Under His wings

THE INFLUENCE OF GOOD AND BAD LEADERS

- Attitudes - when good leaders rule, people rejoice; when the wicked reign, people groan

- Stability - when moral leaders rule, they establish justice; compromising leaders tear things down

- Compassion - good leaders express concern for the poor; bad leaders reflect no compassion for anyone

- Honesty - when leaders pay attention to lies, their staff begins to esteem the same deception

- Vision - solid vision keeps everyone on track; chaos reigns wherever the vision lapses

(John Maxwell)

Faith is like wifi

HOW A MASTER COMMUNICATOR CONNECTED WITH HIS AUDIENCE

- He began with affirmation

- He bridged his subjects with the familiar

- He enlarged their vision of God

- He used inclusive language

- He gave them encouragement and hope

- He identified with some of their own poets

- He gave them specific action steps

(John Maxwell)

Everything is possible

A SERVANT....

1. Denies self - we are to please others, not ourselves

2. Develops others - we are to add value to others

3. Accepts mistreatment - we are to forgive wrongs

4. Imitates Christ - we are to look to Jesus as our model

5. Is a student - we are to remain teachable

6. Pursues the harmony of relationship - we are to pursue unity and peace

(John Maxwell)

Give me Jesus

LEADERS ARE LIFTER

- Leaders transfer ownership for work to those who execute the work

- Leaders create an environment where each team member wants to be responsible

- Leaders coach the development of personal capabilities

- Leaders learn quickly and encourage others to learn efficiency also

If you want to give a team a lift, then provide them with better leadership\

(John Maxwell)

Following Jesus

EVALUATE YOUR HOME LEADERSHIP

- Initiative - do I give direction and take responsibility for my primary relationship?

- Intimacy - do I experience intimacy with God and others through open conversation?

- Influence - do I exercise biblical influence by encouraging and developing others?

- Integrity - do I lead an honest life, unashamed of who I am when no one is looking?

- Identity - am I secure in who I am in Christ?  Or am I defensive?

- Inner circle - do I exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in my life, including self-discipline?

(John Maxwell)

Jesus came to save sinners

GOD'S WORD AS OUR SOURCE OF LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

Our leadership will:

- Be blessed

- Be strengthen and revitalised

- Enjoy liberty

- Remain steady even when afflicted

- Be enlightened, intuitive

- Remain pure and ethical

- Insightfully answer criticism

- Gain wise counsel when needed

- Display more insight than our teachers

- Have reliable guide

(John Maxwell)

My grace is sufficient for you

COMMITMENT TO INTEGRITY AS A LEADER

- Leaders must be visionary, yet they cannot see everything in the future

- Instead of pretending to be in control, leaders must model being under control

- Leaders must model humanity and identify with the limitation of followers

- Leaders must model an anchored life, acting from character, not emotion

- While leaders don't know what tomorrow holds, they do know Who holds tomorrow

(John Maxwell)

If you want to be successful

HOW THE LEADER CONNECTS WITH PEOPLE

- Your people are more willing to take action when you first move them with emotion

- When you give first, your people will give in return

- When you connect with individuals, you gain the attention of the crowd

- When you reach out to your people, they will reach back toward you

- Whether you have just taken over a leadership position or are well established, you must connect with your people if you are to succeed

(John Maxwell)

Whatever is true

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 6

- Optimism supplies the basic energy of civilization.  Optimism doesn't wait on facts.  It deals with prospects.  Pessimism is a waste of time (Norman Cousins)

- Advice would be more acceptable if it didn't always conflict with our plan

- Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless (Mother Teresa)

- Don't be content with being average.  Average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top

- I always prefer to believe the best of everybody - it saves so much trouble (Rudyard Kipling)

- No man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure and good without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness (Phillips Brooks)

- The things our friends do with us and for us form a portion of our lives; they strengthen our personality (Goethe)

- God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with.  We are not cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels made for giving (Billy Graham)

- The butterfly counts not month, but moments, and yet has time enough

- Good habits are not made on birthday, nor Christian character at the New Year.  The workshop of character is everyday life.  The uneventful and commonplace hour is where the battle is lost or won (Maltbie D. Babcock)

Your light will shine

LEADERS WHO EMPOWER OTHERS

Leaders who empower others offer these gifts:

