Leadership Week! [Day 1]

I’m proud to be a Contributor at the Deeper Leader SyncrhoBlog that runs September 10-14th.

You’re welcome to add your voice too. Go here to get details. I’ll be sure to check for your link and read your contribution.

Today’s Wisdom:

A Good Leader Listens.

 

Have you ever been talking to you boss and trying to communicate an urgent point, and you can tell that your boss is thinking about other things? He’s only waiting until you stop talking for a nano-second to tell you something he thinks is more important. I still gets surprised when this happens to me.

So many failures of leadership could be avoided by listening well in the first place. But, here’s the surprise. This is actually a spiritual problem.

A spiritually mature person is an excellent listener.

Truly listening helps those who lead not just to properly assess what is really happening so one can choose a good response, but it also helps a Leader find new talent to raise up new Leaders. Leadership is all about influence, and influencing others to be spiritually mature as they lead is crucial. In case you haven’t noticed the examples of immature and failed leadership are legion.

When we mentor others we must be attuned to what ones their gifts to lead others well. Too often we skip this part on our way to imparting our “wisdom” and getting them to absorb what we have to offer them.

Good Listening skills are rare and under-developed, so to get better at listening start by paying attention.

Did you ever have a boss who didn’t listen? Let me know.

 

Tomorrow I’ll talk about the next thing that makes a good Leader: INVITATION

Come back and read it tomorrow!

What Makes a Good Leader?

 

What Makes a Good Leader?

This is the first question of the Leadership Synchroblog sponsored by Evangelical Seminary, running September 10th-14th. 

Though most of us don’t run big companies, command platoons, or lead mega-churches, but we’ve all had our experiences with leadership.

And in certain ways we all lead:

• As a parent

• As a mentor, coach, or teacher

• In ministry

• On a project

• At our job

• In our neighborhood

…and so on.

So you’ve probably learned some things along the way through your own experiences. OR, conversely, you’ve been led by an inapt leader…so, you know what NOT to do.

Whatever your story, you can read excellent Leadership resources AND join in the first Leadership Synchroblog in the week of SEPTEMBER 10-14th (2012).
Weigh in on “What Makes a Good Leader”. Other topics will follow, usually twice per month. You can check the blog for guest writers and new Synchroblog topics. Write you own contribution and then connect to this bigger conversation.

 


By contributing, you’ll be part of making leaders better and a larger community with this focus at the fore. We’ve invited some leading experts in the field to weigh in too, so don’t forget to check out what they have to say on Leadership at the blog.Contributor GUIDANCE / REQUIREMENTS:
To participate…
Use the Leadership Synchro Contributor Badge– (up there)
Encourage growth in maturity. (This means your piece should be positive toward education, training, and development, and notring negative or disparaging toward others. Such as a specific Leader’s failure, for instance.)
Link back to through the Badge (or use a text link), that links back to this address: http://www.evangelical.edu/macl/
Comment on a blog post at least one other Synchro Blog participant. Optimally, once per day (or more), during Sept 10-14th.

Promote your own post (and the series) well through available outlets (like Facebook, Twitter, Stumble on, google+, etc) to generate interest.

Thank you for caring about this subject and doing what you can to nurture better leaders!

The Evangelical Seminary will host links to all contributions.