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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Leadership Develops Daily, Not in a Day Genesis 37:1–50:22 BECOMING A LEADER is a lot like investing in the stock market. If you hope to make a fortune in a day, you’re doomed. It’s what you do day by day, over the long haul, that matters most. If you continually develop your leadership, letting your “assets” compound over time, the inevitable result is growth. Although some individuals have greater natural gifts than others, nearly all the skills of leadership can be learned and improved. But that process doesn’t happen overnight. Leadership has so...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Nathan Feared No One 2 Samuel 12:1–14 SECURITY PROVIDES the foundation for strong leadership. When we feel insecure, we drift from our mission whenever trouble arises. We must feel secure, or when people stop liking us; when funding drops; when morale dips; or when others reject or criticize us—we will crumble. If we do not feel secure, fear will eventually cause us to sabotage our leadership. Imagine what might have happened had Nathan lacked security. Consider the odds stacked against him. He knew he had to confront David in his sin, yet David...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Romans 13:11–14: Paul’s Challenge Can Be Summarized in Three Words: 1. Awaken. He tells us wake up! The night is almost gone. Now is the time to get up and act! Today matters. 2. Abandon. He tells us to lay aside the undisciplined patterns of the flesh, and he even cites examples! 3. Adorn. Finally, he tells us to “put on” Christ. We know He’s inside you; now adorn yourself with Him. Today Mattered to People in the Scriptures Today mattered to Lot (Genesis 19:15, 16). Lot learned the hard way that today...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Exodus 24:1–7 It was a watershed day for everyone—a whole new life had begun! The Israelite's got off to a fresh start when they affirmed the covenant God had offered them. To make it work, however, they discovered they would have to change their lifestyles and shift their paradigms—and that would take shrewd leadership. Sometimes (as in the desert) the majority even wanted to return to Egypt! Peter Drucker helps us to learn from Moses about how to lead people into change, even in the wilderness: Lessons from the Wilderness 1. Magnify the...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Samuel and the Importance of Clear Communication 1 Samuel (10:3–12:25) DR. J. ROBERT CLINTON did a formal study of Christian leaders and discovered that, without exception, all of them possessed word gifts: teaching, prophecy, evangelism, preaching, words of knowledge or wisdom, exhortation, etc. More than anything else, they used their gifts of communication to lead their people. Peter Drucker, the father of American management, believes that 60 percent of all management problems result from faulty communication. Having a message doesn’t matter if leaders don’t communicate clearly and motivate others. It is amazing how...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Can you imagine if your company had a reputation for being a great place to work and you had a pipeline of qualified candidates waiting for an opening at your company and you rarely had an opening because your employee retention was 100%? It is always easier for a company to attract and retain top talent when it has a reputation for being a great place to work but did you know that a great onboarding program can increase employee retention? In today’s labor-tight market, employee retention is more important than ever. There...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Momentum Is a Leader’s Best Friend 1 Kings 2:1–4:24 IT TAKES a leader to create momentum. Followers catch it. And managers are able to continue it once it has begun. But creating it requires someone who can motivate others, not one who needs to be motivated. Harry Truman once said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” For leaders, that statement should be changed to read, “If you can’t make some heat, get out of the kitchen.” All leaders face the challenge of creating change in an organization. Just...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? When to Lead Is As Important As What to Do and Where to Go Esther 4:6–17 WHEN THE RIGHT leader and the right moment come together, incredible things happen. Winston Churchill described it like this: “There comes a special moment in everyone’s life, a moment for which that person was born. That special opportunity, when he seizes it, will fulfill his mission—a mission for which he is uniquely qualified. In that moment he finds greatness. It is his finest hour.” Reading a situation and knowing what to do are not enough to make...
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(Proverbs 27:1–21) Leaders understand that people represent an organization’s most appreciable asset. No resource is more valuable than people. Therefore, people skills represent a leader’s most important attribute. Wise leaders practice the Law of Addition: Leaders add value to an organization by serving their people. This text presents some fundamentals on relationships. It teaches that if people are esteemed, relationships are redeemed. Leaders can learn at least the following principles from this chapter: 1. Don’t brag (vv. 1, 2)—Leaders understand how little they get from self-promotion. 2. Don’t envy (v. 4)—Leaders sabotage themselves if their motive is to keep up...
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Ready to Find Your Next Star Performer? Josiah: Outward Reform Begins with Inward Renewal 2 Kings 22:10–23:25 YOUNG KING Josiah is a classic example of the Law of the Picture. His leadership led to national reform in Israel, and he teaches us something today about how change occurs: Outward reform begins with inward renewal. In 2 Kings 22–23 we read of Josiah’s wholehearted devotion to God and his desire to lead the people well. He became king of Israel at the tender age of eight, if you can imagine that. His own spiritual passion began to influence the nation of...
