Haggailnstitute
Advancing Leadership Skills Since 1969 Christian
What is Leadership?
Dr. Suhail Jouaneh
Is it who we are as an individual? Is it a particular quality that we have? Is leadership an action we take? Are we born with leadership skills or are they acquired over time?
For whatever else leadership may be leadership is a gift
from God. A gift that must be nourished, cultivated, and used wisely.
Leadership used wisely can stir the soul of men and women to accomplish great
things in the Lord’ s church. Leadership used unwisely in the church will lead
to the frustration of its members and the
eventual deterioration of its health.
1 Pet 2:9, Rev
5:11, Eph 2:10, 2Tim 1:9
—— Lovett H.
Weems, Jr., “The task of leadership is change. Leaders i-nspire others to their
best efforts in order to do better, to attain higher purposes. Leaders are
not satisfied with the status quo. They are
not
satisfied with maintaining things as they are. They are idealists who believe
things can be better.
What is a Leader?
A 1eader.~ An individual who
motivates people to achieve a change in society, generally for its
betterment.
All the effective leaders
usually know four simple things:
David was in his palace relaxing when his people
were fighting. He suffered for it.
The
characteristics of a leader
1. Excellence
2. Objectivity:
3. Innovation
4. Persistence
~-
9. Receptive listening:
10. Forthrightness:
12. Effective
time management:
Can leadership be taught?
Why is Christian leadership
needed? .~
God’s cause needs good leaders
The work cannot be left to chance.
The lost are waiting.
The Lord expects you to lead.
Because of
time results.
Because of the times.-
What does a bad leader do?
He wants to issue orders.
He wants to be a “dictator.”
He is there because there wasn’ t anyone else
for the job or position
He leads for personal gain.
He leads to satisfy ego
He leads because he controls (i. e. , gives) a major portion of the
contribution.
He leads because of
pressure
He leads out of selfishness.
He leads because of
insecurity
He leads even if he isn’ t prepared.
Leadership and Vision:
What
are the lessons for the leaders of God’ s people today?
First, get to the high grounch
Second,
see where God wants His people to go. ~. ~
Third,
give your now vision substance.’
There
are major
differences in the ways gifted leaders led
their teams. They all
had the spiritual gift of leadership referred to in Romans 12:8, hut they approached
the challenges of leadership differently.
1. Visionary leader
2.
Directional leader
3. Strategic
leader
4. Managing
leader
5. Motivational
leader
6. Shepherding leader
7. Team building leader
8. Entrepreneural Leader
9. Re-engineering Leader
10. Bridge building Leader
Christian leaders can learn from one of the most amazing
and lopsided military victories of all time-the victories of Agincourt. Though
6
fought 585 years ago (October 25, 1415), the clash reverberates in Shakespeare’s famous Henry V (1599), in Laurence Olivier’ s Academy—Award winner (1944), and in the brilliant film by Kenneth Branagh (1989).
England’ s King
Henry brought to the field only 5, 000 or 6, 000 men, while the French force
numbered 20, 000—30, 000. As Shakespeare’ s soldier Exeter exclaimed in anguish,
“There’ s five to one; besides, they all are fresh.
The odds become
more stunning when you realize the French knights were better rested, better
fed, better equipped, and healthier. Plus, they were fighting on their own
territory.
The night before
the battle, the English camp lay stone quiet, fearful, with men kneeling and
making their final confessions to the priests before they died. The French camp
sounded like Mardi Gras as knights threw dice to see who would get which
prisoners. The French even painted a cart on which to haul Henry V through the
streets of Paris.
Yet wheii the sun rose over the small French village of Agineourt, David rose up and slew Goliath. About 6,000 French lives and only 1,600 English were lost.
What could possibly explain this stunning outcome? And what can Agincourt teach you, as you and your church face battles of your own?
1. BE OPEN TO NEW APPROACHES. The English brought a relatively new weapon in military history: trained longbow men. Archers, with their steel— tipped arrows, could penetrate an oak door four inches thick, and trained bowmen were accurate up to 300 yards. While the traditional armored knights struggled to move (a helmet and breastplate could weigh 90 pounds), the longbowmen could scamper and reposition.
The French could have brought longbowmen, too, but they were still attached to the familiar crossbow, which required much cranking and was slow and inaccurate. The French knights looked down on their bowmen (as upstarts and unprofessional lowlifes) more than the English knights looked down on their new comrades.
Inyour church, has an existing approach outlived its usefulness? What new
approach does your church need? Is a new group of people essential to accomplishing this? How can
you help the old—timers not look down on
t
H em?
2. WORK TOWARD UNITY. The French were divided between the Burgundians, the men from Orleans, and many other rival factions. Exacerbating these
divisions,
French lords were so eager to capture opposing nobles—a captured enemy nobleman
could bring a huge ransom payment—that they packed themselves into the front lines.
Unfortunately,
the battlefield lay between two woods only a half— mile apart in places. The French ranks
became so densely packed that men could not raise their swords. The narrow ground churned up by the thousands of
horses became mud ankle—deep. Many French knights fell and could not get up; they were then crushed and suffocated
by other men and horses falling upon them.
How can you
reduce the tension between competing groups in the church? Are there ways each group
could benefit and feel rewarded?
3. STAY CALM AMID CRISIS. Henry they could understand. He didn’ fall into hysteria or panic, for he had an iron—clad confidence in God’ s support of his course. (his claims to
French land
through the long—ago marriage of Eleanor
of Aquitaine to the
English king). Shortly before the
battle, one of Henry’s commanders said
in regret and
fear, “If only we had some of the thousands of men in
England who
aren’ t working today!
Henry shot back:
“Don’ t you
know that the Lord with this few can overthrow the pride of the French?”
Amid the
difficulties you
and your church face, can
you step back and regain your confidence in
God?