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Be A Better Leader: The Five Be-attitudes of Better Leadership (part 2, Be Authentic)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” Today in part 2, I am exploring the first category, “Be Genuine,” and more specifically, I am talking about the importance of being authentic.

I have worked with teenagers for years, and I believe one of their defining characteristics is a common dislike for hypocrisy. That is not to say that they don’t also demonstrate hypocrisy and wear masks themselves, but as a whole, they don’t like adults who say one thing and do another. They use the terms “hypocrite” or “fake” to describe this behavior, but there are also antonyms to these words that are particularly relevant to leadership: credible, genuine, real, or authentic. This belief or feeling, though, is not just true for teenagers; everyone dislikes hypocrisy and wants to see authenticity. This is a foundational principle that emerged in Kouzes & Posner’s leadership research, published in The Leadership Challenge, revealing that “more than anything, people want leaders who are credible. Credibility is the foundation of leadership.” This led to their statement of “The First Law of Leadership: if you don’t believe in the messenger, you won’t believe the message.”

According to Peter Northouse, in Leadership: Theory and Practice, authentic leadership is leadership that is transparent, morally grounded, and responsive to people’s needs and values, and is developmental (a life-long process), intrapersonal (within), and interpersonal (relationship). In other words, authenticity is all about being genuine, real, and trustworthy, both with yourself and with others, and about showing genuine care for the best interest of others. Being authentic means being genuine, consistently matching your walk with your talk, and it is absolutely critical to effective leadership.

The most important component of authenticity is honesty. It is honesty that makes someone believable and trustworthy, because it becomes the visible evidence of integrity. According to Kouzes and Posner: “Regardless of what leaders say about their own integrity, people wait to be shown; they observe the behavior. Consistency between word and deed is how people judge someone to be honest.” You know this to be true. You can think of examples in your own experience of people who were dishonest and lacked integrity, and you know what you thought about those people and how it affected your level of trust. I don’t think anyone would question the significance of honesty. I think we also know that the “proof is in the pudding” – we decide someone’s honesty based on the actions that we see.

So then, besides the characteristic of honesty, what does authenticity look like?

First, you must understand that what it does not look like is imitation. To be authentic, you must be you, not someone else, and sometimes that is much more difficult than we realize. It’s fairly easy for us to try to take on attributes and characteristics of people we look up to, and it’s also appealing to try to imitate others who we want to be like. But the truth is, “no one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else. You can learn from others’ experiences, but there is no way you can be successful when you are trying to be like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not a replica of someone else” (George, et. al., Discovering your authentic leadership). It’s true that there are some things that we do because we have been exposed to an influential person in our lives; for example, I can point out a number of my own behaviors that reflect my father’s influence, and I can describe important ways in which my wife has shaped who I am. However, being affected by their influence does not mean that I am being them. Rather, everything I have learned has had to be applied in a way that matches my own personality and characteristics. I still have to be me.

Second, authenticity means that people can trust you to “DWYSYWD: Do What You Say You Will Do. DWYSYWD has two essential elements: say and do. To be credible in action, leaders must be clear about their beliefs; they must know what they stand for. That’s the “say” part. Then they must put what they say into practice: they must act on their beliefs and “do” (Kouzes and Posner). This characteristic will most clearly be revealed when the pressure is on and the challenge is great. Without question, “the values that form the basis for authentic leadership are derived from your beliefs and convictions, but you will not know what your true values are until they are tested under pressure” (George, et. Al.). When the heat is turned up, the fire will usually reveal your true colors, and that’s when people can see if your authenticity is real.

The conclusion, then, is that a leader must be authentic in order to be effective. People must be able to tell that you are genuine, that you are who you say you are because you do what you say you will do. Whether you realize it or not, you are being watched by your people, your family, your customers, and your community, so that they can determine if you are believable and therefore trustworthy. And if they don’t trust you, they won’t follow you. That’s why I believe that authenticity needs to be at the top of the list for every leader.

George, B., Sims, P., McLean, A. N., and Mayer, D., “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership” in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership (2011).

Kouzes, J. M., and Posner, B. Z. (2002). The Leadership Challenge (3rd Ed.).

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice.

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Quote Your Dad

“If you think you are leading and no one is following, you are just out for a walk.” Walt Wiley, ACSI

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 17: Be a Better Leader: The Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership (Part 1, Introduction)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” Today in part 1, we are kicking off the series with an introduction and broad overview of what’s to come. And because it is the introduction, the podcast script and the website article are almost exactly the same this week. Here is the transcript of the podcast.

