentionality. If you are called to be a leader, then be intentional about learning, growing and developing. It's what John C. Maxwell calls the Law of Process.

I am still growing as a leader. First and foremost for me, is growing in my relationship with Jesus. Though, Paul says in Romans 12:8 that if you have a gift of leadership, then lead diligently. Leaders are called by God to be attentive, persistent and focused on growing as a leader. I think that’s biblical.

What does the Bible say?

1 Samuel 2:26 - And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

What will I do now?

How do you intend to grow as a leader? What leadership books are you reading? Who is your mentor? Do you appropriately reflect on who you are as a leader and how you behave in social situations? Reflect now, on what you can practically do to grow as a leader.

Leadership is not sexy anymore.

I'm writing a blog about a topic that seems to have lost its spark. I'm pretty stoked you're reading this right now. I mean I thought most people were over the leadership stuff. You could have scrolled past and found a video of a cute little boy singing Salt Water Wells in my Eyes in a school choir.

Let me ask the question: Do we care about this whole leadership thing anymore? Is leadership development a thing of the past?

Hold that thought for a moment.

I've got some startling revelations for you. Get past this next paragraph and the rest is smooth sailing. You'll be back to your chocolate icecream and snapchat very soon.

Some biometrics were done on charismatic and transformational leadership theory, between 1990 and 2010. The quest was to see how many papers were published on charismatic leadership and transformational leadership in academia land. The graph I cited clearly showed an exponential increase from 1990 to 2010, on the number of papers published, directly related to the above mentioned topic. So why is it, that I have this unsubstantiated feeling that many people don't care about leadership anymore?

Let me clarify a little better. Why does it seem, that people are not pursuing their own desire to grow as a leader to the extent they did in the past? 15 years ago, leadership development seemed hip. John C. Maxwell was churning out leadership books like my children eat sliced cheese and people seemed to be reading them. He's still churning the leadership books out, but I wonder who's still reading?

There seems to be a disconnect for me. We are disseminating more and more leadership teaching into the airwaves than ever before, but we seem less and less interested. The bombardment of knowledge in our 21st century lives is turning our brains to mush. And instead of trying to decipher what is beneficial to our lives, we give up and watch MasterChef.

Maybe I'm just speaking about an Australian context. After 8 years of lacklustre political leaders on both sides of the political spectrum, people are tired of talking about leadership. I mean, if the leader of our country can't even lead, how the heck could I?

Though, I want to push the envelope a bit right now. We need to grow as leaders! We need to stand up and realise, WE LEAD, whether we like it or not. WE LEAD, whether we read John C. Maxwell or not and whether or not you think what he writes about is beneficial or not. WE LEAD, whether we think we do or not. Let me remind you, if you're a parent, then you're a leader. If you're a teacher, you're a leader. If you're a supervisor, you're a leader. If you walk down the street and encourage a couple of young guys to put their trolley away and respect their elders, you're leading.

The question isn't about whether or not we lead. The point is whether or not we care to admit that we should spend time growing as a leader.

You can spend the next ten years watching YouTube clips of Academy Award nights, Cats doing dumb things and Jimmy Fallon reruns. Though if you do that, you waste ten years that could've been spent in leadership development.

So read a leadership book. Have a mentor. Read the Bible and apply it.

Let me say, that unashamedly I'm using this blog to tell you, that I'm giving you 100 Days of Leadership, starting March 2nd. 100 days. 100 blogs on leadership. Click here to subscribe and win!

We need to stand up and start being intentional about our growth as leaders. If you are already into the whole leadership development thing, then great, keep at it, and thanks for reading to the end. But, if you find yourself crushing candy and watching too much NCIS, maybe it's time to bite the bullet and commit yourself to growing your character and your competency.

Who knows, maybe what you'll learn in the process will transform you and others around you.

The world needs strong, Godly leaders. Are you one of them? 

John C. Maxwell Quotes on Leadership

John C. Maxwell Quotes on Leadership:

• 'People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care' - John C Maxwell
• 'Change is inevitable, growth is optional' - John C Maxwell
• 'Life is 10% what happens to me, 90% of how I react to it' - John C Maxwell
• 'Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less' - John C Maxwell

Join Pete Brookshaw's Facebook Page & keep the discussion going.
Also have a look at the TOP 100 Leadership Tips here.

• 'If we are growing, we are always going to be outside our comfort zone' - John C Maxwell
• 'We cannot become what we need, by remaining what we are' - John C Maxwell
• 'When the real leader speaks, people listen' - John C Maxwell
• 'Trust is the foundation of leadership' - John C Maxwell
• 'Anyone can steer the ship, but it takes a leader to chart the course' - John C Maxwell
• 'Leadership develops daily, not in a day' - John C Maxwell
• 'Leaders touch a heart before they ask for a hand' - John C Maxwell
• 'Momentum is a leader's best friend' - John C Maxwell
• 'Leaders understand that activity is not necessarily accomplishment' - John C Maxwell
• 'To add growth, lead followers - to multiply, lead leaders' - John C Maxwell
• 'A leader's lasting value, is measured by succession' - John C Maxwell
• 'The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence need to be' - John C Maxwell

Join Pete Brookshaw's Facebook Page & keep the discussion going.

