PART II of II
If you are a Christian business leader, how do you know if you are a good one or not? How do you determine your leadership “intelligence” or “quotient?”
I am often asked what I have learned or observed about leadership based on working with over 500 Christian business leaders around the world over the past 30 years.
A person can be financially successful and be very good in their particular field—but not be a leader. None of the questions below equate leadership with the size or profitability of a person’s business.
I have compiled a list of ten key questions. This assessment applies to Christian leaders in a company, church and community. This will give you a quick snapshot of your level of leadership and perhaps some items to work on.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Rank yourself on a scale of 0-10 (with 0 being the least in agreement and 10 being strongest agreement) to the extent you agree with each of the below statements in bold.
- Then tally all responses for a total out of 100. You will then get your letter grade and instant assessment.
QUESTIONS
6. I do not take offence easily. This lesson is in Proverbs from thousands of years ago and it is practical today. This lesson came home to me when we had an interesting issue with a very successful entrepreneur. He committed to buy a table at one of our ELO Forums. Of course, we like to get paid promptly as we incur many expenses well in advance of the events. This particular person still hadn’t paid well after the event. When he was sent a reminder notice, he was mightily offended and seemingly insulted that a man of his stature would be questioned as if he couldn’t pay! He did pay—and has never been back.
7. I am a giver rather than a taker of resources. Are you generous? Do you have an abundance or scarcity mentality? I had one individual who came across the ELO network who I didn’t know. By his talk he was positioning himself as a successful entrepreneur, which I took at face value. With our ELO Forum that year we had an incentive to give bursaries for free tickets to a limited number of young entrepreneurs who could not otherwise afford to attend. The entrepreneur got wind of that, and rather than buying a ticket, fought tooth and nail for his kid to get the bursary. All hat, no cattle. He was there to take rather than to give.
8. I am able to manage my ego (self-centeredness). Do you have a big ego? Few people would say yes to that. Leaders aspire to be humble as per Micah 6:7. Instead, another way to put the question: how much do you think of yourself rather than others? How would you determine that? Not many people who actually have a big ego actually recognize it. One simple measure. Next time you are at a social gathering track how much talking you do and how many questions you ask of the other person. If it is out of balance, the message you are communicating is that I am more interesting than you.
9. I am open to hearing other views even when I disagree with them. Leaders are learners. They are open to learning from varied sources. With respect to the ELO Forums, we sometimes introduce a speaker and a topic because we think it is worthy of discussion. One example is a speaker we had dealing with DEI issues (i.e.., racism in the workplace, etc.). Just the fact that we would introduce the issue (that particular year it was 1 of 10 presenters) was enough to turn off one business leader who huffed that he would never be back. He hasn’t. He presumably retreated to his echo chamber. Being that closed minded is not a path to personal development.
10. I act with the big picture in mind realizing the impact of my actions. Are you able to see beyond your own immediate circumstances and see the bigger picture? For example, ELO’s key supporters are typically people who think not what I can get from an event, but rather what can I give. They support the events even if there is no prospect of selling their product. They realize it is important to be there. As Woody Allen apparently said, “90% of life is showing up!” They realize that their presence conveys that this is an important cause. In short, they see beyond their own circumstances. Not many people can do that—but true leaders do.
ASSESSMENT
TOTAL Add 1—10 to get your score out of 100!
REVIEW
