We are walking in today: Weekend Meditation--The Spirit of Leadership!!! Part 15 It Is Time For An Attitude Adjustment!!!!
Exodus 18:20-25
20 You should also teach them the laws and the teachings, and show them how to live their lives and what work they should do. 21 But you should choose from among all the people competent men who are God-fearing, honest and incorruptible to be their leaders, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Normally, they will settle the people’s disputes. They should bring you the difficult cases; but ordinary matters they should decide themselves. In this way, they will make it easier for you and share the load with you. 23 If you do this — and God is directing you to do it — you will be able to endure; and all these people too will arrive at their destination peacefully.” 24 Moshe paid attention to his father-in-law’s counsel and did everything he said. 25 Moshe chose competent men from all Isra’el and made them heads over the people, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Attitude#1 Purpose and Passion
Man possesses the capacity to lead but has lost the will to lead. The attitude of purpose is the first attribute that separates followers from leaders. True leadership cannot be born or exist without a sense of purpose. Purpose is the discovery of a reason for your existence and is defined as the original intent for the creation of a thing. Every human being was created for a specific purpose, and when that purpose is discovered, then a leader is born.
Purpose creates a leader because it provides an assignment for life and signals a sense of significance. You must discover your purpose and the specific contribution you were destined to make to your generation. Your leadership is hidden in your purpose, and your purpose is the key to your passion.
No matter what position you may hold in life or in an organization, you must relate it to your sense of purpose and approach it with passion. The attitude of passion is the second most indispensable attribute of leadership and serves as the driving force of motivation that sustains the focus of the leader.
” Your plans will be successful if you truly desire to accomplish them. The word desire denotes not a casual interest in life, but a deep, possessed drive for a desired end—a passion for a purpose. If you don’t have a passion for something, you won’t receive it.
Leaders don’t just do, but they feel what they’re doing. Their passion continually motivates and inspires them. Yet true leaders don’t have jobs; they have lifetime assignments.
A COMPELLING DESTINATION FOR YOUR LIFE
Leadership is not the accomplishment of a list of goals because goals are temporary. True leadership is manifested when you discover a destination for your life that is so compelling that you will have completed your purpose for living once you accomplish it. Your passion is supposed to come from that hidden treasure of desire that he has put within you. You know that you have tapped into your leadership potential when you are actively involved in the things you want to do so much that you can’t stop thinking about them.
WHAT IS PASSION?
Passion may be defined as:
1. A DEEP DESIRE
Passion is stamina that says, “I’m going to go after this, no matter what happens. If I have to wait ten years, I’m going to get it.” If you want to go all the way to your dream, you can’t sit back and expect everything to be easy. True leaders possess a deep desire that produces the passion to proceed with their dreams.
2. A CRAVING
Passionate people are “possessed” people. In other words, you can’t be successful as a leader unless you have a real inner need to accomplish something in particular.
3. AN OBLIGATION
When you are passionate about something, you feel compelled to do it. Leadership is born when one discovers a divine obligation to his community, world, and generation.
4. A DEEP COMMITMENT
Many people are “interested” in doing certain things, but they aren’t really committed to accomplishing them. Some people say that they will get a better job, lose weight, or change their lives in other ways—some day. The world is filled with people who are merely interested, but not passionate. Commitment is the guy who jumps out of an airplane, trusting that the parachute will open. It’s not talk, but action. Passion makes you jump in, no matter what. Leaders are committed, not just interested. They are willing to put their whole selves into accomplishing their purposes. True leadership is not finding something to live for, but something to die for.
4. A DEEP RESOLUTION
We make New Year’s resolutions every year and quickly forget them. How determined are you? Do you act on what you’ve committed yourself to do? Are you are willing to pay the price to obtain your desire? True leaders are resolved in their decisions to pursue their goals and purposes.
5. A DEEP MOTIVATION
Passion is the juice for living. For many people, life is a drudgery. They have no motivation in regard to their jobs, spouses, education, or personal development. Someone once said that the thing about life is that it is so daily. Passion helps us to rise above our daily routines.
If you’re not motivated, then you will become a weight or burden to others. You will pull on their energy. Passion is a source of motivation.
When you have passion, you don’t need the right conditions to move forward because passion is internally generated and is not affected by external conditions. True leaders do not need outside stimuli in order to take action. They are self-motivated.
QUALITIES OF PASSION
Leaders are those who have discovered something more important than life itself, and therefore—
• their passion produces resilience.
• their passion overcomes resistance and pain.
• their passion is a source of determination.