- Accountability: they help others keep their commitments to God

- Affirmation: they speak words of support and encouragement

- Assessment: they evaluate others' progress, offering an objective perspective

- Advice: they offer words of wise counsel and direction

- Admonishment: they lend words of caution, rebuke, or correction

- Assets: they give tangible resources to help their people reach their goals

- Acceptance: they provide unconditional love, regardless of the recipients' identity

- Application: they help others find places to apply and practice what they learn

(John Maxwell)

Keep your eyes fixed on me

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 5

- Still remember, she is your companion, the friend in whom you may confide at all times, and from whom you may obtain counsel and comfort

- Some people make the world more special just by being it it

- If people learn from their mistakes, many are getting a fantastic education

- There is a mighty big difference between good, sound reasons and reasons that sound good

- If you judge people, you have no time to love them (Mother Teresa)

- God give the shoulder according to the burden (German Proverb)

- There is no good arguing with the inevitable.  The only argument available with an east wind is to put your overcoat (Denys Finch Hatton)

- When God allows a burden to be put upon you, He will put His arms underneath you to help you to carry it

- I may be old but I haven't stopped growing (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

- We always have time for the things we put first

God is bigger

PERSONAL QUALIFICATION FOR LEADERSHIP

- Character - enables us to do what is right even then it seems difficult

- Perspective - enables us to understand what must happen to reach a goal

- Courage - enables us to initiate and take risks to step out toward a worthy goal

- Favor - enables us to attract and empower others to join us in the cause

(John Maxwell)

Only Jesus

POSITIVELY INFLUENCE OTHER PEOPLE

- Model consistency of character
Solid trust can only develop when people can trust you all the time

- Employ honest communication
To be trustworthy, you have to be like a good musical composition: your words and music must match

- Value transparency
If you are honest with people and admit your weaknesses, they appreciate your honesty.  And they are able to relate to you better

- Exemplify humility
People won't trust you if they see that you are driven by ego, jealousy, or the belief that you are better than they are

- Demonstrate your support to others
Nothing develops or displays your character better than your desire to put others first

- Fulfill your promises
One of the fastest ways to break trust with others is in failing to fulfill your commitment

(John Maxwell)

Be grateful

HOW TO DEVELOP OTHERS

- Be familiar with your strengths and weaknesses

- Know the people you wish to develop

- Clearly define the goals and assignments

- Allow them to watch you serve and lead

- Hold them accountable for their work

- Give them the freedom to fail

(John Maxwell)

Create in me a clean heart

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 4

- Friendship begun in this world can be taken up again in heaven, never to be broken off (St. Francis de Sales)

- Don't nurse opportunity too long; take it into active partnership with  you at least once lest it leave you for other company (Anonymous)

- My father still goes out every spring, and he is now eighty, and plants an apple tree.  Next year he plans on starting oaks - now that is really faith! (Anonymous)

- Count your age by friends - not years.  Count your life by smiles - not tears (Anonymous)

- Things alter for the worst spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly (Francis Bacon)

- No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect (George Bernard Shaw)

- Let me never fancy that I have zeal until my heart overflow with love to every human being (Henry Martyn)

- The soul need friendship, the heart needs love (Ed Habib)

- One must never be in haste to end a day; there are too few of them in a lifetime (Dale Coman)

- Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves (James Barrie)

To live is Christ

10 WAYS TO BUILD POWERFUL LEGACY

1. Dare to be joyful. Serve in ways that bring you joy. Angry, unhappy people leave sad legacies. 

2. Monitor your impact on others. What are you doing when you make the biggest difference. Do more of that.

3. Develop and maximize your talent, strengths, and skills. Know yourself – Bring yourself.

4. Do what matters now. Everyone who’s at the end of life says it goes by fast.

5. Seize small opportunities. Big may follow. Stop waiting to make a difference.

6. Start with those closest to you and the ones you spend the most time with.

7. Bring your best self to work and family. Everyone has at least two selves. Bring out the best one.

8. Think service not success.

9. Relax. Don’t run around building a legacy. Run around making a difference. 

10. Elevate the needs of others over your own.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” 
Charles Dickens

Empty me

LEADERS IN TROUBLE....