Years ago, I taught a series of workshops at an educator’s convention, called “Be A Better Teacher.” The idea for these workshops started with a single workshop that I had originally prepared, called “The Be-Attitudes of Better Teaching,” in which I identified and explained some of the most important attributes and characteristics that should be reflected in who and what a teacher should be. Because it was a Christian School convention, it was a little bit of a play on words from the Beatitudes that Jesus shared in the Sermon on the Mount. This one workshop ended up growing into six workshops – Be Prepared, Be Good, Be Funny, Be Yourself, Be a Teacher, and Be an Influence – that focused on effective teaching techniques, methods and characteristics of good teachers.

At some point much further down the road in my leadership experience, something triggered my memory of these workshops, it dawned on me that the same kind of idea – a list of “Be” statements – was true in leadership as well. While there are many leadership styles and no single leadership type or personality, certain attitudes, skills, and characteristics are important in a leader for that leader to be effective, so I started thinking about what those things might be (pun intended). While not an all-inclusive list, I identified what I believe are a few of those “Be-Attitudes” in the context of leadership that are essential to leading well.

Before diving into these, though, we need a reminder of the basic context of leadership. In any leadership circumstance, there are three variables involved: the leader, the follower, and the situation. Each plays an important role, and each has an impact on the dynamic that is at work. Therefore, one of the primary responsibilities of a leader is to understand all three, so that he or she can know how best to operate within his or her gifts and abilities, know how best to lead followers, and know how best to lead in the situation at hand. In addition, there are two things that a leader is always managing: people and tasks. Therefore, almost everything that a leader does is done in order to effectively lead and manage people, and effectively manage and accomplish tasks.

With an understanding of this basic synopsis of leadership, there are some attributes and skills that I believe must be part of a leader’s makeup. It’s not an all-inclusive list, but it does include a variety of topics that I have sorted into five broad categories:

  • Be Genuine – being real and sincere
  • Be Relational – connecting with and caring for people
  • Be Trustworthy – integrity that can be trusted
  • Be Knowledgeable – demonstrating competence
  • Be Excellent – being good at it

These are the five broader categories of the “Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership” that I will be spending time on throughout the rest of the series. Within each of these categories, there are three or four attributes that represent that category, Therefore, each week, in both a website article and a podcast episode, I intend to discuss one of the different ways each of those attributes is reflected in practice. By the time I get to the end, I may discover that there are some other categories that need to be added, and if that’s the case, then we’ll take more time. In the end, I hope that you will have gained a grasp on some of the most important characteristics and practices that need to be embedded into yourself and your leadership, for you to be the most effective leader you can be. My prayer is that you will learn things that will help you to “Be a Better Leader.”

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Be A Better Leader: The Five Be-attitudes of Better Leadership (part 1, Introduction)

In this “Be A Better Leader” series of website articles and podcasts, I am talking about a variety of attributes, characteristics, and skills that are essential to effective leadership, and discussing how they are reflected in practice. I have grouped these things into five categories of what a leader ought to be, which is why I am labeling them as the “Be-attitudes of Better Leadership.” These five categories are: “Be Genuine,” “Be Relational,” “Be Trustworthy,” Be Knowledgeable,” and “Be Excellent.” Today in part 1, we are kicking off the series with an introduction and broad overview of what’s to come.

Years ago, I taught a series of workshops at an educator’s convention, called “Be A Better Teacher.” The idea for these workshops started with a single workshop that I had originally prepared, called “The Be-Attitudes of Better Teaching,” in which I identified and explained some of the most important attributes and characteristics that should be reflected in who and what a teacher should be. Because it was a Christian School convention, it was a little bit of a play on words from the Beatitudes that Jesus shared in the Sermon on the Mount. This one workshop ended up growing into six workshops – Be Prepared, Be Good, Be Funny, Be Yourself, Be a Teacher, and Be an Influence – that focused on effective teaching techniques, methods and characteristics of good teachers.

At some point much further down the road in my leadership experience, something triggered my memory of these workshops, it dawned on me that the same kind of idea – a list of “Be” statements – was true in leadership as well. Certain attitudes, skills, and characteristics are important in a leader for that leader to be effective, so I started thinking about what those things might be (pun intended). While not an all-inclusive list, I identified what I believe are a few of those “Be-Attitudes” in the context of leadership that are essential to leading well.