• their passion is an incubator of courage.
• their passion is stronger than opposition and even death.
Sow a thought, reap a belief. Sow a belief, reap an attitude, Sow an attitude, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Attitude #2 Initiative
The greatest value you can possess is a good attitude.
Let’s look at some descriptions of initiative:
• Initiative is a catalyst.
• Initiative is taking action.
• Initiative springs from self-motivation.
• Initiators are self-starters who don’t need outside urging to do something.
• Initiators make specific decisions to begin things.
Leaders don’t just dream; they awaken and act on their dreams.
THE PRINCIPLES OF INITIATIVE
1. Initiative is the key to accomplishment. There are numerous examples of inventors, composers, and others who initiated works out of their imaginations that otherwise would have remained mere potential. As you develop the attitudes of leadership, consider what ideas and desires you want to bring to reality and how taking initiative would be the catalyst for their manifestation.
2. Initiative is the power of momentum. Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary describes inertia as an “indisposition to motion, exertion, or change.” Inertia is a fact of life.
Things don’t get started, progress, or get back on track once they’ve stalled unless someone takes action to set them on the right course again.
3. Initiative is the manifestation of decision. Nothing can be accomplished unless a decision has been made concerning it. In our everyday lives, we don’t buy a house, choose a dress, or select one form of insurance over another unless we specifically decide to take one thing and put aside all other options. This principle holds true as we exercise our gift of leadership. Effective leadership involves a number of decisions and choices, which can lead many people to resist and forsake procrastination. Initiative enables us to make choices that help us to move forward in our goals.
4. Initiative is the key to pleasing leadership. Both leaders and followers appreciate the attitude of initiative in their fellow workers.
When a leader is indecisive or a follower continually has to be told what to do, it is not only draining on those affected, but it is also inefficient. Leadership growth comes as a result of enthusiastically embracing and moving forward in our purposes.
5. Initiative is the manifestation of the spirit of confidence and faith. We often hesitate to take initiative because we are afraid of responsibility or the consequences of our actions. The writer of Hebrews said, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” When we exhibit the attitude of initiative, it shows that we are operating in faith and the confidence that God will see us through as we pursue the purposes that he has for us.
6. Initiative is the spirit of creativity. Inventors have the habit of doing multiple experiments. They keep trying until something works. Initiative often works in a similar way. A willingness to keep starting and trying things as we pursue our purposes sparks the spirit of creativity and yields good results for those who delight in trying “one more thing.”
7. Initiative is the key to obedience. When we know that we’re supposed to do something, that is when we should begin to do it. Holding back until we feel like it or the circumstances are better is not conducive to the practice of doing what we need to do at the time that we need to do it in order to accomplish our goals.
UTILIZING THE POWER OF INITIATIVE How is the attitude of initiative affected by your beliefs about yourself, your purpose, and your God? Leaders utilize the power of initiative because they—
• believe in the integrity and faithfulness of their Creator.
• believe in their causes.
• believe in the rightness of their dreams.
• believe in their competence.
• are not afraid to fail.
Attitude #3 Priorities
Attitude is evidence of what you think.
What we do, therefore, determines who we are and what we become. True leaders have a clear sense of what they need to do. The key to this ability is applying the principle of priority.
WHAT IS PRIORITY?
Let’s begin by defining priority. It is—
• something that has a prior claim on us.
• something that merits our primary attention.
• something that receives our primary resources.
• something that has a right to supersede other things.
LEADERSHIP AND PRIORITIES
Effective leadership involves the management of one’s priorities. True leaders have learned how to distinguish between what is truly important for their lives and the fulfillment of their purposes and what is an urgent but temporary need. They have also discovered how to distinguish between options that are good and ones that are best for them. Because of these things, they have narrow agendas and short to-do lists.
HOW TO CHOOSE PRIORITIES
Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: “‘Everything is permissible for me’—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’—but I will not be mastered by anything.” One of our major responsibilities as leaders is determining what is best for us according to our life’s purpose and vision.
True leaders make a distinction between an opportunity and a distraction, and between what is good and what is right for them. Leaders know that priorities protect their valuable energy, time, resources, and talent.
Shema Selah, now we must make the application of this teaching to our attitude--this is a self-check!! Facebook LIVE video https://scontent.fapa1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t42.9040-29/10000000_305842683221704_6736681002917167104_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MDAsInJsYSI6NDA5NiwidmVuY29kZV90YWciOiJzZCJ9&rl=1500&vabr=575&oh=ae4e2833c974c7bf1a2a9f07db5080e4&oe=598DD744
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