To Be An Effective God-First Leader, You Must Give Up These Things
A groundbreaking lesson I learned as a leader is the concept of responsibility versus rights.
Taking on responsibility will require you to give up some rights.
John Maxwell calls this "The Law of Sacrifice: A Leader must give up to go up.” Leaders have to give up more than others in order to effectively fulfill their responsibilities to move the team forward.
For example, a pastor gives up the right to order a beer at a restaurant because followers in the church could see that and think its ok. Yes, its ok to have a beer. But the leader understands that others are watching and following, so he gives up the right to drink a beer in public.
I used to think that as the owner of the company, I could go play golf whenever, walk into the office at the time I felt, and wear whatever I pleased to work. Boy was I wrong.
If we're building a God-first business, we need to rethink the way we used to operate in the past. Adding God into the mix gives us entirely new responsibilities and strips us of some rights we used to enjoy before. If we aren't going to sacrifice our old ways, we can easily build up pride of ownership and go down the wrong path of entitlement.
Godpreneurs are not entitled. We can’t afford it. We lead by example. We are last and our people are first. The only time we're first is being the first ones up and running and ready to advance the cause.
In the Bible, Nehemiah shows us first hand how God wants leaders to lead. As Governor, Nehemiah could have received a whole bunch of perks. But he chose to not burden the people, paving the example God was looking for.
Nehemiah 5:18-19 says
"Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people. Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people."
Are there any areas of the business where you can show awesome leadership by giving up your rights?
In times of great change in a company, we’ve heard in the news of CEO’s taking pay cuts, eliminating perks, rolling up their sleeves and getting to work with the first ranks.
As we build our God-first businesses, we need to be conscious that others are looking at our work ethic, humility, generosity, tenacity and resolve. They are following the leader and making positive decisions that will impact the entire organization.
All my best,
Alex Miranda
Get to know me at www.alexmiranda22.com
P.S. I did a Business bible study called 40 Days to Restarting Your Business, God's Way. Check it out:
A business Bible study to help you rethink, reinvent, and restart your business, but this time, God's Way!
We parallel Nehemiah's rebuilding of the wall to your journey in rebuilding your business.
Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.