Renewed2win

Renewed2win


Leading Yourself Before Leading Others

September 28, 2021

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It’s so important to develop effective leadership skills and it all begins with leading yourself. So how do you develop effective self leadership? There are 3 components. They are spiritual development which prepares you personally; strategic development which helps you plan an effective course of action; and skill development which teaches you how to interact with others.
Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV) says 12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Photo by Nelson Pavlosky on flickr
The first thing to consider is that leading yourself before leading others is not selfish. Think of when you are on an airplane and the flight attendant demonstrates the use of the oxygen mask. They always tell you to make sure that your mask is secure before you try to help someone else. That is because without taking care of your mask, you won’t be much use to those around you. Most people live their daily lives, trying to answer two questions:

Who's the boss?
Who can I blame?

People have trouble accepting responsibility for their actions. So what do we do? We shift the blame from ourselves to others. We don't want responsibility, because we don't like consequences so we  spend our days giving permission to other people to lead.  When it comes time to accept responsibility (or fault because someone screwed up), the blame doesn't fall on us. In other words, we sacrifice the privilege  of leading for the comfort of never having to be wrong.
All effective self  leadership requires us to be honest with ourselves. There are certain steps you can take to help develop this important life skill. You must develop in the following areas:

Ability to see truth. People who work with cash learn to recognize counterfeit money. They do this by knowing the real stuff so well that when something fake comes along they can spot it instantly. You must do this with the word of God so that when you are presented with a lie you can recognize it.
A vision. You need to develop an overall plan and purpose for where you are going in life. Doing this with the leading of the Holy Spirit will give you clear direction when the path forward is unclear. 
Confidence in your own ability. You have strong, God given, abilities. What are they? Seek the Holy Spirit, He will show you.
Ability to teach and equip others. Leadership requires that you make the lives of others better. You can only do this if you know who you are.
Desire to benefit others. You must stop being selfish. You will never learn to lead yourself until you realize that the purpose of your life is not seeking your own comfort but in being a blessing to others. 
Encouragement to others. Be a life changer. Start with your own life, Learn to encourage yourself through difficult times and it becomes much easier to help others.
Ability to change  yourself. You must remove anything from your life that controls you. This includes negative behaviors, bad habits, negative self talk. This come from willingness and prayer.

Over the next several weeks we will be looking at the story of Daniel.  Daniel is a favorite character of the Bible. He was not the leader of a nation or culture but God allowed him to climb to the highest levels of influence. He spent time with kings and governors. God gave Daniel the ability to discern important issues before the leaders of both the Babylonian and Persian empires. 
He is an example of someone with a high degree of integrity and character.  He is an example of someone who learned to take self-inventory.