Jesus’s Leadership Part 1 – Being A Servant

Tomorrow is Good Friday and I thought I would write three posts on how, the greatest leader ever in my opinion, Jesus Christ lead while on this Earth. Before being arrested by Roman Soldiers Jesus illustrated on more teaching about servanthood to his disciples.

John 13 3-17 The Message

3-6Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

7Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I’m doing, but it will be clear enough to you later.”

8Peter persisted, “You’re not going to wash my feet—ever!”

Jesus said, “If I don’t wash you, you can’t be part of what I’m doing.”

9″Master!” said Peter. “Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!”

10-12Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.

12-17Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

Jesus was not supposed to be on his knees cleaning his disciples’ feet, but through this he showed them that they that they are called to be a servant as he is. Jesus understood God had given him all this power, but also understood God trusted him with it.

One of the challenges of servant leadership is understanding what a servant is. A lot of times associate a servant as a few actions, but Jesus understood it wasn’t just what he did, but who he is. Servanthood is a lifestyle without pride and ego, and with confidence in one’s self, and authentic love for others.

Jesus showed his disciples servanthood by getting on his knees to wash his disciples’ feet. How can we serve others around us?

The next two posts will come on Saturday and Sunday.

Leadership Aroma

Everyone has a natural aroma, whether good or bad, you can only disguise it with cologne and perfumes for a short while. A lot of time to get rid of the bad aroma we have to use good ole soap and water.

Just like your natural aroma, we have a leadership aroma. Sometimes we stink and try to hide it with seminars and books, but after awhile it wears off and we stink again. In order to really get of that stink we need something stronger like soap. One of the challenges of being a leader is willing to get to root cause of your bad aroma; your ego.

You cannot hide your ego with just books and seminars because ego is a heart thing. One thing I have noticed about great leaders is that helping others succeed is a life style not just something they do every now and then.

This can be a challege to some because it is a lot easier to put on some “perfume” and and smell good for a short while, but it is a lot more difficult to “clean your whole body.” It is a challege to all, and I see myself in it right now. I really believe you figure it out over night because it can take be a long proccess with many realizations and fixings. And sometimes we do not realize we stink and takes someone else to let us know.

Edition #2 Carnival of Leadership Growth

Welcome to the March 2, 2007 edition of leadership growth.

Charles H. Green presents Seductive Statistics posted at Trust Matters, saying, “Effective leaders understand the difference between earning trust and measuring it.”

David Maister presents A Case Study in Professional Ethics posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, “Deciding to “own the problem” and accept responsibility for a screw up requires guts, courage and ethics.”

Caroline Latham presents I don’t want to ever retire. What can I do to remain sharp? posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution.

Walt presents No Plan B! posted at Walt Nation!.

Joseph presents How to attain success posted at Self Help and Personal Development.

Debra Moorhead presents The Meaning of TEAM posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Niels Hoven presents Ask Niels: How do I build an emotional connection? posted at Niels Hoven.

Laura Ricci presents Supporting Community Growth and Continuance posted at Laura’s Winning Ideas, saying, “team building, using the metaphor of a dance community”

almomento presents Open Call For Project MastermindX posted at BurstCreativity.

Anna Farmery presents Dear Boss posted at The Engaging Brand.

The Positivity Blog presents Take the Positivity Challenge! posted at Henrik Edberg.

Scott Schwertly presents The Power of “I” posted at Presentation Revolution.

Praveen presents Review of “The Rich Jerk” – Get It Free, Plus $1 posted at My Simple Trading System.

Charles H. Green presents Waddya, Nuts? posted at Trust Matters, saying, “It’s hard to be trustworthy if you yourself can’t trust. And part of trusting is not thinking that everything—good or bad—is about oneself.”

David Maister presents Lions, Wolves, Beavers and Humans posted at Passion, People and Principles, saying, “Most leaders are incapable of team strategy because the key players have not agreed either to (a) collaborate or (b) invest in their mutual future.”

Kapil Handa presents Develop Leadership Skills posted at The Sum.

Jack Yoest presents Manager as Sociopath: An Interview With An Honest Boss posted at Reasoned Audacity, saying, “Your Business Blogger teaches management training. But there is no need to sit in my class, just visit An Interview with an Honest Manager.”

Debra Moorhead presents “The Science of Getting Rich” Evaluated, Part One posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Vahid Chaychi presents Viral Marketing Strategies – Learn How to Spread the Words for Free! posted at Internet and Search Engine Marketing, saying, “Do you know how websites like Hotmail and Google became popular and well-known? They didn’t spend a single cent for advertising. They used the power of viral marketing.”

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Leading By Ego

One area in leadership that I probably struggle with most is with my EGO. It seems everytime I let my ego get in the way it is because I want something without considering what it could do for others. I want to lift myself up without lifting others up.

Is leading by Ego the best way? Yes, we want to be successful, but at what cost? I believe full heartly that ego can lead to success in the short-term but like the leaders of Enron and Arthur Anderson it can catch up to you. we can only fill our ego for so long before it needs more. One of the questions I continue to ask myself to keep my ego in check is, “Am I here to be served or to serve?” This question is one of the keys that Ken Blanchard writes about in his book “Lead Like Jesus.”