1. Fail to address glaring character weakness

2. Count on deception to safeguard themselves

3. Act impulsively

4. Are overcome by an area of weakness

5. Misuse their God-given gifts

(John Maxwell)

God is bigger

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 3

- God evidently does not intend us all to be rich or powerful or great, but he does intend us all to be friends (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

- Thus does the world forget Thee, its Creator, and falls in love with what Thou hast created instead of with Thee (St. Augustine)

- Anger does as much damage to the vessel it is stored in as it does to anything it is poured upon (Anonymous)

- Friends, books, a cheerful heart, and conscience clear are the most choice companions we have here (William Mather)

- Faith, like light, should always be simple and unbending; while love, like warmth, should beam forth on every side, and bend to every necessity of our brother (Luther)

- Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave (Gen. Omar N. Bradley)

- A faithful friend is a strong defense; and he that hath found such an one hath found a treasure (Apocrypha)

- Life not only begins at forty - it begins to show (Anonymous)

- On this day I want to:
Write a letter to someone who misses me,
Encourage a youth who has lost faith,
Keep a promise,
And forget an old grudge
(Anonymous)

- Children need models more than they need critics (Joseph Joubert)

Miracles

EVERY VISION SHOULD HAVE

- Clarity: bring understanding to the vision (answers what the people must know and what you want them to do)

- Connectedness: brings the past, present, and future together

- Purpose: bring direction to the vision

- Goals: bring targets to the vision

- Honesty: bring integrity to the vision and credibility to the vision-caster

- Stories: bring relationship to the vision

- Challenge: bring stretching to the vision

- Passion: bring fuel to the vision

- Modeling: bring accountability to the vision

- Strategy: bring process to the vision

(John Maxwell)

You opened the door for me

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 2

- It is no loss of liberty to subordinate ourselves to a natural leader (George Santayana)

- We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give (Winston Churchill)

- From the day when first we start,
Each in life to play his part, 
Till we reach that perfect peace
Where all toil and care shall cease
Fate can nothing better send
Than a true and loyal friend
(Steger)

- Pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes (John Ruskin)

- Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young (Sir Arthur Wing Pinero)

- A problem well-stated is a problem half-solved (Charles F. Kettering)

- Everything else you grow out of, but you never recover from childhood (Bainbridge)

- The only place success comes before sweat is in the dictionary - and the road there is often under construction (Anonymous)

- The best thing to give to:
Your enemy is forgiveness;
An opponent, tolerance;
A friend, your heart;
Your child, a good example;
Yourself, respect;
All men, charity
(F. M. Balfour)

- The three arch-enemies of happiness: hurry, worry and debt (Newell Dwight Hillis)

A true friend

SOME LESSONS ABOUT COURAGE

-  Courage and cowardice are both contagious

- Without courage, it doesn't matter how good your intentions are

- Without courage, we are slaves of our own insecurity and possessiveness

- A leader without courage will never let go of the familiar

(John Maxwell)

Love one another

8 QUESTIONS TO YES

1. What are you trying to accomplish?

2. how does this align with mission and vision

3. How does this idea impact?  How?

4. How will this impact what we are currently doing?

5. What resources are required to pull this off?

6. How does this move us toward simplicity and clarity?  But, remember new ideas often feel complex at first

7. Is a test-run appropriate?

8. How will we determine success or failure?

(Dan Rockwell)

My hope

A GROWING COMMUNITY

That kind of place should look like this:

1. Others are ahead of you

2. You are still challenged

3. Your focus is forward

4. The atmosphere is affirming

5. You are out of your comfort zone

6. Others are growing

7. There is a willingness to change

8. Growth is modeled and expected

(John Maxwell)

Everyday is a start

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT 1

- From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other.  But when books are opened you discover that you have wings (Helen Hayes)

- Friends slowly won are long held (Anonymous)

- The lens of fear magnifies the size of the uncertainty (Charles Swindoll)

- To err is human, to forgive is divine (Alexander Pope)

- When home is ruled according to God's Word, angels might be asked to stay with us, and they would not find themselves out of their element (Charles Spurgeon)

- Let us put an end, once for all, to this discussion of what a good man should be - and be one (Marcus Aurelius)

- The business of a leader is to turn obstacles into stepping-stones, weaknesses into strengths, and disasters into triumph (Anonymous)

- The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's food long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher (Thomas Henry Huxley)

- It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit and gumption to forgive them for having witnessed your own (West)

- There is no stigma attached to recognizing a bad decision in time to install a better one (Lawrence J. Peter)

Prayer thanksgiving

WHEN YOU FAIL

Rule 1: You will learn lessons

Rule 2: There are no mistakes - only lessons

Rule 3: A lesson is repeated until it is learned

Rule 4: If you don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder

Rule 5: You will know you have learned a lesson when your action change

(John Maxwell)