Tag: EntreLeadership

Leaders and Entrepreneurs

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I was able to participate in a one-day Dave Ramsey event back in November 2010; held at Regent University here in town. I wanted to pass on a few of my notes, which by the way, helps me to review and remember all that great information. If you have ever been to a Ramsey event, he is high energy and quite entertaining.

It Began with Definitions:

  1. Leader: Servant, humility, integrity, ethical, visionary, communicator, mobilizer, inspiring, perseveres, mentor, consistency, compassionate, faithful, confident, and decisive.
  2. Entrepreneur: Visionary, organized, inspired, mobilized, committed, focused, student/learner, bold, driven, creative, ambitious, risk taker, responsible, and tenacious.

A good leader brings others on board to cover over one’s own weaknesses. If you are not all these thing mentioned above, you suck as a leader. High quality people will follow a high quality leader.

  1. Leader: the one who rules, guides and inspires others.
  2. Entrepreneur: a person who organizes, operates and assumes risk for a venture.
  3. EntreLeadership: the process of leading to cause a venture to grow and prosper.

Organizations and teams are never limited by their opportunity; they are limited by their leader. The enterprise will never outgrow its leader. An organization is limited only by the leader’s capacity, intelligence, education, character, ability and vision. John Maxwell calls this the leadership lid.

To lead, the boss needs to understand the difference between positional power and persuasive power. The traditional model has a triangle with the point at the top, with a positional boss. The servant model has the point at the bottom with a servant leader. The servant-leader inspires and casts a vision while the other has authority because he “writes the checks” and “because I said so.” Anyone can be a boss, but not everyone can be a leader.

Patrick Morley states in The Man in the Mirror, that we as leaders should:

  1. Take divinely inspired risk.
  2. Depend upon God.
  3. Take responsibility.
  4. Expect opposition.

Passion: the one with passion cares deeply about the outcome. The most untutored person with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without. The movie Braveheart embodies the essence of passion; they fought with passion, and that no one could take away their freedom. He learned about leadership, it is not about the position. “They will follow you, not the nobility or leaders with the title.”

Zig Ziglar said that you get what you inspect, not what you expect. Upward mobility is dependent on downward availability.

The Conductor Illustration: A concert is not about the conductor, it’s about the music. The conductor doesn’t make a sound but makes it all come together. He empowers others to do what they were trained to do. Leaders must awaken the possibilities in other people, brighten their shining eyes. Success is defined by how many eyes are shining around me. Who am I if those around me are not shining?

Servant Leadership

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I like reading on topics about leadership, mentoring, and discipleship. I recently participated in the Dave Ramsey EntreLeadership event (held at Regent University). The seminar was primarily for business owners but the principles learned (many which I’ll share in later posts) can be adapted to my church staff leadership situation, and as I seek to lead others to be ministry and small group leaders. Another servant leadership promoter is Ken Blanchard, the one minute manager guy. He has an entire ministry focusing on Jesus as the ultimate example of leadership (Lead Like Jesus). Men, as you consider your leadership qualities, have you emphasized developing as a servant-leader?

He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” (Mark 9:35)

The world tells us that leadership is about power and domination. The stronger, richer, smarter, and better looking you are, the better leader you’ll be. Studies have even shown that a beautiful woman will get a job before a plain woman, even if the latter is more qualified. The world looks on the outwardly aspects as a form of leadership. But that”s a leadership that only goes so far and can actually hinder your influence on people around you.

True leadership is found on the inside. It’s the leader who humbles himself and puts others’ needs before his own. It’s the boss who is willing to put in the extra hours to help you with the work instead of cutting out early. It’s the pastor or staff person who sees himself as much of a sinner as everyone else. In order to be a good leader, you have to learn how to serve others, to put others before you.

Jesus shows us true leadership. Even when he was incredibly weary from travel, he would help and heal. The night before his death, he washed his disciples’ feet. He never asked to be honored on earth, and he’s the Son of God! Jesus knew what it meant to be a leader.

Application: How do you lead the people around you? Do you find yourself becoming authoritarian? Do you lead from a position or a purpose? Do you influence people with fancy words, a nice house, and fancy clothes? Do you influence people by helping them move, cooking a meal for them, or washing the dishes? Husbands, as a leader in the home, do you take the time to make the bed or fold the laundry, straighten the kitchen? We can show our love and God’s love through our service to others. Take inventory on how you use your time to serve those in need. Are you a godly influence?