Leadership Styles

To begin my devotional time tonight, I listened to the song, "Every Victory," by Newsong. They remind us to stand on the Solid Rock and His principles. "On this I stand, on this alone: All my hope, all my strength, and all my confidence is in knowing I've received every victory! Through the cross, through the blood, it is finished. It is done! I am saved! I am free! You are every victory!...You have won! You have won and the enemy is forevermore underneath Your feet!" We serve a risen Lord, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the Ultimate Leader!

The central verse that Maxwell uses for tonight is Proverbs 18:21, which says: "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." (NIV) As leaders, we must learn to tame our tongues and to use them to build others up, not to gossip and not to tear them down.

Maxwell presents four leadership styles:

• Military Commander
• Chief Executive Officer
• Coach
• Poet

As the list goes down, each loses the attitude of, "I have absolute control over you," and toward a more personal, relationship-centered model.

For the military commander, "It's my way; no highway option." The CEO has more of a shared vision with his followers, but still presents a top-down management style. The Coach sees individual members as working together, forming a cohesive team; but it presents only the coach's vision. Finally, the Poet expresses, "The heart of the team." The Poet uses words wisely, knowing the power of the tongue.

The reflection question for tonight asks: "What style of leadership do you use?"

If you aren't sure, I suggest taking a personality assessment. My favorite is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI, test. Do a simple Google search for personality assessments and find one that is either in the style of MBTI or another highly recognized model, such as the Jung test. Answer the questions honestly. When you get the results, take them to heart. If they are different than what you want, train yourself to lead in the manner that you think you should or that better suits your situation. Also, there are situations where you probably have a mix of styles. In such situations, though, you will probably lean more toward one than the other. Regardless of the results, ask God to make you into the leader He wants you to be. Follow His direction. He'll never lead you down the wrong road!

God bless you!