Would you follow you?

This is a tough question, but one worth considering. Leadership expert John Maxwell says that if we say we are a leader and no one is following then we are “just taking a walk”. So would you follow you? If you say yes then write down why. And then be courageous enough to ask those you lead why they are following you? If you want to really be courageous, ask them have they ever thought of not following you and why? Assuming they answered and with authenticity, they just gave you the greatest gift of your “leadership life”. You can’t change what you don’t know. Life-giving leaders want to know.

For life-giving leaders, giving their team the right to speak into their life is one of the safest leadership moves that can be done. We all have blind spots. Others can see them much better than we can hence the phrase “blind spot”. However creating a life-giving culture that allows a leader the benefit of this precious information, takes courage and self-control. Courage to hear from those you have given permission to identify and share with you what they believe are your blind spots and the self-control to take the information and act on it with authentic humility and a grateful heart.  “Blind spots” should be validated by more than one person to bring more objectivity to the issues.

Having people on your team who are courageous enough to do this for you takes a lot of relational equity. For them this is “risky business” and they must trust you as a leader. I was recently watching a “Behind the Scenes” episode of the Oprah Winfrey show. It showed Oprah going head to head with her executive producer, Sheri Salata. However, Oprah says her show never would work without a "fearless leader." "I'm at the head and right underneath me is the executive producer of this show, Sheri Salata, who is in the control room,” says Oprah. Sheri and Oprah have work together many years building that type of life-giving trust. But it is the best success insurance a life-giving leader could ever buy.

So be courageous, give it a try and remember...

Be Life Giving!

Alex Anderson

“Let ‘em bring it”

Life-giving people have endurance. They have a rich and valuable life because they are willing to experience life loving others. When we do this it can get messy. It can get painful. People can be messy. People can be painful.

Life-giving people are in life to experience it to the fullest. They are not trying to escape it. They are in it for the long haul. They understand that the purpose for other people is to enhance the quality of life. Relationships do this. People enhance the pleasure and the pain. People enhance the joy and the sadness. This is what people do. It’s their job. It’s their gift to us.

Life-giving people are ok with people doing what they do. They are not afraid of messy or the potential for pain. They are life giving. They become the thermostat not the thermometer. Life-giving people give people a long chance. (1 Corinthians 13:4) Life-giving people endure. They don’t loose sight of why they have people. And they don’t quit no matter what people bring, so “Let ‘em bring it” and…

Be Life Giving

Alex Anderson

How a Life Giving Leader Says, “I value you”

As a life-giving leader you are a busy person. You are very dedicated to “the cause within you”. Sometimes the voice of  “the cause” can be so loud that it is hard for you to hear the voice of those God has sent to help you fulfill “the cause”.  Life-giving leaders listen to those they lead.

Your followers are less focused on whether or not you do what they say, but they want to be sure you hear them. They understand that “decision making” is a part of your job. They get that. But they also want to be heard. They want to connect with you. They decided to follow you. They want you to hear them because you are their leader. They have given a part of themselves to you. They made the decision to follow you.   Listen to them. Value what you hear and then make the decision even if it contradicts them.

 

The Psalmist followed God. And God listened to what he said.  “I love the Lord because he hears my voice…because he bends down to listen.”  (Ps. 116:1,2).

Listening says, “I love and value you.”

Be Life Giving!

Alex Anderson

“Seeing the Obvious”

As my son and I rode home together last night after his band's public debut and celebrating after with family and friends, we both commented about how much we love our lives.  We realized that it was not just the accomplishing the goal of having the debut, but something much bigger. It was all of the pieces that together created the moment.

It was loading the van at home, driving to the gig; I got be a roadie and drive the “bus”. O Yeah! I check that one off my “bucket list”. It was the conversations on the way there. Listening to the members of the band encourage and compliment each other in life-giving ways. Saying things like, “he man I really love it when you do that part of the song that way.” “Hey you should do it that way tonight.”…. “I don’t know man I don’t think that piece it ready yet.” “Hey dude, you should totally do it. It would be so awesome.” They had a great time being totally transparent and real with each other.

Meeting the venue owner a very cool guy with a great life story was cool as well unloading and setting up the stage. There were a total of 7 bands playing. Each band when they finished supported the other bands. The bands shared some of each other’s equipment. Friends from other bands showed up to give their support. The whole event was very life giving.

After the show and everything was loaded into the “bus” we all met family and members of the band at a local restaurant for great food and celebration. Laughter and smiles were passed around like an endless buffet of joy. What a great time we had. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see my son and his friends debut their own songs and share their hearts to the world. I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

I believe life-giving people can see the “obvious”. Their life-giving filter sorts out the “grind” to see the real joy of the moment. Maybe “success” isn’t a goal or a place to arrive at one day; maybe it’s a choice to celebrate the joy of the moment.

What is “obviously” life giving for you today? When you see it, celebrate it because it may be a once in a lifetime moment.

And remember to…

Be Life Giving!

Alex Anderson

A Life Giving Leader Revisited

 

To all my life-giving friends who chose to become leaders, I admire you!

Having been a life-giving leader you have the heart and understanding of a leader, so I will not reiterate the obvious. I will however reconnect us as to why we became life-giving leaders. We want to see people become fully devoted followers of Christ and that does not happen at an event, small group or team meeting in and of itself. These are venues to connect with people. People become fully devoted followers of Christ because they catch it from someone. We are “the someone”.

We became life-giving leaders to help people navigate their life. To help them understand truly who they are as a spirit and what they can do as a Christ follower in and through the Kingdom of God. We want for them what we want for our children, for them to be the best at whatever God has asked them to do. To dare to take God led risk and see them become someone different in their soul; someone passionate and more purposeful and yet more loving, kind and caring.  Someone in soul more like they are as spirit. Stronger and ever expanding to express the very nature of God that was place within their spirit so that they look and act more like the Lord Jesus while he walked the earth.

To see them reproduce themselves, these Christ life attributes in others and become life-giving leaders in their own right; pursuing their own God-giving destinies.  Making a way for the next generation of fully devoted Christ followers within their own spheres of influence.

This is why we became life-giving leaders!

And we are not done yet…so remember to…

Be Life Giving,

Alex Anderson

"Amplified"

I have a friend whose business is flourishing. His business is thriving because he made a decision to operate his life and not just his business under the lamppost of the light of Gods truth. He simply asked God to show him how to live his life on a daily basis.

One of the things he learned was to treat his wife as an equal in life. To some this may sound like a total disconnect with being a business success, but not so for life-giving Christ followers. For life-giving people, “How you do anything is how you do everything”. In other words all of our life’s parts are connected. 

Especially how we treat others.

Some how when we do not treat others with the same respect and care as we do ourselves, a disconnect happens with the life-giving nature that God has put inside all Christ followers and it hinders our success. Through Christ our spirits are connected to Holy Spirit who is the source of all life. He has one switch and that switch is turned on to “life-giving”. (John 10:10) When we are life giving to others it comes back to us in ways that are “amplified”.

It usually comes back hundreds of times larger than the size we give it and a hundred different ways that the way we gave it. And these are only the external effects. Inside of us it happens the same way.

We are always becoming something more “Amplified” than what we were.

So since we get to choose, lets choose to…

Be Life Giving.

Alex Anderson