LEADERSHIP MODEL FOR EXCELLENCE
The bible reads in Colossians 3:17 “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus…” It is in the authority of that name that we serve one another. Because it is in that name we serve, we should do it with excellence. For the believer, excellence is the goal of a disciple’s unyielding faith that produces the best results for the benefit of others and to the glory of God. Dr. Martin Luther King said “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” Leader you can be excellent not because of what you are able to do alone. You will be excellent because of what God has invested in your life because you chose to serve Him with gladness. It is imperative for you to be trained in the manner in which God is directing you to administer the work in your vocation. You must function well as a part of a team, speaking with one voice and moving in the same direction.
Every leader will be challenged to move beyond your current level of involvement to take hold of a higher degree of proficiency and professionalism as we conduct the Master’s affairs on earth. If you are to become excellent in your service, you must make mediocrity your enemy. You have to own the idea that “good enough never is.” You will be faced with new obstacles that will require you to employ radical means to address issues that attempt to disrupt your efforts to serve locally and even globally.
Hall of Fame player and coach, Pat Riley, has been quoted as having said “Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” How do you get your teammates to do better? You provide for them a model of leadership excellence. This model includes five fundamental steps that will facilitate leadership development going forth in a manner of excellence. According to Socrates “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is a habit.” So what are these habits that will pave the way towards excellence? Every core leader must model, mentor, monitor, motivate, and lastly multiply themselves.
1. I model: Although it might sound a bit like a cliche, you have to be the change that you want to see in others. Modeling excellence gives others the opportunity to see in practice what you have been saying in principle.
2. I mentor: You must take out time to coach and encourage those whom you will lead. The road to excellence is not an easy one. Many are tempted to quit before they ever achieve the intended goal so they will need a mentor to lean on in the process.
3. I monitor: You cannot simply give a teammate an assignment and abandon them. You must spend time with them until they get acclimated to the team or task before you leave them. You monitor to ensure that they are proficient in the work and also to ensure that they are serving to the level of quality to which they were trained. You must monitor.
4. I motivate: All work, at times, is often a thankless undertaking. People are taken for granted much of the time. As such, your workers will need to be re-energized and refueled for the continuation of the journey. Leaders who are excellent motivators have little trouble recruiting and retaining volunteers to serve on their teams.
5. I multiply: When you have poured into the lives of those whom you will lead into serving with excellence then you should multiply yourself in others. Someone should be able now to go and pour into others and lead them into excellent service for the common good. Multiplication of those who will be excellent in their service is how mediocrity is eradicated and good teams become great!
There is a story I once heard about choosing your perspective in life, about how you see the world around you. How you view the window of opportunity. Two men were imprisoned in a tower. The tower had a window. One man looked down and all he saw was the mud, rocks, and barren land. The other man looked out but he looked up and saw the moon, stars, and sky. He saw possibilities where the other saw problems. Your effectiveness largely deepens on your perspective. You can look at challenges and see all of the problems and quit before you ever get started or you can look at every problem and see that the sky is the limit to solving them and decide to reach for excellence along the way.