One of my friends introduced me to the idea of having a "word of the year" that you focus on. Leadership is the word that I chose for this crazy and plot twist-filled year. I will share some content that challenged me and helped me to grow.
1. My favorite book on leadership that I read this year is by Mark Miller called "The Heart of Leadership." Here are two statements from this leadership fable that stood out to me, "Leadership is not about what you do nearly as much as it’s about who you are becoming—the heart of leadership is a matter of the heart.” And, "The best leaders understand their responsibility in helping others win."
2. My good friend, Pastor Darrell II ( https://www.darrellstetler2.com ), got me to attend the Global Leadership Summit this year and I loved it so much! Here are some random quotes from various speakers that challenged me,
- "Your leadership matters. Everyone wins when the leader gets better." ~Craig Groeschel
- "Determine what you can change and change it. None of us is called to change the entire world by ourselves. We are called to change the part of the world that our influence touches." ~Nana Jones
- "This is how you multiply time, “Give yourself the emotional permission to spend time on things today that will give you more time tomorrow." ~Rory Vaden
-"You cannot be what you cannot see. You cannot change what you do not touch. You cannot heal what you would not lay a hand on. The only hope for our society is that we develop a new metric, choosing/hiring people, that have the liquidity of thought to have migrative thinking." ~T.D. Jakes
- "Success is not just where you end up, it’s how you get there." ~Michael Todd
- "The fundamental goal of leadership is not just to improve yourself, but to make others better." ~Tomas Chamorro-Preumzic
-"Let’s lead not for likes tonight, but a legacy for tomorrow." ~Albert Tate
3. My 2nd favorite book this year on leadership is by Simon Sinek entitled, "Leaders Eat Last." Here are some challenging statements that moved me, "A leader's legacy is dependent on what they leave behind."Leadership is not a license to do less, it’s a responsibility to do more."
4. I listen to "The John Maxwell leadership Podcast" a lot and enjoy the material presented from Maxwell's speeches so much. (My favorite book by John is Leader shift). Here are some statements that stood out to me this year from him,
- “There’s a leadership shortage.”
- “You will only succeed if your team succeeds.”
- “Today matters. We over-exaggerate yesterday, we overestimate tomorrow and underestimate today.”
- “People grow into the conversations you have around them.”
- “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
- Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.
- “Success.... is knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others.”
I learned so much this year about leadership. Especially the fact that I must "lead myself." Ed Stetzer tweeted "You can't lead what you don't live."
I have been more intentional this year to be an example, lead myself to where I would want others to go, and to do my best to invest in the growth of others.
Leadership is the first of the three things I want to focus on during my lifetime, communication, and writing being the other two in that order. I want to specifically lead people to the God that loves them and knows them by name. God wants you to be happy, and holy in Him. I want to lead people to Jesus the Christ.
I leave you with the words of Simon Sinek from his book "Leaders Eat Last"
"Leadership is about taking responsibility for lives, not numbers."