Lift Your Leadership Notes: If I were a great leader I would ....

You are the light of the world - you are a city set upon a hill - let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your father in heaven 

Every person here has been called by God to do great things. 

Deuteronomy 28  And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.  Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

We see all of these guys / ladies doing great things - shining a light - how do we do the same thing?  I know what to do - you know what do to - the question is will we do it. 

So today I’m going to do a talk titled If I were a great leader I would …. 

Lead myself well. 

- Feed myself the word of God.

- Spend one hour per day mastering my craft. 

- Workout at least 30 minutes per day. 

- Have a hobby. 

Lead my family well. 

-  Date Days

-  Time with kids 

-  Phone off by 7pm every night 

-  Enjoy every day because tomorrow comes to quickly

Know the answer to the three most important questions of life. 

Leadership is influence nothing more and nothing less. 

Answering three questions will give you influence - allow you to lead. 

Who am I?

Why am I here?

Where am I going?

Look at the Apostle Paul

Who am I?   I am Apostle

Why am I here?      To be all things to all men might win some

Where am I going?    Forgetting the past I am pressing on to the high calling in Christ

Look at the Partier from back in your High School Days. 

This guys never went to a party alone ... why? He could answer these three questions. 

Who am I?    I am a partier

Why am I here?   I am here to party

Where am I going?   I am going to a party - do you want to go?

Look at Jesus himself

Who am I?   I am the way truth and life

Why am I here?   I am here to seek and save the lost

Where am I going?   I am going to to prepare a place for you 

Let me ask you ...

Who are you?

Why are you here?

Where are you going?

Say "yes" less and "no" more often. 

We have one thing we need to accomplish. But we start saying yes to helping them, going there, hosting that, and before you know it we are doing so many things we aren't doing anything well. 

Great leaders are driven by principle, not by desire to please people. 

Do what I do best and delegate the rest. 

So much that needs to be done every week in life and ministry. You and I think we can do everything. But we cant! 

We need to - Do less, so we can do better. 

How to delegate?

1. Speak it verbally.  

2. Spell it out in writing.

3. Slowly release it to them. 

Hear before I speak. 

James 1:19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Don’t just listen - hear - to many times we listen to the sound someone is making with their mouth - but we don’t hear them - hear their pain - hear their excitement - hear what they are really saying. Far too often, we are too busy wanting to hear ourselves speak that we don’t really hear others 

Three tips for hearing.

1. Put phone down 

2. Look in the eye 

3. Don't be afraid to ask, "Can you tell me that again."

Don’t speak about how things are, but how they should be. 

James 3:3-4  If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

Power in words - James - your words take you where your are going. 

If all you do is talk about how things are … your words will keep you where you are

We can’t get volunteers 

Our volunteers never contact us back

We just don’t have the money 

I don’t know what to do 

All of these statements ... take you right back to where you currently are. They don't move you forward. 

Every great leader at the end of a problem … asks a question. 

How can we get volunteers - What can we do to hear back from them - What can I do to get more money - 

Don’t speak about how things are … ask questions … and speak howthey are going to be

Dream Big then get off the couch. 

God wants to do big things through us ... no just for us. 

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Every time in history (other than creation) that God did something ... he always used a person. 

Moses - David - Esther - God did big things through them … not for them 

God works through us .... not just for us. 

Proverbs 10:4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

What could God do in your family - ministry - house - church …. he could do amazing things - if you allow him to do it through you 

Build a team to accomplish everything. 

Nothing great ever happens alone … it only happens through a team. 

Build a team to accomplish everything. 

Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Team to prepare messages 

Team to do worship 

Team to handle finances

Team to clean the house - you don;t have to do it alone 

Team to set up and tear down 

Team to coordinate volunteers 

The work that leaders do is prepare others to do the work. Leaders build teams and by doing so we help people find their place … and things get accomplished. 

If I were a Great leader I would …. know I can’t do all of these at the same time. So I will pick two and begin applying them over the next two months. 

The steps of the righteous are ordered by the Lord 

We over estimate what we can do in a day - and underestimate what we can do in a lifetime.

Go back through these 9 points. Find one thing that you are dong well at. Find two things you need to improve on. Make these two your focus for the next two months.