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The Leadership Challenge: Engage Support

In a recent webinar, Jim Kouzes said, “The question I get most often is: ‘Are leaders born or made?’  My response is always, ‘Yes, every leader is born.’”  He also shared research that indicated the overall percentage of people who have no leadership ability at all is 0.00013 percent!  That comes out to about one person in a million.

Kouzes’ perspective is that practically everyone has the ability to become a leader.  He and his collaborator, Barry Posner, have developed a model of leadership development around five fundamentals of becoming a leader:

  1. Believe in yourself
  2. Aspire to excel
  3. Challenge yourself
  4. Engage support
  5. Practice deliberately
The webinar I watched addressed the fourth fundamental--Engage Support.  Kouzes explained that becoming a leader is not a singular pursuit but one that takes place in a community of meaningful relationships.  If you want to develop leaders in your organization, ask these strategic questions:
  • Does every leader have a coach?  A coach provides a safe and secure place for a person to reflect on his or her potential for as a leader, create action steps for development, and practice accountability that encourages self-leadership.
  • Does every leader have a personal board of directors?  This is a group of people who will be honest with you and challenge you to achieve your potential.
  • How visible and accessible are role models of exemplary leadership?  If you don’t have them in your organization, bring some in for show and tell or send your leaders to observe those in other organizations who are exemplary leaders.
  • How competent are leaders at coaching others in the organization?  Leaders create leaders by calling out, challenging, and supporting others to become their best selves.
  • How well do leaders listen with empathy? Teddy Roosevelt said, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care” The way that a leader listens shows that they care.
If you are committed to leadership development in your church or organization, contact me.  Learn more about Kouzes and Posner’s fundamentals at The Leadership Challenge.


  




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