When God wants to get something done, He finds a person, but not just any person.  He looks for a person with certain qualities.

Consider the following examples:

1. But select capable men from all the people – men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain – and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.  Exodus 18:21.  Jethro to Moses (also Deuteronomy 1:9-13)
2. Brothers choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Acts 6:3.  The 12 Apostles to all the disciples
3. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2. Paul to Timothy.
4. Elders and Deacons Paul to Timothy – 1Timothy 3:1-13. Paul to Titus – Titus 1:5-9.

Even in the world of human endeavour, there are many examples of leaders who had a clear picture of those that they wanted to join with them on their great adventures.

Sir Ernest Shackleton, the great Antarctic explorer once placed this advertisement in a London paper.  “Men wanted for hazardous journey.  Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.  Honor and recognition in case of success.” They all returned to their homes safely, and were given honor and recognition.

The Italian, Garibaldi, set out to liberate his country from the clutches of bad government.  While enlisting men to join forces with him he was often asked, “What’s going to be in this for me?”  He would answer, “No pay, no rank, no residences.  I will offer you hunger, thirst, forced marches, and even death.”  And then he would make this appeal.  “Let him who loves his country with his heart and not only with his lips, follow me.”  History reveals Garibaldi recruited an army that placed the worthiness of its cause above its temporal comforts and though many gave their lives, they also freed their land.

MY THESIS:  Great leaders who achieve great things are characterised by certain qualities.

Ever since I accepted a calling into full time Christian ministry in 1980, the greatest issue upon which I have focussed is “who is the person God uses?”  I wanted to become that person and I wanted to develop leaders who would become such people.  Now many years later, I am aware of a significant number of men and women with whom I have served, who are now scattered around the globe, being used mightily by God.  As I reflected, I have noted key qualities that I have found to characterise people who are making an impact with their lives.

Foundational Qualities

1. Servanthood Those who wish to be great among you must be your servant.  Mark 10:42 The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.  Matthew 20:28 Don’t promote on potential or qualifications, promote on performance and heart.
2. Obedience If you love Me, you will obey Me.   John 14:15, 21, 23 An obedient heart reflects a teachable spirit.
   

   ·         Don’t give a person authority until they have come under authority

   ·         Don’t appoint a person to lead until they have learned to follow.

3. Humility Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  1 Peter 5:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6 And being found in appearance as a man He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.  Philippians 2:8
4. Love Teacher, which is the greatest commandment … Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind … and love your neighbour as yourself.”  Matthew 36:39
5. Availability So they left everything and followed Him.  Luke 5:11 “If there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life”.                   General William Booth.
6. Faithfulness I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  John 17:4 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  1 Corinthians 4:2

Spiritual Qualities

7. Doing What The Father Is Doing I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself;  He can only do what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.  For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.  John 5:19-20
8. Abiding In Christ I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15:5
9. Filled With The Holy Spirit … be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18
10. Prayerful …pray continually… 1 Thessalonians 5:17
11. In The Word Do not let this Book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Joshua 1:8

Relational Qualities

12. Self-Leadership (Relation to self) Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.  1 Corinthians 9:26-27
    

    ·         The hardest person to lead is myself

    ·         I do not qualify to lead others until I have led myself

    ·         I cannot take others further than I have gone myself

    ·         I cannot take my church to the next level until I have taken myself to the next level.

    Areas of Self-Leadership

13. Emotional Intelligence Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather think of yourself with sober judgement in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Romans 12:3 Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognise your emotions, understand what they are telling you and realise how your emotions affect people around you.  Emotional Intelligence also involves your perception of others.  When you understand how they feel, it is possible to manage relationships more effectively.                                                                                                                Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence:                                                                          
    

    ·         Self Awareness (strengths and weaknesses)

    ·         Self management (self-leadership)

    ·         Social awareness (empathy)

    ·         Relationship management (causing a team to work together)

Leadership Qualities

14. Influence (Motivator) Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”  So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.  Luke 5:10-11. They were on their way to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid.  Mark 10:32. All those who were in distress or in debt or disconnected, gathered around David and he became their leader.  1 Samuel 22:2. The test of leaders is to turn around and see if anyone is following them.
15. Presence The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.  Mark 1:22. The leader not only has influence, but also has impact which comes from an authority that they possess.  Consequently leadership is given to a person it is never taken by a person.  It is not ultimately gained by years of experience or academic qualifications or even being placed in a position of leadership.
16. Vision And Faith “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations …”   Matthew 28:18-19.
    

    ·         A vision helps to define a leader

    ·         God gives God sized visions that will require steps of faith to achieve them

    ·        We are not to determine what we can achieve with our resources, but rather what God can achieve with our resources

    ·         “A vision = a complaint” (Paul Scanlon)

    ·         “Show me your vision and I’ll prophecy your future” (Paul Yonggi Cho)

    ·         He/she who gets vision, gets job.

17. Achiever So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.  When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost self-confidence, because they realised that this work had been done with the help of our God.  Nehemiah 6:15-16                                                                                                                There are three stages in any great work of God:
    

    ·         Impossible

    ·         Difficult

    ·         Done (Hudson Taylor).

