Introduction
There are over 274 definitions of leadership in print, millions more used by leaders each with their own personal flair and different interpretations of key concepts and then there's mine. I believe the oldest job in the whole universe is 'leadership'; people have been leading ever since the days of Adam. In Gen 1:26 God said let man have 'dominion' to lead all of creation. He then makes Adam the head of the family and leadership position continue to spring out from then until now. Throughout scripture there are many great and exemplary leaders and many, who were the complete opposite, but above all the true leader's qualities are shown throughout and that is God's leadership. My definition has come from the lectures, the books I've read and reading the bible. But before I give my definition let me mention and briefly explain the influences for the definition.
Definitions:
A Christian leader is a servant with the credibility and capabilities to influence people in a particular context to pursue their God given Direction. –Aubrey Malphurs (p. 157)
The words put in bold are what I believe to be the key qualities of a leader whether Christian or not. However a 'Christian' leader also has an extra quality which I believe is essential to true leadership and that is Godly values. Values are extremely important Jesus in Mt 6:21 said 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' In
Mt 12:35 'the good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil'. If a person is a leader then their values will be reflected in their followers. Credibility has to do with the leader's honesty and trustworthiness. Their capabilities are the skills and talents that they were born with and have developed.
One of my favourite definitions is John C. Maxwell's that simply says 'Leadership is Influence' (p17. -21 irrefutable laws of leadership). Influence whether good or bad, is essential to any leadership because if one cannot influence their team then they would have trouble arriving to the desired destination regardless of their capabilities or credibility.
Leadership is the ability to generate, communicate, and maintain
commonality of purpose. –Unknown. This quote by an unknown hits on several truths that I believe about leadership. 'Leadership is the ability' no one is born a great leader it is something that is developed like any other talent. However some people are born naturally gifted and would surpass others with the same level of training. All leadership has to have a destination, one cannot lead people to stay in the same place there has to be a vision, the same vision and that is the 'commonality of purpose'; now 'the ability to generate, communicate and maintain' involves inspiring, transferring that vision to the followers with enthusiasm and then making sure that the common purpose is achieved.
Matthew 20:25 'But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave;'
This is a key scripture in regards to leadership; Jesus said these things after two of his disciples had come to him and asked him if they could sit at his right and left hand on the throne, they were basically asking if they could be in higher positions than the other disciples. Naturally when the other disciples heard about this they were angry, probably because they also wanted the positions and were beaten to it. Jesus then calls them aside and shows them what real leadership is. He tells them that unlike the Gentile rulers they are not to exercise dominion and authority by force because of their position over others but rather to serve. Jesus' basic challenge was that, He who could serve the most would be the greatest. So the difference between greatness and greatest is slavery.
My Definition:
Above you have read some leadership definitions and a principle from scripture; I have highlighted the most important characteristics of leadership in bold and these are; Values (Godly), capabilities, credibility, influence, direction, generate (inspire), communicate, maintain, commonality of purpose, must be your servant and must be your slave. I have gathered my definition from this information and it is as follows;
Leadership is the ability of a humble and trustworthy servant with Godly values to inspire and influence people towards a common purpose.
Personal Approach to Leadership
My personal approach to leadership is what I would refer to as Value based Servant Leadership. This approach is a combination of Value Based leadership and Servant based leadership because I do not believe the two can truly be separated. However I do not rank them as equal, I say value based first because this is the foundation of the servant leadership. Jesus and the rest of scripture also affirm that values, which are in the heart, are important to how someone live their lives and therefore important to how a leader leads his followers. The following are some of the scriptures throughout Jesus' teaching that show the importance of the heart; Mt 12:35 'the good man out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth evil' Mt 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Mt 15:18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. Joh 7:38 He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. The implications of the heart attitude are clear, whatever is in your heart is going to come out. So in order to be the best leader I was made to be, I am to become more and more like Christ as the apostle Paul urged Timothy, 'Imitate me as I imitate Christ'. The more I imitate Christ the better leader I become.
Furthermore Christ's teachings show us that in order to exercise true leadership we are to become servants and slaves Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave..". This is the foundation of the second concept of my approach to leadership which is servant based. Christ himself said that he came as a servant Mt 20:28 even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." As further example of this servant nature Christ also washed the feet of his disciple and admonished them to do the same for each other and the same applies to me today. In Philippians 2:7 the apostle Paul refers to Christ as having '…emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men'. Christ king of the universe was a servant and in order to imitate him and to imitate that which is good I am also to become a servant.
Therefore my personal approach to leadership as I stated before is Value based Servant Leadership. This will require me to base my values on biblical truth not just opinions and preferences and to be a servant to those that I have the privilege of leading, not to lord it over them but to lead with love and humility.
Leading Volunteers
Whether voluntary or paid, personnel is one of the most important factors in determining whether a goal is going to be achieved or not, Henry Ford understanding this concept once said "You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people, and I'll bring my business right back again". As a campus minister most if not all of the personnel available to me would be in the form of volunteers. In the rest of this paper I will use biblical, pragmatic and character principles that will allow me to be an effective leader of these volunteers in my campus ministry. Being effective would begin with how I select the team and then lead it.
