Authentic Leadership

We are working to build a Simply Irresistible Organization, and it all started with our leadership creating an undeniable culture. Culture, you ask? Well, it starts with leadership. Leaders are asked to Join, Learn, Contribute, and Grow.

 Join a Community

We were never created to live alone. Deep within our core lies this inerrant design: join a purpose that is so much bigger than one individual. Living in community, rubbing elbows with individuals who don’t look like me, talk like me, or think like me. An authentic leader dives head-first into this messy, yet beautiful collection of life experiences.

‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.’ Acts 2:42-47

Listen, nothing about this passage sounds easy or convenient. Linking up with a group of people is hard, and oftentimes longsuffering. But, it’s what we were made for, true joy is found when you are known and loved deeply in the context of community.      

 Listen and Learn

Listening is a lost art form. I’m talking undivided, no agenda-seeking, individualized attention on one person. We live in a culture that praises multitasking and constant stimulation. This fast-paced lifestyle not only produces copious amounts of stress and desensitizes our need for human interaction, but cripples our ability to truly listen and comprehend one another. An exceptional leader builds respect and increases knowledge by actively listening. Meaning, interacting with all five senses during a conversation. So sit up straighter, commit to eye contact, and smile! To actively listen is to learn well and value others.

Contribute Uniquely

At the beginning of the Bible, God gave this guy Adam a job. He allowed man to contribute to His design, and instilled purpose behind work. Uniquely created in God’s image with specific skills, gifts and abilities, it is critically important to identify the set of skills you naturally lead from. Donald Clifton, the man who created the Strengths Finder Assessment, once wrote: ‘while our society encourages us to be well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds mediocrity.’ Authentic Leadership identifies and develops 3-5 ‘qualities’ or ‘contributing skills’ and willingly seeks after help from others that do not share similar giftings.

‘From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.’ Ephesians 4:16

Friends, we all have a seat on the bus. Make sure you’re in the right one.

Move and Grow

Think about the last time you saw a pond of stagnant water. The stillness of the water, without any movement or activity, creates, for lack of a better term, a cesspool. It’s stinky, muddy, and overall uninhabitable. Lack of new knowledge, friendships, ideas, dreams, you name it, can cause this type of ‘water’ within us. Growth comes from movement, just as the pond becomes attractive for wildlife to gather in once it starts flowing. Leaders don’t stand still, they do not think still, and they certainly do not live still.

I’ll leave you with a simple secret: You Are All Leaders.

So, what are you waiting for? Join a great purpose, Learn by listening, Contribute with your innate strengths, and Grow by moving.

We exist to love and value people by leading a Movement of Change in our Industry, corporate cultures, and communities.

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