Our church started like many churches with few resources. After a few months, we had to switch locations because we couldn’t pay our rent.
We were attracting the people I thought we would get. We attracted people who needed hep with money for taxis after the service, people who needed money for bills.
In leadership, you don’t attract who you WANT, you attract you ARE!
The leadership dynamic, works where there is an alignment between the SENSE OF IDENTITY of the leader and that of the followers.
How could the church in Nigeria be more effective? He asked me, “If a group of robbers had the opportunity to elect a leader, would they elect a policeman?” I realized that if robbers were to elect a leader, they would elect a more experienced robber. A policeman needs to help the robbers make a transition from being robbers to being policemen. Helping them become who they have never been is part of leadership. That type of movement is what I call the miracle of leadership.
God makes champions out of ordinary people. We can make champions out of ordinary people.
The transformation that happens in their lives is the test of your leadership ability.
Picture of young man unkempt, after a haircut, as a young executive in suit. “See the powers of a hairstyle can do.” Manager of hotel hired the man. Waited for the young man to show up. He never showed up. Took photos into the city and found young man. He was back to the way he was before.
Real and sustainable change in people’s lives begin with a change in their sense of identity. When you change who they think they are, what they have, and they can do more they think they can.
What we believe is what we become.
People are plagued with self-doubt. You may be used to something, but it is not where you belong.
Mark 9:23
Most people are sabotaged by self-limiting beliefs. Being inferior and being poor has become part of their group identity.
Changing people from the inside out makes leadership truly transformational.
Norman Vincent Peele – coach training gymnast to go over bar. “Throw your heart over the bar and your body will follow.”
Matthew 13 – Jesus described how to transform people’s lives by changing their hearts.
The change on the outside will happen when the change on the inside happens first.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Whatever people SEE and HEAR consistently over time will enter their hearts and put their lives on auto-pilot.
To change your followers from the inside out, change what they see and hear.
The shift you want to create is the shift in their self-identity.
1. Describe your vision over and over.
There’s power in vision.
The people you lead should be able to see themselves in that vision.
Vision is the ability to see people, places and things not just as they are but as they should be.
It’s important how we describe our employees. Your vision is like a mirror wherever they see their present self and their future self.
In our culture, being a leader makes you more important than the people you lead.
I told my people. Never push a person because of me. I’m not special. It’s because they are special that I am here. If you need to push anyone, push me.
It’s important how you treat people.
Rather than plant your church on guest speakers, just be the person that people want to listen to.
When you have an organization packed with potential CEOs, you can change your industry.
2. Set up a structured training system.
An effective training system with your values, structure, vision.
Training creates consistent skills.
When we changed our training hour, we saw our organization grow from 500 to 5,000. Now when we call a meeting of workers and leaders, we have 6,000.
3. Model transformation. People try to reach a standard they can see.
1 Corinthians 11 – “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”
4. Reinvent over and over. You “die” at one level to evolve to another.
If you’re stranded at one level of success, your followers are stranded there too.
To be something you’ve never been, it means you have to die at that level to grow to another level.
I’ve encouraged people who have sat with us to leave and start their own organizations because they have potential to do what I’ve done.
Some of the fastest growing churches in my city are led by our former staff.
Acts 4:13 – When they saw the courage of Peter and John…they were astonished. They took note that these men had been with Jesus.
No one should hang around you for one year or longer without transformation in their lives.
Be brave to embrace and fulfill the destiny God has for you as a leader.