Becoming an Authentic Leader
by Jim Wideman
posted 1/11/2008
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Authentic leadership involves more than potential. It requires even more than proven character in someone called by God to a leadership position.
Authentic leadership exists in actions.
It's one thing to talk leadership, and quite another to demonstrate it. So here are ten fundamentals you'll need to master; let's review these together to see how you're doing.
1. Leaders set an example.
If you want people to follow you, give them something worth following.
As a leader, how you live your life is far more important than where your name appears on an organizational chart. How you treat your spouse, how you treat your children, how you honor God—all matter.
The highest compliment I ever received came when a man at church walked up to me after church one Sunday and said, "I've been watching how you get along with your teenagers. Man, I want to take lessons from you. That's what I want with my four-year old when he gets to be that age."
I nearly cried. Here was a man who believed that my relationship with my family was worth following.
How you follow your pastor sets an example, too. My expectation should be that people who serve in my children's ministry treat me only as well as the way I treat my pastor. Yes, I set the pace.
When it comes, to leadership, the golden rule applies big time: you need to treat people the way you want to be treated. How you treat your leaders and how you treat those who you lead—it all matters. You're an example.
2. Leaders are problem solvers.
Leaders aren't derailed by problems. They meet challenges with a spirit of faith in God's ability to overcome those challenges. I know it's popular to say that there's no such thing as a "problem," just "opportunities." Well, I'm here to tell you: now and then Jim Wideman has problems.
When there aren't enough drivers for a field trip, that's a problem. When there's not enough budget to cover the growth you're experiencing, that's a problem. When a pipe breaks and floods the preschool room, that's a problem.
And if you're the leader, people will expect you to sort out a solution.
Maybe you're a big enough organization that you've got someone whose job includes driver recruitment, fundraising, or plumbing. Then by all means let them do their jobs. But it may be you with the mop and bucket down in preschool land.
Leaders aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. They see that problems get solved—period. They identify the problems and get them fixed.
And while leaders don't look for conflict, they realize it comes with the territory. Some of your most painful, time-consuming "opportunities" will have to do with people management.
3. Leaders show initiative.
Leaders don't wait to be told what to do. They step out boldly and try things that line up with their mission and ministry goals.
Leaders also don't shrink from challenges. They don't hide in their offices hoping things get better when the bottom drops out of a program or a chance to improve presents itself. They're proactive.
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