Recognizing Who You Are As A Leader

A New Way to Grow

Everyone in this room has some sort of leadership responsibility that they carry… primarily today we’re concerned with leadership in the church, but also we lead at home and on our job.

And hopefully, you have interest in growing as a leader. It’s important. Because as you grow, it trickles down. The rest of our church will grow also.

What’s interesting is that much of where we look to grow as leaders comes from books and conferences and such. Showing new methods, new ways to look at things and lead others. So unfortunately, the great majority of places we look to grow as leaders comes from looking out. Other leaders. Where they are. How they got there.

But I want to present to you two other places to look that I think can be as helpful, if not far more… in stead of looking out, look:

Up - to our creator, who understands who we are, why we’re made, and who we can become

In - to see for ourselves who we are, where we struggle, where we are gifted, and how we can improve

I’m going to go ahead and say that these two places are looked into far less, because much of our world and even many in the Church are far to busy looking out.

And with that being said, this means you actually have an advantage, if YOU will look upward and inward to grow as a leader. I’m going to talk for a few minutes about these two ways to grow, and then we’re going to try a little exercise to find out more about ourselves.

Look UP

We Are Not God’s QA Department

Pastor said something I thought was important the other night: “The Word of God can be understood. It can stand on its own.”

I know that we spent a portion of time talking about study helps during Bible Workshop, but while I’m thankful for those things, I also strongly believe that God doesn’t have to have help. His Word is sufficient. He can speak to us and we can understand! He doesn’t have to have the help.

And I would also say this… when it comes to our growth as leaders, God doesn’t have to have help to grow us.

And I think that very often, when we get stuck in that comparison trap, and we’re looking at others ability and accomplishments compared to our own, and we’re trying to figure out what we can change about ourselves to be more like someone else… it’s as if we are telling God, “Lord, you just really made a mistake when you started creating me. I’ve got some changes I think are necessary.”

We are not God’s QA department.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. You can certainly grow in learning from others. You should. But also, be who God called YOU to be. And we do that by looking up.

God Knows Us

Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Look at the 4 actions of God toward the prophet. God:

Knew Jeremiah

Formed Jeremiah

Consecrated Jeremiah

Appointed Jeremiah

Sounds to me like God is pretty involved with our development.

But, it’s important to understand that before God formed, consecrated, or appointed you, He KNEW you. And it’s because He knew who you were that He did the other three things.

God knows who He is dealing with. And He knows us better than we know ourselves. So we should look UP.

An Altar in the Garden

“Bro. LaRue, how do you mean, ‘Look UP?’”

I believe that it will amaze you how much the Spirit alone will develop you as not only a person, but a leader. It’s not the most sought-after place of growth, but it’s certainly the most effective place of growth - at the altar.

The Garden of Gethsemane offers quite the contrast. Jesus came there to pray. He told the disciples that they should too. He did, they didn’t. He prayed until His flesh was aligned with the plan of God. When He got up, He had to tell them yet again they should pray. Moments later, the soldiers would come and take Him on His first steps toward the cross. But when He left the Garden, and when the disciples left the Garden, Jesus was more prepared for what would come next than they were.

That’s because Jesus prayed.

And the best leaders pray and pray regularly.

In looking up, they are being led by more than some new ideals of man’s cunning wisdom. They understand that our ideas and methods alone are pointless without a leading from above.

Take our new programs, take our drum mics, take our live streaming setup, take my books, take my suits, take any of the external stuff we have, but LEAVE ME WITH AN ALTAR IN THE GARDEN.

And if that’s all I’m left with, you can bet your bottom dollar, I’m gonna figure out where the Spirit wants to take me as a child of God.

Before you look out or even look in, you better look UP!

Look IN

See Yourself More Clearly

But we also must look IN.

You are uniquely crafted by God.

Once you come to that understanding, you need to begin looking to see yourself with clarity.

Have you ever looked at something in creation and sort of stared in wonder at how amazing it is? Well, turn that on yourself. At the risk of sounding like a bit of a nut, I’m going to say this: SEE YOURSELF MORE CLEARLY.

Think about this: We are drawn to people who have a firm understanding of themselves. Self-aware people make a bigger impact in their leadership, and they are so much easier to work with than those who lack personal awareness.

Anybody ever know someone who has no self-awareness?

Let me ask you this: how many times have you had a bad day, but you didn’t really know why you were having a bad day? How many times have you projected your bad day on everyone around you? Before I began growing in self-awareness, this happened to me more times than I would like to admit.

You know, most of us think that we know ourselves well, but research shows that most of us don’t have a good concept of who we really are under the surface. Self-awareness is directly related to how effective we are and the success of our work. Let me put it another way: Without self-awareness, we are severely limiting what we are capable of as a leader.

Strengths and Weaknesses

When I say self-awareness, I’m talking about understanding how we think. And knowing our strengths and weaknesses.

The Lord has given everyone gifts. There are things we are good at. And there are also things we aren’t that good at. I have to be honest enough to identify those things.

Myself:

Analytical

Things I enjoy and can do well:

Writing

Organizing things

Problem-solving

Things I don’t enjoy or do as well:

Meeting new people

Being in large groups of people

But here’s the thing… I’ve had to become honest about who I am in order to get better. I can identify where I might could improve. But also… I want to spend the most time where my strengths and gifts are at.

Paul challenged us not to neglect our gifts...

Romans 12:3–8 NKJV

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

So, my question is: What gifts do you have that will help you impact the Church and the Kingdom of God? We’re about to find out!!!

16 Personalities Test

Should take around 8 minutes or so.

Will tell you a lot about yourself. And it will surprise you how accurate it is.

Afterward, let’s share what we find!