The 10 Best Decisions a Leader Can Make by Bill Farrel

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Leadership Is You

The Bible challenges us to “set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

Farrel’s High School Basketball Coach (Coach Pitts) started practice one year with the statement, “You are going to be the toughest, hardest working team in our league. You may end up liking me or hating me by the end of the season, but you will be the most determined basketball players around.”

Coach Pitts better prepared Farrel for the realities of life. When things haven’t worked out as expected, Farrel hears his voice, “You can give just a little more.” When exhausted by the responsibilities of life, Farrel hears Pitts’ voice, “You are strong. You can do this.” When the aches and pains of aging are tempting to give in, Pitts’ voice rings in Farrel’s ears, “Pain doesn’t stop those who want to do their best.”

Coach Howell was a high-school football coach in the mold of Paul “Bear” Bryant. He taught Farrel that that success is not just about talent. It’s about maintaining discipline in the midst of adversity. It’s about adjusting to challenges with a clear view of your goal and cultivating a mindset of believing you will succeed despite the forces trying to keep you from it.

As leaders, we want to be confident enough to say, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Leadership involves motivating, organizing, honing, and coordinating the efforts of a variety of people for a common purpose.

Highly effective leaders understand that today’s success is based on yesterday’s preparation.

When talented people operate alone, no organization is needed. When you combine talents to accomplish a bigger goal, organization becomes the vital link to success. Everyone involved will feel their approach is best, so someone must coordinate the strengths into a cohesive system.

Half the books in the Bible contain the word leader, and everyone in the church is called to “remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

Now, here are the 10 best decisions a leader can make, according to Bill Farrel:

#1: Decide to Be a Leader

You were born to be a leader. The scope of your influence may be large or small, but you are a leader.

When it comes to finding our places of influence, what we say no to is just as important as what we say yes to.

Leaders put ideas into action. Leaders see needs and set priorities to determine which are worthy of attention. Leaders set limits so they and their team can be as effective as possible. Leaders create environments in which other people can grow.

When our focus is on the fallibility of people, we can quickly get discouraged. When our focus is on the dignity of representing the Savior, however, it doesn’t seem to matter as much.

What people and pursuits are you passionate about? God created you to inspire others to fulfill their God-given design and to finish the course of their lives.

#2: Decide to Pursue Your Personal Vision

When God created you, he did so with a purpose in mind.

Developing a personal vision is a way of identifying your dream in terms that give guidance to your goals and decisions. You identify the dream in your soul, express it in words, and direct it with goals and activities.

A vision statement is a simple summary of this vision that inspires you.

In various ways and by various means, leaders discover a vision that guides them, drives them, helps them make decisions, and compels them to stay at it until the dream has been fulfilled. Discovering your personal vision statement is a process.

It’s normal for your vision statement to evolve over time.  It should be made to mature!

“Do I really need to write a vision statement?” The answer, of course, is no you don’t have to write a vision statement. But you will find more clarity in your decisions and more confidence in your influence if you go through the process of committing your vision statement to paper.

If you are interested in making your vision statement clearer, start by asking yourself the following:

• What Do You Love in Life? Proverbs 4:23 states, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
• Where Do You See God Working in Your Life? Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’S purpose that prevails.”
• What Are the Ideas You Cannot Get Away From?
• What Would You Ask for If You Could Have Anything?
• What Themes Repeat Themselves During Your Devotional Life? Psalm 37:4 states, “Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
• What Makes You Feel as Though Your Life Is Important?
• What Consistently Gets Interrupted in Your Plans? God placed a dream inside you because it is part of his plan and is designed to be the best way for you to live. When you cooperate with the plan, God leads with simplicity and encouragement. When our plans conflict with his, he faithfully interrupts them and frustrates their execution, because “the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion…Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’” (Isaiah 30:18 & 21).
• What Activities in Your Life Cause Real, Measurable Growth? “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
• What Behaviors Would You Be Willing to Defend No Matter Who Questioned You? “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:10)
• What Goals Come to Mind Repeatedly as You Read God’s Word? In James 1:22-25, he compares reading the Bible to looking in a mirror. Each time you “look” at God’s Word, you can see the way God made you and the desires he has planted in your heart.

Identifying Your Personal Vision

• Step 1: Answer probing questions.
• Step 2: Take a break. Once you have brainstormed through the questions, take a little time off to give your mind an opportunity to rest.
• Step 3: Look for recurring themes.
• Step 4: Use the recurring themes to write a vision statement.
• Step 5: Live with your statement for a while. Give it a few weeks to a few months.
• Step 6: Review your vision statement by asking the following questions:
  • Does this vision statement make sense to me?
  • Does it stir my heart?
  • Does it contain a big idea?
  • Does it cause my energy level to rise?
  • When I read it, do I realize I have found what makes me tick?
  • Is it simple enough to be easily remembered?