Selecting the Volunteers
Before even going as far as selecting volunteers as the leader I must first know what the purpose of raising up each would be. After establishing the purpose and mission for the team I would then proceed to use John C. Maxwell's 'Five A's (p.39 –Developing the leaders around you)' choosing my team and these are; Assessment of needs, Assets on Hand, Ability of candidates, Attitude of candidates and Accomplishments of candidates. It is important to know what is needed before the solution can be found, the people that I already have on board are also key in helping identify the people needed and then finding able and willing volunteers who can get the job done.
Ex 18:21 Moreover choose able men from all the people, such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
From this example of Scripture Moses was given advice to choose able men, who fear God and were trustworthy to help him share the Load of judging the nation. The criterion used in this situation is the same I would apply in selecting volunteers for my team. They would need to be God fearing, able and trustworthy. This is directly in line with the Values I mentioned earlier in my personal approach to leadership. The volunteer's values would directly affect how they participate in the team, what they think say and do. Although the above scripture sets a foundation for selecting team members it doesn't mention all the characteristics I would look for in a volunteer the rest are as following;
Character
According to John C Maxwell; 'Character flaws cannot be ignored. They will eventually make a leader ineffective' (p.47 -Developing the leaders around you.) Change is not a fast or easy process therefore if there is not enough time to work on the character flaw before or during 'mission' then I would politely ask that team member to not participate until the situation has changed.
Influence and Attitude
A volunteer's influence brings a different dynamic to the team. If it is good influence with a positive attitude to go with it then the volunteer would be a good asset to the team. The more senior members on the team will have more influence on the younger ones so I would select these with more caution.
Excellent people skills
For an effective team members are to have excellent people skills the team dynamic is extremely important to how the team is going to accomplish its goal. The team environment should be one where each member can express themselves and exercise their gifting to their maximum capability.
Evident Gifts
I believe it is important to identify the volunteer's gifting so that they can be put in a place where they can be most effective.
Self Discipline
Jesus was disciplined in early Morning Prayer and fasting just to mention a few. Great team members are always self disciplined emotionally and time wise. They should be able to steward their time and be able to take responsibility for their actions.
Having discussed my criteria for selecting my team of volunteers in order to help me be more effective in leading them towards a specific goal, I do not live in a fantasy dream world. I understand that I would be hard-pressed to find the appropriate team members for the appropriate portfolios let alone even have enough people to fill each position effectively. Now because I cannot control this part of my campus ministry to the tee I will aim to perfect that which I have control over, which is the way I lead. There are many examples of great leadership in the bible the likes of Moses, Joshua, Gideon, King Saul, King David and Jesus.
Practical Leadership on Campus
Value Based Servant Leadership is the way I intend on leading volunteers on my campus. I believe this form of leadership exercised correctly will bring about the greatest dividend. These are some of the methods that I believe would be useful in increasing effectiveness:
Modelling
Albert Schweitzer the medical missionary once said 'Example isn't the main thing in influencing others… it is the only thing.' A key tenet in my definition leadership is influence and as a leader of these volunteers I will have influence (hopefully), there for
I believe that what I do will affect what the rest of the team members do. Modelling a positive attitude and behaviour will go a long way to making sure the rest of the team will follow suit. I believe the old proverb 'actions speak louder than words' which was echoed by James in his book when he said show me your faith and I will show you my faith by my works. The most important thing for me to model however is the servant nature that Christ talks about it Matt 20. If I can show them Christ then I can be in a position to say 'Imitate me as I imitate Christ.'
Lead with vision and Create a suitable Environment
'They (leaders) must be more like thermostats than thermometers' –John Maxwell. As a leader I am to create an environment which conducive for potential leaders in the midst of the volunteers to rise up. I am to create an environment of innovation rather than that of maintenance. In maintenance mode things can only remain the way they are but the opposite is true for an innovative environment; new ideas are received and evaluated, young and old volunteers get a chance to express themselves by ideas and or criticisms which in the end if handled correctly will lead to a more effective team in the goal to reach the greater vision.
Do big things
"If you are doing big things you will attract big men. If you are doing little things you will attract little men. Little men usually cause trouble" –Winston Churchill. The vision or purpose must be one that attracts the best volunteers and people who want to realise their full potential. Other people who think small may cause problems because of their unwillingness to challenge the status quo and take risks.
Conclusion
As broad as leadership as a subject is I have attempted to narrow it down and how it would express itself through me as a campus minister working with volunteers on campus. There is a lot more that can be said about this subject in more detail and I am almost certain as I mature and study to be a better leader my view of the topic will broaden although I believe that the fundamentals will remain the same. Value and Servant hood are the foundations of true leadership.
References
- John C. Maxwell
- Developing the leaders around you
- 21 irrefutable laws of leadership
- Developing the leaders around you
- Aubrey Malphurs
- Being Leaders
- Being Leaders
- Power BibleCD
