The 10 Commandments of Effective Leadership #5—Don't Overpromise and Underdeliver

I've been discussing the 10 commandments of effective leadership — based on T.D. Jakes' opening message at the Pastors and Leadership conference held earlier this year in Dallas, Texas.

The fifth of the 10 commandments of effective leadership says  "Thou shalt not overpromise and underdeliver."

Don't Overpromise and Underdeliver

Disappointment will kill relationships in your life if you bait and switch. Continue reading...

The 10 Commandments of Effective Leadership #4—Don’t Avoid Confrontation

The fourth of the 10 commandments of effective leadership says “Thou shalt not avoid confrontation.”

One of the challenges of leadership is that the qualities that makes you a very good leader—nice, kind, generous heart—can also make you ineffective.

Do not avoid confrontation

As a leader, people generally expect you to be nice, but you destroy your potential to lead effectively if you care so much about preserving your image of niceness. What makes you likable to the people can destroy your organization if, continue reading...

The Extras of Professional Coaching

The 10 Commandments of Effective Leadership

Look out from where you are

“No Church Left Behind.” That was the theme of the 2013 Pastors and Leaders Conference hosted by Bishop T.D. Jakes, the senior pastor of The Potters House located in Dallas, Texas.

Bishop Jakes opened the conference with his message on Ten Commandments of Effective Leadership. I will share each of the ten commandments with you over the next few weeks and I hope you will find something in the writing to equip, encourage, and empower you for God’s next move.

To lead effectively, you need to obey the Ten Commandments of Effective Leadership. You may be talented, educated, or highly skilled and not be a good leader. The fact that you can teach, preach or manage does not make you a leader. There are great leaders who doesn't teach very well and great teachers who doesn't lead very well.  To be an effective leader, here are the Ten Commandments you must live by:

Leadership Commandment #1 - Thou shalt not lead beyond your own exposure

As a leader, it is possible that you are intrinsically focused on what you are leading and not be exposed to anything beyond what you are leading. Your faithfulness and commitment to your vision could be the point of your frustration. Are you so busy working in the house that you never see beyond the house you are in?

The first thing God says to Abraham is, “look out from where you are.” You cannot lead further than your own exposure. How are you going to go to something you are not exposed to?

"You need to be exposed beyond the people that you lead or you forfeit your right to lead them."

The children of Israel were commanded to send spies to the Promised Land because the exposure to what is on the other side might give them the strength to march around the wall. Your level of exposure will determine your level of confidence.

Lead to the next level

Moses was very effective at leading the Israelites though the desert because he had been in the desert for forty years himself. He led the Israelites as far as his exposure. Moses knew how to survive in the desert because he had been there but he couldn't lead the Israelites to the Promised Land because he had not been there. So God needed somebody [Joshua] who had been exposed to the next level [The Promised Land] to lead to the next level.

"You cannot get people to go where you have not been yourself."

You cannot bring people into a theory. There are so many theoretical leaders today who are busy leading and teaching things they have not experienced, trying to build business on something they have not experienced. They understand it philosophically, they have a degree on it but they have never done it.

Theoretical vs. Empirical Information

There is a difference between theoretical information and empirical information. You don’t have to prove theoretical information but empirical information has to be proven. David chose not to fight the giant in his life with Saul’s [his boss] ammunition because he [David] was yet to prove them. David has not been exposed to it and he does not have the experience on how to use it.

It is better to take the less that you are exposed to and use it against the giant in your life than to take something that is not proven in your life and fight your giant with it. You are strongest on the level of your exposure.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership #2 - The Law of Influence

"It’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position" — Stanley Hufty

The true measure of leadership is influence.

In the previous newsletter on The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, I discussed Leadership Law #1 – The Law of the Lid. In this issue, I will discuss Leadership Law #2 – The Law of the Influence.

If you are a leader or you aspire to develop your leadership skills, I will encourage you to buy and study (not only read) The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership book by my mentor and friend John C. Maxwell.

The leadership laws Dr. Maxwell discussed in the book is universal and it works either you are leading yourself, a family, a church, an organization, a company, a local government, or a nation.

Law #2: The Law of Influence

Although she was frail and not very impressive upon first appearance, Mother Teresa is very influential. She was probably the most respected person on the planet in her time because when she spoke, people listened.

Dr. Maxwell debunked the myths about leaders and leadership:

1. Management Myth – leading and managing are not the same thing. A manager focuses on maintaining systems and processes while a leader influence people to follow.


2. Entrepreneur Myth – Though very skilled at spotting opportunities and going after them, not all entrepreneurs are good with people.


3. Knowledge Myth – “Knowledge is power” but intelligent and knowledgeable people are not necessarily leaders.


4. Pioneer Myth – The fact that you are the first does not make you a leader. A leader is not only out front, but also has people intentionally coming behind him


5. Position Myth – “it’s not the position that makes the leader; it’s the leader that makes the position.” ~ Stanley Huffty

“True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, assigned, or mandated. It comes only from influence.” —  John C. Maxwell 

One of the best ways to test your influence as a leader is to lead a voluntary team because followers in voluntary organizations cannot be forced to get on board.

To find the best leaders in your organization, ask the candidates to leader a volunteer organization and see how they lead without leverage or position or incentive.

Action Points to Increase your Influence as a Leader

1. Who you are. Build a reputable character. True leadership begins with your inner person.


2. Who you know. Learn how to build the right kind of relationships with the right people. You can’t hate people and lead them at the same time.


3. What you know. You have to like information, be able to grasp facts, understand timing and trends. Take the time to gain knowledge, you are the leader.


4. What you feel. You can rely only on data, facts, trend, and information. Sometimes, you've got to be able to smell a situation and follow your gut feelings.