Before diving into these, though, we need a reminder of the basic context of leadership. In any leadership circumstance, there are three variables involved: the leader, the follower, and the situation. Each plays an important role, and each has an impact on the dynamic that is at work. Therefore, one of the primary responsibilities of a leader is to understand all three, so that he or she can know how best to operate within his or her gifts and abilities, know how best to lead followers, and know how best to lead in the situation at hand. In addition, there are two things that a leader is always managing: people and tasks. Therefore, almost everything that a leader does is done in order to effectively lead and manage people, and effectively manage and accomplish tasks.

With an understanding of this basic synopsis of leadership, there are some attributes and skills that I believe must be part of a leader’s makeup. It’s not an all-inclusive list, but it does include a variety of topics that I have sorted into five broad categories:

  • Be Genuine
  • Be Relational
  • Be Trustworthy
  • Be Knowledgeable
  • Be Excellent

These are the five broader categories of the “Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership” that I will be spending time on throughout the rest of the series. Within each of these categories, there are three or four attributes that represent that category, Therefore, each week, in both a website article and a podcast episode, I intend to discuss one of the different ways each of those attributes is reflected in practice. By the time I get to the end, I may discover that there are some other categories that need to be added, and if that’s the case, then we’ll take more time. In the end, I hope that you will have gained a grasp on some of the most important characteristics and practices that need to be embedded into yourself and your leadership, for you to be the most effective leader you can be. My prayer is that you will learn things that will help you to “Be a Better Leader.”

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Quote Your Dad

“Faith. Wisdom. Leadership. Connecting biblical truth with wisdom for leadership.”

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Leadership Ezra: Connecting faith, wisdom, and leadership to grow your impact

This is a bold ask. I am asking because I want to help people connect faith, wisdom, and leadership, and so I have crafted these resources to do just that. Here is what I am asking: will you follow and share the website and podcast information? I would love your help in sharing this information with as many people as possible.

I am a connect-the-dots kind of person. Therefore, one of the ways God has taught and grown me is by helping me connect the dots between scriptural truth and life application.  It is from that perspective that I initially launched this website and its accompanying resources a little less than a year ago. The purpose was to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that would help other followers of Jesus grow in their leadership and make an impact. That original dream of an idea turned into three things: the self-publication of a book on Amazon (Leadership Ezra), the creation of the Leadership Ezra website, and the initiation of a corresponding podcast. The overarching theme became “Faith. Wisdom. Leadership.: Connecting biblical truth with wisdom for leadership.” Therefore, that is the basis of these “Leadership Ezra” resources – a book, a website, and a podcast – that are now available to help you grow in leadership from a biblical foundation.  

The book, Leadership Ezra (order your copy on Amazon), is all about connecting the dots between Scriptural truth and life application, specifically within the realm of leadership, using a story in the Bible to do so.  In this case, the story is actually the story contained in the book of Ezra, a book comprised of two different journeys of return for the people of God.  The experiences in this book demonstrate and illustrate lessons that can then be applied to your practice of leadership today.

The website, www.LeadershipEzra.com, is intended to be a resource to help leaders with this same connection, again providing principles and practices that connect biblical truth with wisdom and applying it to the practice of leadership. If you are new to leadership, if you are struggling in your leadership, or if you simply want to learn more and grow in your leadership, here you will find counsel and insight to help you be more equipped to lead and to do it in a godly way.  The goal is to help you lead like Ezra:  know God deeply, live by His Word, and apply that wisdom in your leadership of others.

The podcast, also called “Leadership Ezra” and available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, is likewise all about connecting biblical truth with wisdom for the practice of leadership.  These are short episodes (10 +/- minutes) that share an illustration and provide some explanation and application of topics from the website. The episodes are helpful handles to understand and remember key ideas.

These three resources work together to connect three dots: “Faith…Wisdom…Leadership.” Aimed at Christians in leadership, including those who are leading in Christian schools and ministries, my purpose is to connect these dots so that I can help people lead well. So if you have found any of those to be good for your leadership, would you tell at least three other people? With your help, I believe that God can use these resources to better equip leaders who will make an impact for His Kingdom.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 15: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 15 – The Big Ideas)

In my thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are leadership lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This particular series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, the same lessons that I have published in my latest book. This week, in part 15, I am pulling out three big ideas that I hope you take away from the series. Here is the transcript of the podcast.

