Leadership "ions"

Leadership is a high-calling.  It is a position many individuals strive for. That is a good thing.  The desire to become a great leader will help us all to become better individuals.  We are all leaders.  However, we don't all do it well.  Whether you lead a family, team, business, church, volunteer organization or other groups there are several essential qualities that all leaders must possess.  Your leadership will greatly improve if you can grow in these three key areas:

1.)  Organization - Leaders must be able to organize.  They need to first organize themselves.  They must be able to know where things are, how to find things and have a system in place to get things done.  Nothing is as frustrating to followers than leaders who are constantly losing things, not planning well and have a general air of dysfunction.

Organization is a state of mind.  It allows all other tasks to flow more smoothly.  It creates a winning environment.  The ability to organize a personal desk flows into organizing an office which then allows you to organize a group.  There are too many important things a leader must do each day to be worrying about where they put things or having to search for needed materials.  Organization flows outward from a leader.  If the leader is organized and on top of things, then their followers will also have to be organized as well.  If you want to take a concrete step to improve your organization today, try clearing the clutter in your workspace.  That one small step will hopefully spur you on to organize something else tomorrow. Your life will soon flow with increased efficiency.

2.)  Communication - Leaders must be able to communicate.  A very frustrating experience for a follower is having a leader with poor communication skills.  Your followers will never be quite sure of the expectations.  They will constantly be off balance wondering if what they are doing is correct.  Communication needs to be clear and concise.  It does not have to be overbearing.  You don't have to email/call/text three times a day to master communication.  Leadership communication that is clear up-front saves much time later.  Followers know what is expected of them, how to meet those expectations and what resources are available.  Good, clear communication will save the leader much time in the long run.

3.)  Vision - Vision is probably the most important leadership tool.  Vision takes a person from being a manager to being a leader.  Vision is the ability to see what needs done and then provides the steps to get it done.  Vision is the ability that inspires the followers to do more than they ever thought possible, to accomplish things that "couldn't be done."  Dr. Jerry Falwell had the gift of vision in greater quantities than anyone else I have ever been around.  He was a given a "God - Sized" vision to accomplish great things in Lynchburg, VA.  To see his 50 year old vision coming to fruition through Liberty University is truly amazing to me.  He dreamed big and inspired his followers to make it happen.

Practice your "ions" this week.  Make an improvement in each area and you will see amazing dividends in your life and in the lives of the people who follow you.