    Leaders are overcomers, resourceful, focused on solutions rather than problems and willing to pay the price to get things done.

18. Self-Motivated Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed.  Mark 1:35.
    

    Leaders are:

    ·         “Low maintenance people” (Paul Scanlon)

    ·         Intrinsically motivated rather than extrinsically motivated.

19. Intuition Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts…  Luke 2:8. The difference between leaders and followers is perspective.  This might be called intuition, discernment, insight, the big picture or something else, and it results in the ability to see things that followers don’t see, to anticipate things that others don’t anticipate, to make decisions that followers don’t make and to grasp opportunities that followers don’t grasp. “This is an ability to get a handle on intangible factors, understand them and work with them to understand leadership goals….  Intuitive leaders can sense what is happening among people and almost instantly know their hopes, fears and concerns…”         John Maxwell
20. Courage Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous…  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:6, 9. Courage is the ability to bear pain and requires mental toughness.                                               Courageous leaders:
    

    ·         Have a secure identity

    ·         Fear God rather than people

    ·         Live proactively rather than reactively

    ·         Don’t compromise leadership in difficult times

    ·         Are prepared to pay the price

    ·         Do not get intimidated.

21. Executive Skills Nehemiah chapters 2 and 3. Leaders need to be mature not only in areas of character and competence, but also in executive skills. These include:

22. Attitude Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…  Philippians 2:5. If leaders lose their attitude, they lose their ministry. Leaders can’t determine what things will come their way, but they can determine their attitude to what comes their way.
23. Excellence But just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us – see that you also excel in this grace of giving.  2 Corinthians 8:7. … if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  Philippians 4:9. Acting slovenly is an insult to the Holy Spirit.  Oswald Chambers Coffee stains on our trays means that our engines don’t work.  American Airline If God gave us His best in Jesus, shouldn’t we desire to give our best back to Him.
24. Continual Learner And Jesus GREW in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and men.  Luke 2:52. Leaders are continual learners to that they can be continually growing.  People who stop growing effectively stop leading and should remove themselves from leadership.  However, beware, leaders can be OVERTRAINED and UNDERDEVELOPED. An important element of continual learning is to keep finding good mentors who will empower you along your life’s journey.
25. Communication All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What is this teaching?  With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they came out!”  And the news about Him spread throughout the surrounding areas.  Luke 4:36-37. “Your voice is your identity in sound.  The key to connecting is authenticity, being yourself.  The greatest gift for those listening to you is to be able to listen to you.  People follow people.  When you speak, people are asking the question, “Do I want to follow this person?”  We drive behaviour by speaking from the heart (by finding your life message).  An average speaker with passion is more effective than a great speaker without passion.  People catch what you’ve got, not what you say you’ve got.”  Notes from Paul Scanlon’s Communication Master Class.
26. Integrity Now the overseer must be above reproach… 1 Tim 3:2. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.  Psalm 78:92. Character opens the door for our competence.
27. Gift of Leadership The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt, I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.  So I have come down to rescue them from the hands of the Egyptians …   So now, go.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”  Exodus 3:7, 8, 10. There are a high percentage of people in leadership positions that have little or no gifting in leadership.  They may be good managers or administrators, but they lack the essentials of a leader.  So, are leaders made or born.  From experience it seems that both options occur.  Perhaps the more important issue has to do with that of CALLING.  For when God calls a person to a leadership role, it usually emerges that God anoints or gifts that person to lead people to a destiny.
28. Developer Of Leaders Jesus appointed 12 – designating them apostles – that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.  Luke 3:13-15. A God sized vision will always be more than you can handle.  So you must recruit leaders, train leaders, delegate ministry to leaders and build a leadership team. Work in your strengths and delegate to your weaknesses.
29. Define Reality They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace.  The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.”  Nehemiah 1:3. Leaders who can DEFINE REALITY can explain where they have come from, where they are right now and where they are going.
30. Creative In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Genesis 1:1. We have the most creative person in the world living within us.  He does not give us a drawing on a paper to colour in; He gives us a blank sheet of paper on which to draw. The Father is at work in your life/ministry/church doing something He has never done before.

Finally, “When people grow, everything attached to them grows. But when we try to grow the things attached to people, we finish up with small people trying to handle and grow big things. Then we get burnout and exhaustion and resentment and constant changes around the people, because we wear out the people we have who are trying to do things they are not capable of doing. Consequently, our bottom line is no bigger than the talent of the people who are producing the bottom line.  Growing big people reminds us that our ceiling is not finances or resources, rather it is going to be people. Our greatest asset and our most challenging asset is people. Our greatest priority is to grow and empower people, people who are capable of growing breathtaking things.”                                                     Paul Scanlon, Growing Big People

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Rod Denton has served as a pastor and as a teacher in the development of emerging leaders in Australia and 9 different countries across Asia with Asian Access. He now serves as Director for ROD DENTON EQUIPPING THE NEXT GENERATION.   www.roddentoneng.com.au