For more help with this, check out my post entitled “Strategic Planning for You”.

#3: Decide to Be Ready

On any given day, you will be asked questions, presented with problems, confronted with new opportunities to evaluate, and forced to adjust to new competition and new technologies. You don’t want to begin preparing for these contingencies after they happen. You want to live in a state of readiness so you can focus your efforts and resources on positive steps of progress.

Part of being an effective leader is implementing a habitual exercise program (check out my post entitled “Exercise Every Day”). There are a number of inherent benefits to being physically active:

• You will be stronger.
• You will feel better about yourself.
• You will lower your stress level. Exercise tends to sharpen your focus. As you are working out, you will focus on fewer topics, try to solve fewer problems, and give yourself a break from the endless responsibilities of your life. This intensity of focus gives your soul a break and raises your energy level.
• You will weigh less. We humans are famous for beginning exercise routines only to give up on them when they get boring or difficult. Can I state the obvious? It’s going to be difficult and it will be boring at times. We don’t live to exercise; we exercise to live.

Your best decisions, strongest impact, and wisest problem solving happen when you are operating in your unique ability. You don’t want to wait until the decision presents itself or the problem arises before you figure out how your unique ability works. That is the point of being ready.

#4: Decide to Be Real

As a leader, you are probably hard working, enthusiastic, and determined to make something happen in your world. At the same time, there is only so much you can do. In your ability to achieve, you are still limited. In your influence, you can move people only so far.

God has sovereign control over our lives, so any day could be the time when a breakthrough takes place, a setback forges new character, or your purpose finds new clarity.

One of the great concepts of Christian living is servanthood. Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11). Real servants embrace a selfless process of commitment by repeatedly asking two questions:

1. What are the greatest needs of those I lead?
2. What is the best thing in my power to do to help meet these needs?

Humility is such an important ingredient in the life of a leader (check out my summary of Pat Williams book on Humility or Andrew Kerr’s Humility: A Biblical Perspective). Humility says, “Of course I’m very good at some things because God is working in me. Similarly, others are very good at some things because God is also at work in them. I rejoice that God is at work!”

Leaders go backward in their influence when they stubbornly refuse to make changes when mud gets in their tires. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9) is a watchword for leaders.

Leadership fills our lives with difficult tasks, relentless problems, persistent criticism, and needy people. One of the most important traits of leaders, therefore, is a relentless will to keep going.

The world needs the real you—the hard-working, courageous, intense, inherently powerful, ever-adjusting, humbly honest, persistent you.

#5: Decide to Team Up

Leadership means you are part of a team. If you were acting alone, there would be no need to lead anyone else (see my previous post entitled, “Are You a Lone Ranger Leader?”).

Teams that function far beyond the sum of their parts will have an inspiring vision, mutual core values, and a clear operational plan. A vision that takes people beyond themselves tends to minimize self-focus, remove obstacles, and create cooperative alliances.

All teams also function best when they share common values.

In addition to agreed upon vision and value, teams are unified by a strategic operational plan that helps all the members know how to do their assignments.

The writer of Ecclesiastes understood the wisdom of teamwork nearly three millennia before: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

#6: Decide to Major in Motivation

Motivating others may be the most important activity a leader ever engages in. People who are energized, confident, and eager to get into action are much easier to lead than people who are confused, bored, or frustrated.

Four basic “whys” determine people’s energy for any given pursuit and produce commitment.

1. Accomplishers: Some of the people you lead are motivated by getting things done.
2. Assistants live by the question, “How can I help you accomplish what is important to you?” They are just as hard working as the Accomplishers, but they are more attached to your ideas than they are to their own.
3. Authenticators are some of the most valuable and most irritating people you will ever lead. These are analytical individuals who have a well-established value system, and they believe everything in life fits in their system. The apostle Thomas is a clear example of an Authenticator. He had a rigid value system that he used to evaluate everything. Once he had reached a conclusion, he was absolutely sure it was the truth.
4. Alliance Makers love to be on teams. “We” is way more important to this person than “I.” They love team goals, team decisions, team processes, and team accomplishments. Mary (Martha’s sister) is a good example of an Alliance Maker. She had an amazing ability to network with people and create a group experience, even when it came to grieving for her brother.

