008: Leader is friends to everyone

In the use of His time and efforts on earth, Jesus modeled sacrificial passion for ensuring that His followers were equipped to carry on the movement. Jesus lived His legacy in intimate relationship with those He empowered with His work experience.

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." 

John 15:15

Simple prayer: Best friend, You have loved me into relationship with You and have called me Your friend.   May all of those I lead find me as faithful as You have been to me. In Jesus' name, amen. 

007: As A Leader, Servant Is The Act of Service

Servant leaders look at leadership as an act of service. Self-serving leaders are addicted to power and recognition and are afraid to loss of position. 

Most leaders act as 'self-serving' leaders where their position and recognition is far more important for them than anything else.

A servant leader? “oh..come on. Be real!” This might be our first reaction when we hear the word servant-hood. Being a leader is a tough job. It doesn’t just requires a lot of discipline but it demands an everyday check-up in our actions, words, thoughts, and decisions made. It is a question of are we leading or are we just walking alone? Self-serving or Servant?

As you consider the heart issues of leadership, a primary question you will continue to have to ask yourself is: “Am I a servant leader or a self-serving leader?” It is a question that, when answered with brutal honesty, will go to the core of your intention or motivation as a leader.

One of the quickest ways you can tell the difference between a servant leader and a self-serving leader is how they handle feedback, because one of the biggest fears that self-serving leaders is to lose their position.

Self-serving leaders spend most of their time protecting their status. If you give them feedback, how do they usually respond? Negatively. They think that your feedback means they don’t want their leadership anymore.

Servant leaders, however look at leadership as an act of service. They embrace and welcome feedback as a source of useful information on how they can provide better service.

Another way to tell a self-serving from a servant leader is how they approach successful planning.

Self-serving leaders who are addicted to power, recognition and who are afraid of loss of position are not likely to spend any time or effort in training their replacements.

For Matthew 20:26-28 says:

 "²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— ²⁸ just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So, my question is: Are you a Servant Leader or a Self-serving Leader?