5. Where you've been. Don’t waste your experience. Although past performance does not always guarantees future results, It encourages people to give you a chance.


6. What you've done. Nothing speaks to followers like a good track record. Every time you extend yourself, take a risk, try something new, and succeeded, you give your followers another reason to trust you.


7. What you can do. Know what you are capable of. Know your strengths. Your followers want to know if you can deliver and if you can lead them to victory.

If you find this Newsletter helpful, why not forward it to a friend!

---

Saji Ijiyemi is a Leadership Trainer, Success Coach, and Motivational Teacher with The John Maxwell Group. He is the visionary behind SajiGroup International, an organization dedicated to equipping today's leaders for tomorrow's challenges. He is the author of "Don't Die Sitting," an inspirational best-selling book that challenges people to live while they are alive. Continue reading...

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership #1 - The Law of the Lid

I’m currently training the Leaders at Jesus House Elkridge on The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, a book by my mentor and friend, John C. Maxwell. If you are a leader or you aspire to develop your leadership skills, I will encourage you to buy and study (not only read) this book. 

The leadership laws Dr. Maxwell discussed in the book is universal and it works either you are leading yourself, a family, a church, an organization, a company, a local government, or a nation. 

We live in a complex, fast-paced, dynamic world and everything, including leadership, is changing at a very fast rate.
If you are a leader, you want to make sure you are constantly growing and also exposing your team to new leadership ideas, else you and your organization will soon found yourself in oblivion.

I will briefly discuss each of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership in the next 21 weeks and give some action tips on the immediate step you can take to increase your effectiveness as a leader.

Leadership Law #1: The Law of the Lid

The Law of the Lid of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership states that your leadership ability is the lid that determines your level of effectiveness. 

John Maxwell used the story of Dick and Maurice McDonald to illustrate the Law. With more than 34,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 119 countries, few people knew who Dick and Maurice was but a lot more knew a man named Ray Kroc, who bought the rights to franchise McDonald’s restaurants and turned McDonald’s into an American institution and a global entity.

Though Dick and Maurice were very successful as restaurateurs, they failed as franchisers because they lacked the leadership necessary to make a larger enterprise effective. Ray Kroc on the other hand is a leader who had a vision for McDonald’s potential as soon as he visited the restaurant back in 1954.

“The higher you want to climb, the more you need leadership. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be.”

Action Points

1. Become a student of leadership to increase your leadership lid (i.e. your level of leadership).
2. Ask your spouse, boss, colleagues, friends to rate (on the scale of 1 to 10) your ability to connect with people, plan and think strategically, cast a vision, get results.
3. When faced with a challenge, think first on who you can enlist to help.
4. When your team, department, or organization fails to achieve an objective, assume that it’s a leadership issue.
5. Think in terms of significance more than success

Make Today Count: A John Maxwell Book Review

Make Today Count

The first book I picked up this year was “Make Today Count,”  written by my mentor and friend, John C. Maxwell.  This phenomenal book has forever changed the way I treat the gift called today. In Make Today Count, John Maxwell taught that you can build a better life if you learn to:

• making good decisions, and
• discipline yourself to manage the decision daily

To help you make today count, John dedicated the 12 chapters of the book to the “Daily Dozen,” 12 critical areas that can make your life a masterpiece if you can make good decisions in each of these areas and discipline yourself daily to manage your decisions. Here are the Daily Dozens for success, John Maxwell’s decision in each area, and how he managed the discipline of each decision:

1. Attitude

To make today count, you have to make an attitude decision to keep a positive attitude and use it to influence others. If you want today to be a good day, you need to take charge of the way you look at it. To benefit from your decision to keep a positive attitude, you need to determine that every day, you will make the adjustments necessary to keep my attitude right.

2. Priorities

Another thing you need to do to make today count is to prioritize your life and give focus and energy to those things that gives the highest return. To benefit from your decision to prioritize your life, you need to determine that every day, you will live your life according to your priorities

3. Health

If you are serious about making today count, you will have to take good care of yourself by exercising and eating right. This is one area I personally need to work on. It's a wise saying that health is wealth, if you are weak or sick in your body, it will greatly affect your productivity. To benefit from the decision to take good care of yourself, you need to determine that every day, you will eat low-fat foods and exercise for at least thirty-five minutes.

4. Family

You can also make today count if those closest to you respect you the most. While you cannot demand respect from family members, you can earn it by determining that every day, you will will work hard on gaining the respect of those closest to you. John Maxwell admonish that "building a solid family doesn't just happen on its own, you have to work at it. It's okay to aspire to be successful but it should not be at the cost of your family. "Anyone who neglects or abandons his family for fame, status, or financial gain isn't really successful."

5. Thinking

All that you will will achieve or fail to achieve is the direct result of your thoughts. So, to make today count, you have to decide that you will think on things that will add value to you and to others. Dr. Maxwell encourages that you find a thinking place to capture your thoughts and write down your ideas. Ideas have a short half-life, "the more time that passes after the idea strikes, the less heat it gives off. To benefit from your decision to think on things that will add value to you and to others, you need to determine that every day, you will set aside a time to think and think on the right things.

6. Commitment

Another decision to make your today count is to decide that if something is worth doing, you will commit yourself to carrying it through. "Everything in life exacts a price, you have to decide whether the price is worth the prize." Your commitment becomes stronger when you have already count the cost and determine to pay the price. To benefit from the decision to commit yourself to carry through, you must determine that every day I will renew my commitment and think about the benefits that come from it. You already know how to count your days, right now is the time to make your days count. In John Maxwell’s words, “when you take care of today, tomorrow will take care of itself.”