In addition to the motivations brought to the table by Accomplishers, Assistants, Authenticators, and Alliance Makers, people do what they do because of their level of experience.

1. Trainees: The person at this skill level is dependent upon a leader to make progress. The woman at the well in John 4 is a good example of how people who lack knowledge or experience are best handled with simple instructions. When it comes to spiritual truth, this woman is a trainee. Jesus does not enter into complex discussions. He asks very simple questions and gives clear, direct, concise instructions.
2. Performers: As people practice their skills, they become more proficient. As a leader, they need you to direct them.
3. Competitors: As skills continue to grow, confidence increases. As a leader, you want to turn into a coach at this point.
4. Trainers: As people continue to grow, they reach a point of proficiency where they are good at what they do and are able to self-direct their efforts. At this point, they are ready to work independently, write their own goals, and seek help as needed. The primary need at this level of experience is for consultants who can help the independent worker with the nuances of innovation. One of the most notable examples is found in Acts 2:14, where Peter preaches the very first sermon delivered by the newly born church. “Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.’”
5. Coaches: A few people will stay with you long enough and become skilled enough that they are better than you at some aspects of the vision you’re working toward. They grow to the point where they become true peers. They may become better managers, better at technology, better at coaching teams, or better problem solvers than you. John the Baptist is an example of how Jesus responds to a mature leader. John was a self-directed, capable, influential leader.

#7: Decide to Be Relational

The judgments we put on people are like boomerangs (pictured above) that are guaranteed to come back to us. If I want to be surrounded by responsible, compassionate, forward-thinking, innovative people, I need to give others real responsibility and express confidence that they can live up to the challenge.

At the end of the day, life is about relationships. For this reason, leadership effectiveness is either energized or hindered by the way you handle your relationships.

God never told the Israelites to get rid of their houses or the advantages in their lives. He simply reminded them to do first things first, which is the secret to contentment.

We become like the people we spend time with. It is worth working on your relational skills because, as people observe the condition of your relationships, they will determine the level of influence they will allow you to have in their lives. You are the best leadership asset you possess!

#8: Decide to Identify the Influencers

Key influencers are the people who really make things happen. They may have positions of influence or they may simply be attending, but they are the determiners of what will actually happen in situations where a decision must be made. If you are going to succeed as a leader, you need to identify who these people are and find a way to get them on board with what you want to accomplish.

Gain these people’s support and you will be quite effective in your leadership goals. They will endorse your ideas, recruit favor from others in the group, and commit time and other resources to help move projects forward. Fail to include these people in the decision-making process and you will run into roadblocks at every turn.

Here are a few techniques you can employ to identify in your mind the key influencers.

1. The Look:  The stare is when people in the group turn their heads, focus on the key influencer, and wait for input before they say or do anything else. Less obvious is the check-in. This happens when people turn their heads to look at the most influential person in the room, but quickly look away and resume their previous activities. Even less obvious is the glance.
2. The Advance: Key influencers have a remarkable ability to create momentum. When they endorse an idea or get involved with a project, things start to happen.
3. The Wait: Once people know who the key influencers are, they will wait to take action until they know they have this influential person’s approval.

Key influencers are not necessarily the loudest people in the room. Key influencers don’t necessarily hold the top positions. Key influencers are not necessarily the ones who talk with you most often. Influence is a God-given trait that can be humbly accepted and diligently developed but not manufactured. Identifying and accepting our places of influence is, therefore, a humble act of maturity.

Key influencers are not necessarily bold in personality or presentation. Go to them first. The key influencers in your situation need to know that you respect them and recognize their value. Ask them to evaluate your ideas. Your key influencers are the people who will convince others that your idea is a good one. Sincerely ask them to problem solve for you. Leaders are problem solvers.

Second Chronicles 10 presents a frustrating story of a king who refused to listen to his key influencer. King Rehoboam was the son of Solomon and the rightful heir to the throne. “Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the tribes of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:28). He understood the labor force, the history of how they had been treated, and the strategy that would gain their allegiance to Rehoboam.

Jeroboam proposed, “Lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke [your father] put on us, and we will serve you” (12:4). Rather than trust the influence of Jeroboam, Rehoboam decided to consult his advisors before responding.

The young men who had grown up with Rehoboam said, “Tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions’” (12:10-11). Something in the heart of Rehoboam led him to follow the younger men’s advice while discounting his key influencer. The result was a great divide in the nation so “there was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam” (2 Chronicles 12:15).  (John Maxwell uses Rehoboam’s story to describe the Law of Connection, as described in this post.)

