Learning to Lead

If you are going to be an effective leader, you must develop the skills that it takes to stay on top of the game. You cannot become what you need to be by remaining what you are. This is a tough marketplace. You need to be competent. People don’t care how rocky the ocean is, they just want you to bring the ship in. To bring the ship in, you need to be able to navigate through the rough waters. You need to know what it takes to lead your family, your team, your division or your church.

A leader is a learner. This will require you to be well read, to attend conferences, training sessions, tapping into online opportunities and learning from people at every opportunity. If I am going to hire someone on my staff, they must have a teachable spirit and a willingness to learn. If you are going to influence people, you need competence.  Part of this competency, is the ability to communicate in a way that people can understand it and receive it. You may be a leader and have vision, faith and God’s blessing, but if you cannot communicate in a way that people can understand it, it is useless.  

1 Corinthians 14:8
Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?

You must sell your vision to your team. If you are a parent, you must communicate your vision to your children. If you are a Sunday School teacher, you must sell your vision to the class. If you are an Office Manager you must sell your vision to the staff.

People want to be led. They want someone to say, “This is the direction that we are going.” The test of leadership is that when you declare that this is the way to go and no one is following you, you are only taking a walk. You may not be the leader. As I said, people want to be led. If someone is not performing in the tasks that they have been given, there are generally four reasons why people do not perform to your expectations.

Four reasons people do not perform
1.  They do not know what they are supposed to do.
2.  They don’t know how to do it
3.  They don’t know why they should do it.
4.  There are obstacles beyond their control.

Before you start disrupting every one’s life, take a moment and reflect if you have adequately communicated what you expect. I am in the communication business, yet this is hard for me sometimes. As a result, I’ve made my share of blunders along the way. When you make mistakes, admit them and learn from them.