In this series, we have been diving deeper into principles and practices that connect biblical truth with wisdom and applying them to the practice of leadership. The purpose of the series, and of the website as a whole, is to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that will help you grow in your leadership and make an impact. That starts with realizing that God has a plan and purpose that can be trusted, whether or not we can visibly see His hand in it, and He has a part for us in this purpose.

We then spent 3 weeks laying the groundwork for effective leadership, using the analogy of the starting blocks in a race, when all the runners line up and get into position, and the starter yells, “On your mark, get set, go!” The first command, “On Your Mark,” was all about getting to the starting line and in the right place by getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming. Aligning yourself with truth by seeking and knowing God and knowing where He has placed you, and by establishing your foundational beliefs and values, gives you the capability to lead. The second command, “Get Set,” was all about getting into position in the right form, so that you are best prepared to start well. Performing the actions that set you up to be followed and trusted involves living your life so that your actions and behaviors reflect those beliefs, and that gives you the credibility to lead. The final command, “Go,” is when the starter’s pistol goes off and you start running. That’s when your work begins as you start leading your people and your organization toward your mission, vision, or change. This is hard work and therefore requires someone who is both capable and credible, and that’s why this step must follow the other two. But with those things in place, the race is underway, and what follows are the things you do to maintain your pace and your race. We have already talked about the importance of the ability to see the big picture, giving people a voice in the process and then motivating them, facing obstacles and opposition, the importance of celebrating, the process of strategic planning, and restoration, or what to do if things have gone wrong or you have messed up. Last time we reviewed all of these lessons, and today, in the final episode of the series, I am highlighting three big ideas.

For years I have attended professional development conferences. Typically, it involved two or three days of gathering together at some conference center, hearing from keynote speakers, attending breakout workshops and sessions, networking, perusing various vendors, and trying to learn as much as possible. But that’s where the challenge comes. Usually, I would take all kinds of notes, collect lots of samples and examples, and walk away with a ton of ideas. But by the time I got home, the plethora of ideas was too much to practically implement, and in the busyness of work back at home combined with the overwhelming amount of ideas I had collected, most of the wonderful ideas and information were set aside with the intent of coming back to it at a later time . . . which, of course, never happened. At some point over the years, I finally learned the value of taking time at the end of the conference to reflect and review everything I had learned, and to identify two or three big ideas that I could do when I got home. Amazingly, I found myself implementing ideas when I did this. The difference was that I figured out how to focus on a manageable list of ideas I could actually follow up on.

That’s what I hope this week’s article episode does for you – that it focuses in on three big takeaways that you can remember. I hope that everything we’ve talked about in the previous 14 weeks can be a benefit to you, but if nothing else, I pray you can walk away with these three things.

  1. See the big picture, which is this: God’s sovereignty operates in conjunction with man’s responsibility, in the context and for the purpose of restoration, resulting in relationship and purpose. Therefore, in the application of leadership, it is vital that we begin with an understanding that God has a plan and a purpose, that He is actively involved in the events of our lives, and that we also have a responsibility to act.
  2. Remember that leadership is hard, but the right skills can be learned to help you succeed. Be intentional about learning them. There are a multitude of valuable resources available to help you in your development of leadership, so study and learn and grow. But don’t forget to also seek out resources that help the spiritual development of your leadership, which is just as important (if not more so) for Christian leaders. So where can you go to get help for understanding leadership principles and practices within a biblical context? This may seem to be an obvious answer, but ironically it is one that is often overlooked by leaders: look to examples of leadership in the Bible.
  3. The Bible is relevant to leadership. The Bible is not an archaic text with no relevance to modern leadership and living, but is, rather, an incredibly practical source of principles, wisdom, and guidelines that can be applied to leadership to help you become more effective. The secret is in understanding that God, the Creator of man and of this world, and therefore the source of the greatest knowledge and understanding of man, life, and relationships, has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. Therefore, when we can see into the stories and the history with that lens, we can identify the ideas that apply to successful and effective leadership and living today.

