Thursday, April 1, 2010

Two Most Important Leadership Responsibilities...

I really liked, and really related to, these thoughts on leadership Mike Foster shared recently:

If I had to pick my two most important leadership responsibilities, here's what they'd be...


1. Build Trust:
I do this with striving to live transparently and with character in both my personal and professional life. Bottom line is if people don’t trust you, they won’t let you lead them. Especially if you are leading to a place of challenge, risk, and the unknown. Our inspirational speeches, clever mission statements, and our stunning business card titles are nice, but they don’t trump trust.

2. Bear Pain:
Let me shoot straight. If your heart isn't burdened for others and you're not helping to carry that weight, then you are not a leader. If your world isn't uncomfortable and you aren't navigating pain on a daily basis, then you’re probably not a leader. I love what Craig Groeschel said to me many moons ago: “The size of your platform is directly proportional to the amount of pain you can endure.”

Your thoughts? Are there any other leadership responsibilities that you think are more critical?