The Road to Leadership Greatness

Got a question for you. Just for you.

Do you aspire to be a great spiritual leader?

Now before you answer the question, allow me to bring some context to the question. No, we’re not talking about people with an oversized ego in search of a spotlight and a stage. We’re talking about people with a soul-resonating passion to leverage all that has been entrusted to them for maximum Kingdom impact. (The kind of greatness to which Christ called His followers.)

If you count yourself among those who camp out in category #2, I’ve got some things for you to think about…to elevate your game.

A few years ago, I was introduced to Reggie McNeal and his book Practicing Greatness. I’ve read it multiple times. I guess you can say I’m a fan!

Long story short, Practicing Greatness is a treasure chest of insights and inputs about the road to leadership greatness. Like Waze, it is a reliable map to get you where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow.

Essentially, with the wisdom of a field-tested leader, McNeal calls out seven spiritual practices that mark the trail to leadership greatness: self-awareness, self-management, self-development, mission, decision making, belonging, and aloneness.

Here are a few of his insights which will give you a chance to kick the tires a bit. And you may want to pass it along to someone who hangs out in the space of your leadership influence.

• Leaders who have an appropriate view of self (humility), combined with the capacity to help others (service), don’t just show up in the nick of time. They are crafted over time. They practice being great. Extraordinary character and exceptional competence develop over time. Leaders must make countless good choices and right calls to fashion greatness.

• Genuinely great spiritual leaders do not do what they do for themselves or even as a way to become recognized as great leaders. The end game for spiritual leaders is about expanding the kingdom of God.

• Great leaders, on the other hand, tell you what they are intending to accomplish, the mission they are on. “I am working to change _______” or “I am investing my life in __________ in order to __________.” These leaders speak in terms of contribution, of significance, of changing the world.

• The life mission of great leaders determines the content of their days, of their work, of their energies and talents.

• Great spiritual leaders understand that their mission is not something they invent. Rather, they realize that their life mission is something they discover. They believe God is the One who has determined their life assignment. He has gone to great efforts at sowing clues in the leader’s life to help foster this discovery process. Talent, passion, experiences, successes, personality traits, opportunities—all provide helpful hints in this discovery process. Great leaders discern a divine pattern for an intentional path to significance and fulfillment.

• Your best shot at making your greatest contribution in the world is for you to get better at what you are already good at.

• The greatest leaders are those liberated by purpose. They know why they are on the planet, and they are pursuing their life mission with determined enthusiasm. They have gained permission not just to lead; they also possess the freedom to live, really live. Knowing their mission and ordering their life and ministry around it grants these leaders certain key permissions.

• Great spiritual leaders bless people. Depending on their sphere of influence, the blessing may extend to those in their organization, their spiritual tribe, a region, an entire nation, the whole human race—whoever populates their leadership constellation. Great spiritual leaders are not just given to great issues; they are given to people. In the end, this capacity to bless is the deciding category that elevates them to greatness in spiritual leadership. The spiritual enterprise is about enhancing peoples’ lives.

So let me ask you once more: Do you aspire to be a great spiritual leader?

The job market is wide open.

And the world is waiting.