#9: Decide to Rally to Risk

Risk is an inherent part of every leader’s life. The very reason people look to leaders is that life is a risky pursuit.

Leaders don’t help anyone by being foolhardy, but strategic risks taken at strategic times become the greatest moments in a leader’s life.

If a leader takes risks that are too small, the people around him will lose their inspiration. If the risk is too big, people will feel defeated. Followers ask, “What will this do for me now?” Leaders ask, “How will this impact our lives ten, twenty, or thirty years from now?”

Leaders learn to recognize seeds and develop the skills that enable them to plant, water, and nurture seeds until they produce a harvest that benefits everyone involved. Every individual and organization has a number of talents.

Leaders activate their strengths. They seize upon opportunities that take advantage of these strengths and avoid circumstances that rely on their weaknesses. The longer you lead, the stronger your instincts become.

Leaders take action when the stirring of their hearts remains consistent over a reasonable time period. It is part of living out Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”

Risk usually seems strange at the time, but it creates stories you tell for the rest of your life.

#10: Decide to Seek Supernatural Support

God created you to be a leader. He knows how you are wired, what you love, what frustrates you, and the vision he has placed in your soul.

The great need of leaders is voiced by James:

Practice the Presence each day this week:

1. Ask God, “Is there anything I need to confess to you today?”
2. Confess anything that comes to mind.
3. After you have confessed, ask God to fill (empower) you with his Spirit.
4. At the end of your day, write down the ways you noticed that God worked in your life.

God actively watches over your life and prompts you to make adjustments to your plans as necessary. In other words, he coaches us up. The Holy Spirit knows just what adjustments need to be made, and he will reveal them to you when the time is right.

Leadership is more than just getting things done. Leading people also includes motivating others, helping them believe in something worth a sacrifice, valuing relationships, working together to fulfill a dream, and sacrificing for the sake of the team.

Practice cooperating with the Spirit this week by processing a decision you are facing with these questions:

1. Are my plans based on what I know about God?
2. Is this something that God would reasonably be in favor of?
3. Would I be glad to meet God face-to-face while I’m doing what I’m about to do?
4. Can I enthusiastically ask God to make this happen?

One of the biggest challenges in figuring out how God wants to work in our lives is getting our eyes off ourselves. By nature, we are self-centered and self-absorbed. Leadership, however, is by nature other-centered—“whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,” Jesus said (Mark 10:43).

This is a great place to start in mimicking the way the Holy Spirit thinks.

Satan and his cohorts do not want your venture to thrive. He knows your leadership will create stronger people who discover God’s plan for their lives and raise strong families. If he can distort your impact on each other, he can distort the progress of the gospel as people become absorbed with interpersonal conflict rather than with the accomplishment of their goals.

You can practice two skills to help minimize the spiritual stress in your leadership environment. The first is to pray out loud. The other skill you can practice is to replace lies with truth. When conflict arises, you can ask, “Is there an obvious lie affecting our interaction?” This is the playground for demons. John 8:44 tells us that Satan is “the father of lies.” This is the weapon he uses against believers.

To help you be the best leader you can be, work through the steps below as you evaluate the influence of your family.

1. Step 1: What is healthy in my family that I want to incorporate into my life?
2. Step 2: What is unhealthy in my family that I want to replace with more productive behaviors?
3. Step 3: What productive behavior do I want to practice instead of the unhealthy behavior that gets triggered?
4. Step 4: Ask the Holy Spirit to give you power to accomplish steps 1 through 3.

Inside every believer a war is raging. It’s the battle between the “old self” and the “new self.” Go against your natural inclinations, and you will probably resist it because it makes you feel vulnerable. When you respond in this way, however, you give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to change the hearts and actions of those around you.

Try responding as the Spirit prompts you and see what happens. Colossians 3 refers to this process as “putting off” clothing and “putting on” clothing.

The most sustainable form of leadership is a reflection of who you are. Jesus announced, “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit…A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:44,45-46).

Pursue Your Dream

If leaders didn’t lead, the morals of our society would deteriorate at an even more rapid rate than they already are. People naturally tend toward decay, destruction, and disastrous behavior: “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Romans 7:22-23). Leaders must practice moral excellence.

If leaders didn’t lead, people would become distracted and aimless. The book of Judges is a vivid reminder of what happens when leaders don’t lead. When Joshua was guiding the nation, things were good. “The people served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the LORD had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7). After his death, “another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (2:10).

As you lead, keep in mind the words Moses spoke to Joshua from Deuteronomy 31:7-8 , “Be strong and courageous…”

As you courageously pursue your dream, may God do through you what is beyond you!