(reflecting on chapter 4 of CML by Jim Wideman)

In this chapter, Jim mentions six Leadership Attitudes that he’s witnessed as examples of outstanding leadership.  In this post I want to highlight the first three.   1) Think of yourself as a leader.  2) Think of yourself as a servant–and serve.  3) See yourself as a follower, too.

The first should be obvious.  Simply take the charge and authority God has given you over His ministry and own it!  This is not about having a big head or being on an ego trip.  But it is all about doing what God has called you to do the way He wants you to do it.  Its an issue of stewardship.  Look, whether a leader in the church is timid and slow in their approach to leading or micromanaging and dictatorial…..both styles are poor uses of God’s authority given to us.  Its not necessarily bad if that’s where we start leading from, but we must grow toward the middle of the two.

The other two, thinking of yourself both as a servant and a follower, are critical.  In fact, I’d argue that learning to serve and follow well should be a prerequisite to the first attitude.  Think of any great leader in the church today.  If you take a close look into their life, I’ll bet you would discover that they often serve in areas outside of their own ministry and are able to easily come under someone else’s leadership and follow when needed.

How about you?  Do you see yourself as the leader God desires you to be?  When was the last time you followed or served and were not the key leader?