My hope is that you learned and/or grew from all the lessons that I drew from this study of Ezra, but it is also my hope that two things have happened in particular: first, that you remember a couple of important lessons from this series that you can implement, and second, that you figured out you also can draw lessons from the Bible that will help you be the best leader you can be. The Bible is a valuable (and valid) source of wisdom, so I would encourage you to become intentional about seeking wisdom from it. I pray that this series has been a blessing to your leadership, and as I have said before, if you want to go deeper in these lessons, order a copy of my book, “Leadership Ezra,” on Amazon. Thank you and God bless.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 15, The Big Ideas)

In thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament (and then published in my latest book). This week, in part 15, I am wrapping things up with 3 big ideas that we need to take away from the series.

For the last fourteen weeks, I shared various lessons on leadership that can be drawn from the story that takes place in the book of Ezra, which included reviewing the whole series of lessons last week. One of those lessons emphasized the importance of seeing the big picture, so allow me to do that here, by zooming out above the whole story of Ezra to identify three of the overarching ideas for us.

1) One of the most important “big picture” lessons to learn from the story of Ezra – the lesson that represents the overall theme for the book – is this: God’s sovereignty operates in conjunction with man’s responsibility, in the context and for the purpose of restoration, resulting in relationship and purpose. Therefore, in the application of leadership, it is vital that we begin with an understanding that God has a plan and a purpose, that He is actively involved in the events of our lives, but that we also have a responsibility to act. I repeated this idea frequently throughout the series because I think it is one of the most important takeaways from the book.

2) A second big picture lesson is the realization that the work of leadership is hard, and it is not for the faint-hearted. There are decisions to be made, problems to be addressed, challenges to be solved, tensions to be managed, conflicts to be resolved, tasks to be completed, and numerous other responsibilities that ultimately have an impact on many people. And add to that the work of leading and managing people, who are imperfect and operate in the context of a fallen world. For the Christian leader – regardless of whether you are a school leader, church leader, ministry leader, or a Christian leading in a secular industry or organization – it can be even more challenging as you seek to reflect Christ in all you do.

The good news is that successful and effective leadership is a skill that can be learned, but it requires intentional effort. In today’s world, there are a multitude of valuable resources available for helping you in your development of leadership, however many of those do not address the spiritual context for the leader who is a follower of Jesus, which is just as important (if not more so) for Christian leaders. So where can you go to get help for understanding leadership principles and practices within a biblical context? This may seem to be an obvious answer, but ironically it is one that is often overlooked by leaders: look to examples of leadership in the Bible.

3) This takes me to the last “big picture” idea I would like for us to take away from this study: the Bible is not an archaic text with no relevance to modern leadership and living, but is, rather, an incredibly practical source of principles, wisdom, and guidelines that can be applied to leadership in order to help you become more effective. The secret is in understanding that God, the Creator of man and of this world and therefore the source of the greatest knowledge and understanding of man, life, and relationships, has revealed Himself to us in the Bible. Therefore, when we can see into the stories and the history with that lens, we can identify the ideas that apply to successful and effective living today.

You see, application is the connecting of one idea or principle or truth or concept to a practice; sometimes it is a closely related practice (narrow), sometimes it is not (broad), in which case it reflects a general, simple truth that applies to multiple scenarios or circumstances. There are principles that apply specifically to certain fields, but there are also ideas that are general and can be cross-applied because they are either 1) examples / representative of principles, or 2) core truths that apply across a spectrum. A leader needs to be able to think abstractly enough to make cross-application, to see ideas and identify how they illustrate lessons, while also being wise and discerning enough to identify and implement specifically related principles. The Bible, as the greatest source of wisdom at our disposal, is filled with illustrations and lessons that can be applied and cross-applied to leadership today.

My hope is that you learned and/or grew from the variety of lessons that I drew from this study of Ezra, but it is also my hope that you learned that you also can draw lessons from the Bible that will help you be the best leader you can be. The Bible is a valuable (and valid) source of wisdom, so I would encourage you to become intentional about seeking wisdom from it.

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Quote Your Dad

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 14: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 14 – The Big Review)

In my thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are leadership lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This particular series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, the same lessons that I have published in my latest book. This week, in part 14, I am reviewing all the lessons I’ve talked about in the series. Here is the transcript of the podcast.

In this series, we have been diving deeper into principles and practices that connect biblical truth with wisdom and applying them to the practice of leadership. The purpose of the series, and of the website as a whole, is to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that will help you grow in your leadership and make an impact. That starts with realizing that God has a plan and purpose that can be trusted, whether or not we can visibly see His hand in it, and He has a part for us in this purpose.