More John C. Maxwell quotes on leadership:

• 'Personal organizational effectiveness is proportionate to the strength of leadership' - John C Maxwell
• 'You can find smart, talented, successful people who are able to go only so far because of the limitations of their leadership' - John C Maxwell
• 'The only thing a title can buy is a little time--either to increase your level of influence with others or to erase it' - John C Maxwell
• 'Becoming a leader is a lot like investing successfully in the stock market. If your hope is to make a fortune in a day, you're not going to be successful' - John C Maxwell
• 'As long as a person doesn't know what he doesn't know, he doesn't grow' - John C Maxwell
• 'No matter how much you learn from the past, it will never tell you all you need to know for the present' - John C Maxwell
• 'If the leader can't navigate the people through rough waters, he is liable to sink the ship' - John C Maxwell
• 'It's difficult balancing optimism and realism, intuition and planning, faith and fact. But that's what it takes to be effective as a navigating leader' - John C Maxwell
• 'Major barriers to successful planning are fear of change, ignorance, uncertainty about the future, and lack of imagination' - John C Maxwell
• 'It's not the size of the project that determines its acceptance, support, and success. It's the size of the leader' - John C Maxwell

John C Maxwell quotes on leadership are attributed to the writings of John C Maxwell, predominantly from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (1998).

Also have a look at the TOP 100 Leadership Tips here.

To continue the learning, check out this post: Stephen Covey's 4 Human Intelligences from July 2011. Click here.

Also: The differences/similarities between Leadership and Management

Join Pete Brookshaw's Facebook Page & keep the discussion going.

Law No. 3 - The Law of Process - John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Law 3 - The Law of Process

In this law, John C. Maxwell is simply saying that leadership is not developed just in a day. We don't wake up one morning and all of a sudden we have leadership expertise running through our veins. Leadership is developed daily. It is developed through our consistent growing, learning, stretching, reading, attempting and perseverance.

John Maxwell outlines the four phases of leadership growth, and they are:
Phase 1 - I don't know what I don't know
Phase 2 - I know what I don't know
Phase 3 - I grow and know and it starts to show
Phase 4 - I simply go because of what I know

Honestly, from starting work as a full-time Salvation Army minister (2009), I have witnessed my development through these stages. Lets take the example of filling out the financial records. My first attempt saw me in phase 1 - I didn't know how to fill out the paperwork, and I wasn't even sure who to ask for help. As I began to learn the financial system, I began to see the mistakes I was making (phase 2), and over time I have been able to fill out the finances myself! Now, I'm proud to say I'm finally in phase 4, where I can complete the work, fairly quickly and accurately. We are really at different stages on different aspects in leadership. Currently we are embarking on a building project in my local Church, and I feel once again, that I'm back in the early phases trying to understand the process, and learning how to lead effectively within the whole process.

What is leadership development?

Leadership development is more than just learning leadership techniques. You might know all the leadership techniques in the world (congratulations!), but if you don't know the systems and processes for the task you are completing, then it is still difficult! Leadership capacity coupled with a great understanding of the tasks you are completing, is a powerful combination.

The point of this leadership law, is that to grow to become a great leader, with the right values and qualities, and the right skills, develops over time, and not in a day. As a young leader, I have to discipline myself to learn and grow, so that I can become, by God's grace, a better leader. There are days, honestly, when you feel like, you will never 'arrive' at the place you want to be, though my hunch is that even leaders in their sixties and seventies still have that feeling! Be encouraged to continue to grow and learn, no matter what your age, and no matter what you 'have achieved' and what you are dreaming about.

Law No. 2 - The Law of Influence - John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Law 2 - The Law of Influence

John C Maxwell says, that 'leadership is influence', nothing more, nothing less. While this statement may not be 'irrefutable' as the title of his popular book says, the fact is leadership encapsulates influence. A good leader has vision and purpose, and while reaching towards the clouds, influence is what helps fulfill the dreams of the leader. Maxwell writes, 'The true measure of leadership is influence...' It is safe to say, that without influence, a leader does not have the ammunition, if you like, to reach the goals or the resources and capacity around to reach the destination.

Maxwell speaks of the death of Princess Diana, that stopped the world in its tracks. This was a lady with influence, that captured the hearts of the people. The question I ask, is how do you increase your influence? Also, is influence always a good thing?

Firstly, influence can be used for good or evil. No doubt we are aware that Hitler had influence, but his warped regime characterises evil and is not the kind of influence we want. Lets assume, the influence we have, is not for some self-aggrandizement, like some tele-evangelist with a bulging bank balance. Lets assume, building influence is about bringing great change and transformation to the causes we are passionate about. Building influence in order that multi-million dollar companies might embrace the Fair Trade movement is great. Building influence within a Church building project, may involve having the leaders, the skills, and the finances at your fingertips so that the God-given dream will succeed. Influence need not be a scary thing, or something to be overly wary of, as long as we are dealing with 'power' in all its forms, and only allowing influence to be used for good, ethical causes.

Secondly, to the question of how we increase influence (not necessarily just personally, but maybe the influence of a church, organisation, etc), here are some thoughts:
* Build trust with others
* Learn to have self-assertiveness and to be decisive
* Be a positive leader
* Take others with you on the journey
* Pray and believe the Bible
* Be faithful, obedient and have integrity in all things
* Learn to communicate effectively

Influence is a questionable attribute for some. A Christian may claim that influence is unbiblical and the goal to become a person of influence is not God's desire for someone. The thesis being, that God is the only one who will and can make someone influential, and is not something humans should strive after. I agree partly with this assertion, though, I believe strongly in the words of Romans 12:8 that says we all have different gifts given to us, and if it is leadership, then, 'lead diligently'. If we are called by God to be a leader, then we are responsible to grow as a leader, and be faithful in reading, learning and developing, in order that we may lead diligently. Influence is not synonymous with power in a worldly sense, but simply characteristic of strong leadership.

Remember Law No. 2 - The law of Influence - From John C Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.