1. Dedication.
If you’re a leader, where’s your dedication at right now? Are you as dedicated now as you were when you first surrendered to that call of leadership?
Leading successfully takes more and more dedication the longer you lead.
As a church leader, I, first and foremost, need to be dedicated to God’s direction for my life and, in turn, to the direction of whatever He’s calling me to lead. I need to be a leader that is more and more focused on my own integrity, especially as success continues.
In The Message version, Psalm 19 says,
“The signposts of God are clear and point out the right road.”
This means I need to be looking for God’s signposts over everyone else’s. For me, this means staying dedicated to reading and studying God’s Word on a regular and, ideally, daily basis … a lamp for my feet and a light to my path.
I also need to be dedicated to the vision that God has given me.
The vision I have as a leader is one thing that won’t change. It’s the hill I will die on. I have to keep that vision in front of me and allow that vision to motivate and fuel me when the going gets tough. Every great church leader has and will carry out a clear vision from God and will be dedicated to that vision.
Lastly, I need to be dedicated to the people I lead.
Do you know the most important ingredient of what makes a leader? Followers! If you call yourself a leader and no one is following you, then you’re just going for a walk by yourself.
Dedication to the people I lead means I have their back, especially when they have mine, and it also means considering their thoughts and concerns, even if it means neglecting mine at times. Dedication and loyalty is infectious and it always, always, always starts with the leader.
When the people I lead are unclear about my dedication to them, things can get nuclear in a hurry.
