7-Benchmarks of a GREAT LEADER!

April 6, 2010
Leadership Clip to Evernote
10

Screen shot 2010-04-05 at 9.16.15 PMIt’s hard to know sometimes how you are doing. You aren’t sure if you have what it takes, or if you are doing as well as you should in your area of leadership. That’s when you need a gauge, or a benchmark. A benchmark is a standard you measure against to know if you are making the mark. When it comes to leadership I’ve seen a several of these manifest in great leaders over time…

1. The Ability to replace themselves. This is the highest honor for a great leader. When you invest your life, love and energy in someone and they can do it better than you can!

2. The Ability to cast a big Vision! Great people follow great vision. But not just the vision, but the leader who can communicate it in a way that generates a passion to follow it.

3. A Passion to make others great. The great leader knows "it’s not about me," They know… they are where they are to make everyone around them the best they can be! Leave a legacy through others!

4. The willingness to Risk it. This goes without saying. A great leader is not foolish, but willing to move without all the questions being answered up front.

5. The willingness to say, "I was wrong." With all a leaders passion, vision and drive, they still make mistakes. A great leader is always willing to say "I was wrong." It empowers those around them.

6. The humility to listen to others. When a leader leads, others are following, and the great leader will never be a "know it all", they will recognize and thrive on the ability of those on their team!

7. They are always in a state of change! If you aren’t changing, you aren’t growing. A stagnant leader is an ineffective leader. That means: Reading, mentoring, coaching & more learning. Never stop!

Did I miss one? I have the humility to listen to others! Leave your idea bellow (↓).

About artie: I'm the lead Pastor at Cornerstone, a Multi-Ethnic church in the heart of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Also the founder of the Comb Network.com, a movement to plant Multi-Ethnic, culturally relevant churches in smaller cities. I direct a gathering of small city leader called "The Sticks."

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  • Shan

    Effective/great leaders are different.

  • http://extraordinarylivingbydrscottyjr.blogspot.com Scotty

    I don’t argue with your points above, but I think the church and culture has developed a view of leadership ver different than what we actually find in scripture. For example, we believe great leaders are men of great vision. Yet, some of the greatest things completed in scripture were not the product of great vision by men, but by God. Moses grew up in the trappings of Eqyptian royalty and yet couldn’t see himself as leading the Israelites. He pushed back from God’s vision. Joseph was a dreamer, but not originally a leader with big dreamers. Yet God lifted him to the heights of leadership for His own good purposes. Esther was a queen, but what would her vital moment of leadership have been like had it not been for the vision or another? I think we vaunt leadership in ways scripture does not. Over and over again, God takes the most ordinary among us and confounds us with great achievements. Some of the items above could be applied to the great leaders in scripture, some cannot. They are helpful to us today, but ultimately who God is to us, and what His call is in our lives is, will be the greatest measure of the leader we ever become.

    • http://artiedavis.com artie

      Scotty, I agree 100% about vision. I have qualified my thoughts on this in earlier blogs. I love the example of Moses, but God authored the vision and Moses was a great leader in communicating the vision God gave. All great leaders are men of vision, but the vision MUST BE authored by God through a "season of seeking" God and His will. Then as a good leader we take that vision authored by God, become passionate about it, and challenge those around us to run with it. Thereby, they are running with God!

  • http://leadchangegroup.com Mike Henry Sr.

    Artie, This is a very good post. I agree with the points, including the point about casting the vision. Leaders are only necessary in a state of change. In our fallen world there is always room for improvement. And the key factors in a successful effort are a clear goal and a shared picture of "who’s doing what;" both key parts of casting a vision.

    Well said. Thanks! Mike…

  • CAW

    Sure. As long as the leader is aware that he is being led (by Him).
    Is the leader leading others to God and for God or is the leader leading others to self and for self. A great leader does not look for a pat on the back but moreso a back to pat …..

  • http://twitter.com/jeremybabers Jeremy

    This is excellent and deserves review weekly, if not daily for all those who want to come into the greatness God has bestowed! The only thing I would add is that one needs the ability to put themselves in the shoes of others; to have empathy and see the underdog's perspective when everyone is kicking him! The man that rises above the fray and loves this soul has character that a true leader cannot exist without, unconcerned with expediency, vanity or popularity!

    • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/artiedavis61 artiedavis61

      Great Jeremy! Love it my bro. Thanks for dropping by

  • http://woodrow61harper.xanga.com/729597785/internet-dating-tips-and-tricks----creating-a-impressive-profile-for-match/ Barry Crafter

    I like your point of view.

  • http://www.theexperiencefactor.com Jen Kuhn

    Hi Artie,

    You’ve compiled a comprehensive list. I would agree with all points. I especially like the idea of leading through passion: a passion to make others great. I’m an advocate of legacy leadership; for if we are not working towards improving what we’ve been a part of, then what is our goal?
    Thank you for sharing your insight.
    Cheers,
    Jen

  • http://belindausa.wordpress.com/ Belinda E Belle

    Leaders must have character / integrity / courage and ability to inspire others.

    Without character and/or integrity I think everything else falls naught. " One of the most dangerous and detrimental things in all the world is a gifted, influential person who lacks integrity"

    Courage – to be true to your convictions. Courage to go with what God instructs even if it makes him/her unpopular or doesn’t seem ‘reasonable’ to those under his/her leadership.

    Inspire others – Inspire people into action – to do better and be better.