DGT Episode 335 - The Practical Power Of Prayer - Secrets To Joyful Leadership Part 8

Those involved in leadership spend a lot of time talking about leadership in the abstract.  But Christian leadership can’t be spoken of without Christ.  Which begs the question, “How did Jesus lead?”.  While this subject is vast and can be approached from many angles perhaps the easiest way to understanding how Jesus leads is by watching how He actually led and His leadership begins with His choice of His twelve apostles.  Join us in this first of our next series, “Watching Jesus Lead – The Choice Of The Twelve”.

Any person of Christian faith who is in position of leadership will find it easy to speak about prayer.  Afterall, prayer is an essential part to the Christian life.  But it might be more challenging for us to understand its practical power.  Being men and women of action, we rely often on our own strength to make things happen.  Given that sense of responsibility what value does prayer have?  In this final talk in our seris on Joyful Leadership we explore the practical power of prayer in our lives.

It's a well-known fact that leaders in industry and society are men and women of action.  If we’re in charge, it’s to produce a result.  But living under this kind of pressure can sometimes weaken that is necessary for success.  Afterall, we didn’t get involved just to be a machine.  We got involved in order to lead and leadership is much more than just producing results.  In this seventh part of our series on Secrets To Joyful Leadership we explore the power of beauty and its capacity to motivate a joyful leader. 

Christians who are called to lead in this world have to do two things: they have to lead well and they have to lead in Christ.  Normally these two things are not exclusive but rather build on one another.  And one particular advantage to leading in Christ is the opportunity it affords us to lead in joy.  But what are the secrets to joyful leadership?  One of them is that Jesus sent us out two by two and learning how to journey with friends can be the key to our success.

Every once in a while leaders need to remember the joy of leadership.  And leaders who are following in the footsteps of Christ have a special obligation to witness to the joy that comes from their service because we do what we do in service to the King of Kings.  While challenging sometimes staying joyful is also a secret of the saints.  Not only are leaders keeper of visions and motivators in hard times but we also have the privilege of inspiring those who follow us.

Everyone who tries to do something new has to go through the pain of actually doing it.  Ideas are one thing, inspiration is another, but execution is where things really happen.  And executing on an idea carries with it a burden – the sacrifice of the grind.  Is it possible to stay happy even when toiling?  What happens to a Christian’s joy when they embrace the grind?  And how can we embrace the grind in a way that not only maintains our joy but allows it to expand.

All of us who are responsible enough to step into leadership understand the weight of our responsibility.  Sometimes we forget that we are also called to be joyful – that leadership is a privilege and a blessing for those who undertake it.  In this third part of our series on the Secrets to Joyful Leadership we look at the power of the springtime, the power of starting things new and the gift that God has for us who choose to Dare Great Things For Christ.

Those who practice leadership work tend to focus on negative things - things that we need to improve.  But leaders just like anyone else are more motivated by what’s positive and we who lead in Christ must never forget to be joyful in Him.  In this second part of our series on the Secrets To Joyful Leadership we focus on the joy that comes from bringing a plan together for our people.  Embracing the arduous task of formulating a strategy is actually a gift for our people and ourselves. 

For as much as it’s important to remember the difficulties and challenges of leadership it’s also vital that we keep touch with the inner joy that iw the right of every leader.  Christian leaders especially have the obligation to embody this joy because we serve at the pleasure of the greatest of rulers, Jesus Christ.  But staying joyful in leadership is not always easy.  In this first part of our new series we study the first secret to joyful leadership: casting a vision for a dream worth dreaming.

Whether we like it or not leadership means standing alone.  Of course we need to lead others, so others are always a part of our lives, but whenever you take in things great or small you end up facing the fact that you alone are responsible for the change that you have initiated.  And solitude can be uncomfortable for many.  But for a Christian it becomes the meeting place with Jesus Christ and an essential aspect of our spirituality as leaders.  And this is especially true when we find ourselves at the center of an organization.