Dealing Honourably with other Leaders

Relationships with other leaders should be  fraternal, honest, and professional.

It is unethical to destroy their reputation.

Unfortunately, many leaders are the worst gossips around when it comes to passing on word concerning fellow leaders.   Their gossip no doubt arises out of their own feeling of insecurity. 

Frequently, an insecure person tries to enhance their own reputation by tainting the reputations of others.  The insidious thing is that often the  gossip is clothed in spiritual terms. 

What we need today more than anything else are leaders who will be loyal to one another and who will defend one another.  Even when a leader makes a mistake, we should let them know that they we care for them, bleed for them, and are aware that every leader, not matter who we are, will find themselves best by overwhelming temptation at one time or another - there for the grace of God go I.

Members of your team should be treated with love

When I have taken over a new team there are two things that I concentrate on - love my team lavishly and preach the Word everyday.

Some people are easy to love.  Remember to pray for them.  For those who are not easy to love, you will be spending a lot of time praying for them expecting that God works the greatest miracles of all in the lives of the "unlovely" people.

Develop a one-to-one relationship with your team members - remember to meet wtih them at least once every three months to ensure both of you are successful.

In those meetings ask a lot of questions - key questions about themselves. As a result, you will find yourself  becoming genuinely interested in them.  They in turn will see that you are interested in them.

There are quite a few practical ways of demonstrating love - remember the five love languages so that you will not do a "team" love but more expressions at the time when you meet one on one - although team celebrations are awesome.

Here is a team that "loves" - welcome to the world of auctions--

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh1f4e_show-the-love-to-auction-committee-members-run-your_webcam

What does a leaders spouse look like?

Is this an odd question?

I can tell you that many individuals who had amazing leadership qualities and giftedness, were not called upon to step up into position of leadership because of their wives.

In my case, I had one incident where I was removed from leadership as a result of something my wife had said.

There is a legend of Mrs. Cranmer, wife of the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Henry the Eighth had succeeded in breaking the iron rule of Rome, and the Church of England, at last, was an entity in itself. the Archbishop set a brave precedent in marrying.  However, the populace was not yet ready such scandalous behaviour.  As a result, Mrs. Cranmer spent most of her married life in hiding.  It is said that when the Archbishop desired that his wife travel with him, she was forced to journey in a wooden box with ventilation holes in it.

Wish I had another story of a women in leadership and what she had to do when her husband travelled with her - but alas, I could not find one.

Here are some points that I think the supporting spouse, whether they themselves are leaders or not, should be aware of. ---

• be dignified
• do not gossip
• if the children are present, be the responsible parent at the event
• if hospitality is required, be the manager, promotional and operational to ensure success and if yourself influential, balance between obtaining favour for your spouse and ensuring that your better half is getting the due attention they acquire.
• remember our ultimate call is to - serve
• model what a Christian marriage looks like and what a Christian family looks like
• you are a team - have each others back
• understand each others gifts and use them whenever possible to ensure the success of each other
• you are no leader at all if you cannot lead your family and in particular, I am suggesting your children - make this a point of priority and do not grudge your time with them for each moment of personal, intimate time is a building block to a leader of the future.