We then spent 3 weeks laying the groundwork for effective leadership, using the analogy of the starting blocks in a race, when all the runners line up and get into position, and the starter yells, “On your mark, get set, go!” The first command, “On Your Mark,” was all about getting to the starting line and in the right place by getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming. Aligning yourself with truth by seeking and knowing God and knowing where He has placed you, and by establishing your foundational beliefs and values, gives you the capability to lead. The second command, “Get Set,” was all about getting into position in the right form, so that you are best prepared to start well. Performing the actions that set you up to be followed and trusted involves living your life so that your actions and behaviors reflect those beliefs, and that gives you the credibility to lead. The final command, “Go,” is when the starter’s pistol goes off and you start running. That’s when your work begins as you start leading your people and your organization toward your mission, vision, or change. This is hard work and therefore requires someone who is both capable and credible, and that’s why this step must follow the other two. But with those things in place, the race is underway, and what follows are the things you do to maintain your pace and your race. We have already talked about the importance of the ability to see the big picture, giving people a voice in the process and then motivating them, facing obstacles and opposition, the importance of celebrating, the process of strategic planning, and restoration, or what to do if things have gone wrong or you have messed up. Today, as we begin to wrap up the series, we are reviewing everything we’ve talked about.

In my first few years of teaching, I was in a place that had numerous organizational health issues, and the result was that student needs were being affected. Without a lot of support or guidance, I put my efforts into understanding what the students needed, and then figuring out how to meet those needs. Eventually, the head of school approached me and asked me if I would be the guidance counselor, because, he said, “You’re already doing that.” So, I accepted that responsibility and used it to start figuring out more ways that I could use this new official position to do even more. This led to being given more authority. As that cycle continued, I was offered an opportunity to become a head of school in another state, and after much prayer, my wife and I made the decision to take it. I stepped into this new role, like my previous one, having to figure out what steps I needed to take. I had not had formal school leadership training, so essentially, I was learning on the job. God blessed that work, and that school began to thrive. Years later, when I look back, I can see in hindsight the things I did well in my leadership as well as the mistakes I learned from.

One thing I didn’t have that I wish I had was a simple guide to basic leadership skills that would have better equipped me from the beginning, rather than having to learn only by trial and error. That’s what these lessons are for you from the life of Ezra. They are a simple explanation of some of the valuable tools that you can have in your toolbelt to be able to lead well.

I grouped these lessons into three sections, with one brief tangent:

  1. The first section was the foundation, the big picture lesson and an overall theme of Ezra, that God’s sovereignty works in in conjunction with my responsibility, in the context and for the purpose of restoration, resulting in relationship and purpose. Therefore, in the application of leadership, it is vital that we begin with an understanding that God has a plan and a purpose that can be trusted, and He is actively involved in the events of our lives, whether or not we can visibly see His hand in it. Thankfully, His plan is not contingent upon or predicated by our perfection, so He doesn’t wait until we are perfect before choosing you or me as a leader or carrying out His plan.
  2. In the second section, I talked about the preparation for your leadership, using the analogy of the starting blocks in a race, when all the runners line up and get into position, and the starter yells, “On your mark, get set, go!” This was all about getting to the starting line and in the right place by getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming, which gives you your capability to lead; getting into position in the right form by matching your actions and your words, so that you are best prepared to start well, which gives you the credibility to lead; and then beginning the race and maintaining the pace.
  3. We took a brief tangent to talk about team leadership, learning some bonus lessons from Ezra about the components of a team and how to successfully assemble and navigate the work of the team.
  4. The rest of lessons focused on specific tools and skills for your leadership. As I said in the opening of this podcast, these included the importance of and ability to see the big picture, giving people a voice in the process and then motivating them, facing obstacles and opposition, the importance of celebrating, the process of strategic planning, and restoration, or what to do if things have gone wrong or you have messed up.

This was a very short summary of a lot of information. The bottom line is that these lessons provide an instruction sheet or a roadmap that you can use to manage your leadership. They are lessons that you can learn from and apply so that you can be better in your leadership. I have said to my own children that you learn most things from experience, but it’s usually less painful if it’s someone else’s experience. I pray that you can learn from my experience so that you can have a greater impact. If you want more thoughts and study of these topics from the book of Ezra, order a copy of Leadership Ezra, available on Amazon.

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