Leadership Development w/ cbc Interns

Leadership Defined

What is Leadership? How would you define it?

Harvard Business defines leadership “the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants. The man or woman who successfully marshals his/her human collaborators to achieve particular ends is a leader. And a great leader is one who can do so day after day, year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances.”

Accomplish goals through others.

achieve.

Most definitions of leadership sound like this. accomplish, achieve, gets things done.

And most leadership organizational charts will look like this.

Whiteboard

But Jesus said, Matthew 20:25-28 “But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

Jesus’ organization chart looks like this… Whiteboard

But when you look at JEsus short life and ministry, he was the best Harvard defined leader ever…

accomplished goal through others… in fact turned the world upside down.

But he did it not by lording over, but by serving upward.

In his book Spiritual Leadership J. Oswald Sanders writes,

“True greatness, true leadership is found in giving yourself in service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to serve you.”

So leadership = SERVICE.

Here’s another question, are leaders born or made?

Meaning, is a unique personality gifting that some have and others don’t, or is it something that can be learned and developed?

Look at Jesus’ definition again… Leadership is adding value to others by serving others. Are some born servants? NO!

The truth is also that leadership can be developed.

I’d like to give you a tool, called the 5 Levels of Leadership by John Maxwell.

As we seek to understand leadership, no teacher or writer has been better than making it understandable and applicable than John Maxwell.

Maxwell writes, “True leadership isn’t about having a certain job, title, or position. True leadership is about investing in people, building relationships, and inspiring others.

And in his teaching there are 5 Levels of Leadership

Whiteboard

Level 1: Position— is the lowest level of leadership. Positional leadership is based on the rights granted by the position and the title.

Level 1 leaders may be bosses, but they never make good leaders. They have subordinates, but not team members. “Position is a poor substitute for influence.”

Level 2: Permission— Relationshpis, relationships, relationships. Level 2 is about developing influence by building relationships with people. They intentionally get to know others, and figure out how to get along with them. People begin to give you permission to influence them.

Level 3: Production— Good leaders do in fact GET THINGS DONE. They produce real results. This is where a leader gains credibility. People see the fruit of their life, and their work. You become an Example!

Level 4: People Development— LEvel 4 leaders have the ability to empower others. They invest in others in order to deevelop them, and actually make others leaders as well. Reproduction! They reproduce themselves.

Level 5:— Pinnacle— These leaders develop leaders who develop leaders. They have a reputation of leadership and hold Respect. Think later in life. 60s, 70s and 80s.

Where would you say you are?

What position do you hold? Is that a position of influence?

Given your current position, who do you influence? How? With your position, or with permission?

Given your current position, are you getting results… production?

Be a 360 degree leaders.

Given this tool, how you can begin to grow in Leadership?

A couple of tips:

Learn yourself… Who has God created you to be? What are your passions? Your personality? Your giftings? Your perspectives?

Also take responsibility for yourself… become a disciplined person. Work hard. Early in, late to leave. Be a trustworthy contributor to your team, and you will get more influence.

Learn to listen to others. Ask questions. Listen well. Get comfortable saying, “I’m not sure, or I don’t know, but I’d love to learn.”

Learn… read, listen. consume.

Knowing Yourself

StrengthsFinders

There are a plethora of personality, gifts, or tempermant assessments we could use and all of them have their pros and cons, but I’ve asked Tim to run your StrengthsFinders, because I believe this one is so helpful as it regards the workplace.

Strenghts Insights:

This can serve as a starting point for self0discovery.

Your themes are VERY UNIQUE to you.

According to the research that drove this assessment and tool:

Focusing on and developing an individuals’ strengths boosts engagement from 9% to 73% and leads to substaintial gains for employeess and the organization.

Here’s the point: So often we want to develop our weaknesses, but if you spend your time and energy developing your weaknesses you will actually not make much gain, and sadly spend your time doing things that drain you. But if you focus and hone in on developing your strengths, you’ll see HUGE ENGAGEMENT AND PRODUCTION GAINS.

Some strengths or strengthsets bode well in particular jobs. So look for jobs where your strengths can be exercised.

If you have 4 or your 5 in relationally oriented strengths, you probably don’t need to be a data manager who sits behind a screen focusing on details.

You are unique, so develop your unique Strengths; but also learn to surround yourselves with people who complement you!

You lack the strength of other unique people! So don’t develop self to be well rounded, hire around yourself.

Last caveat: Our values can trump our tempermants. I don’t have but 1 relationship buidling theme, but as a follower of Jesus I value people! You aren’t locked in!

There are 34 Themes that fall into 4 domains of strengths.

WHITEBOARD

EXECUTING — Knowing how to make things happen- turning ideas into reality.

INFLUENCING— Selling ideas inside and outside and ensuring that the team is heard.

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING— Being able to form a team that builds and connects with one another.

STRATEGIC THINKING— Helping the team learn and make better decisions.

So the first thing we want to do is to look at our Strengths in order to Know Yourself.

I’ve printed your top 5. I want you to take the next 15 min and find a place to read these by yourself, at least your top 3, and then highlight things that stand out to you.

Like: YES, THAT IS TOTALLY ME!

Now we are going to go 1 by 1 and give each person about 3-5 minutes, but before we do let me share some of my takeaway’s.

Show the Grid

As a team:

YOU ARE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING DOMINANT!!!! 18 OF 30. 60%

I bet ya’ll have just loved everything about this relational experience.

YOU ARE VERY LOW INFLUENCING. 3 of 30— 10%.

When someone needs to take charge, speak up, or influence tim or another staff member who tends to do it?

My guess would be Maya or Ashton

When somethings just need to get done, who tends to get stuff done!?

My guess would be Mikey!

Kalina

Kalina, Kalina, Kalina--- you just hate relationships don’t you!

Share with us a takeaway from your Top 3:

Tell me about conflict Kalina? How do you handle conflict? Any examples on this team?

This is so important to know about Kalina, she feels deeply, cares deeply, and deeply desires harmony.

So if you have conflict or tension with Kalina, you probably need to know that she feels it 100x more! So engage conflict, but reaffirm her and the relationsip about 90x.

Maya

Feels deeply as well, but the Futuristic visionary matched with Achiever, Activator, and Competition is pretty dynamic!

Achiever= let’s get it done!

Activator= let’s get it done yesterday! What are we waiting for.

Competion= I want to win! How do I know we are winning!?

Maya, you’re on an intern team that largely wins by feeling relationally connected? How has that been for you?

Lexie

Another deep and gifted feeler, who cares for harmony.

Intellection wants to inquire, and have the facts before making a decision.

Restorative wants to solve the problem!

Lexie, have you had to work with Mikey or Ashton on a project?

Ashton

The problem solver!!!

Restorative = energized when presented with problems.

Activator--- when can we start!!

But with Adaptability = want every day to be different

Have you at times struggled with following through on the problems you intend to solve?

Be patient, partner with focus and responsibility.

Mikey

Are you a pretty dependable fella?

Want to develop others, but also high, high execution. Can solve problems, but probelms that your belief deem matters.

Henry

The Creative? Free Spirit?

Futuristic, Adaptability and Intellection

Conclude

This is a tool: And I’d encourage you to really read and look over your top 5, and even begin to apply some of these action items.

Just because you are “strong” in one area, isn’t an excuse for poor performance, just means you need to pay attention and grow!

Working on a Team