Who is a leader - by Dr. Tom Morris

Dr John Maxwell’s Leadership Seminar in Nairobi, Kenya

Part I: Who is a Leader? - Rev. Dr. Tom Morris
(Meeting held at Nairobi Pentecostal Church, Valley Road, on 9^th March, 2004)

9^th March 2004 was a special day for all the leaders in Kenya. This is the day the renowned leadership guru and motivational speaker, Dr. John C. Maxwell, and his team from USA, which included Rev. Tom Morris of Christ Fellowship Church of South Florida, visited Kenya for a special talk with all kinds of leaders in the country. He had the previous day spoken with the Members of Parliament at the Grand Regency Hotel, and early that morning with the Bishops of various churches and ministries at the same venue.

On this particular day, all the church leaders, ministry leaders and others working in various departments of different sectors were in attendance.

Rev. Dr. Tom Morris of Christ Fellowship Church and a long time student of Dr. John Maxwell in leadership ushered in John by introducing the Biblical definition of a leader. He did this by defining every letter in the word ‘leader’.

‘L stands for ‘LED’

Morris said that every effective leader is led by God. A leader must follow the Word of God. Abraham stepped out in obedience to God. As we read the Bible we realize that all great leaders mentioned in the Bible were willing to follow God. This is because God’s Spirit shows us the Way by introducing us to Christ. It is by following the Way that we know the Way. Only then will people follow our footsteps as leaders. Leaders must be men and women of obedience and integrity and wholly submissive to God. Daniel was a man highly esteemed in heaven because of his obedience to God. As leaders, we must model the way to follow. Paul told his follower, ‘follow me as I follow Christ’. Leaders must set a good example by being servants of their followers. Jesus demonstrated this virtue of servitude when He washed His disciples’ feet just before he died. The number one objective of a leader is to determine the direction his ministry will follow. This objective should be in line with God’s will since those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:14).

‘E’ stands for ‘Encourager’

A true leader always lifts his followers up. Heb. 3:13 says; ‘But encourage one another daily, as long as it is today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.’ A leader is supposed to look for ways that add value to his followers. He sees the potential in their lives and treats them as though they were whole, even though they may only be living at a Ľ of their potential. An effective leader practices the golden rule of helping his followers realize their full potential. A leader must invest time or training in his/her followers. Teach them what to do to be effective leaders by being with them. Effective leaders do not do ministry alone. They always have people around them. As a leader, the people around you help you to reach your destiny. An effective leader encourages those around him in their weaknesses. In 1 Sam. 14: 7, Jonathan we see Jonathan encouraging the young armour-bearer. As Jonathan led the way, both of them were able to defeat the Philistines. Leaders need people who can belief in them and who can support them in difficult times.

‘A’ stands for ‘Attitude’

In his book, Attitude, Dr. Maxwell says that attitude in life determine someone’s destiny. Being a choice in life, attitude makes all the difference in our relationship with God. People who do not want to be around people have a bad attitude. As a leader, you should be sensitive to people’s reactions as this may be an indication of your attitude. The right attitude helps us to understand who we are. As the children of the Most High God, we are a royal priesthood, created for a purpose, which is to fulfil God’s will on earth. The reason why we were created was to:

to worship God.
have fellowship with God and one another.
become like Christ through discipleship.
be effective in the ministry.
to fulfil the Great Commission

We all should know where we are going. Rom. 8:28 says: ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose’. It is only by changing our attitude that we will have a new direction in life.

4. ‘D’ stands for ‘Developer’.

God has called every leader to equip people in the ministry in order to develop them. In 2 Tim.2:2, Paul instructs Timothy thus: ‘And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others’. ‘It takes a team’s work to have work done’, Rev. Morris said. To be an effective leader, you must spend your life developing others for God. A leader should help his followers to get to a point where they would not need him/her to get things done. At such a point, God will always have some other place or work for you to be or do.

5. ‘E’ stands for ‘Endurance’

You have to be a finisher. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:7 - 8, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day.’ It is also very important to consider those who have gone before us and learn from them. Heb.12:3-4 says: ‘Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’ In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ As a leader, be faithful to the end and always focus on the goal. In other words, be focused on eternity and fix your eyes on the unseen. 2 Cor. 4-17 says: ‘For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.’ We will be judged by not how we start but by how we finish. Finish strong!

6. ‘R’ stands for ‘Resilience’

Resilience means having the ability to bounce back. It is the ability to keep going up, irrespective of opposition, to reach a stronger and higher level. Abraham Lincoln once said that his concern was not that you have failed, but whether you have contained the failure. In Acts 2:14, Peter, despite the fact that he had failed many times, was the only one who stood up to address the crowd after they were mistaken for being drunk. He did not allow his failures to define him. When we realize our failures we are willing to go on. God is always there to lift us up and to bring us back on track. Morris implored the people to always look at failures as an opportunity to learn something. We are capable of bouncing back stronger, even in our failures. “You cannot keep a good man down”, he declared.

In conclusion, a good leader should have a leader’s head to understand, a heart to love and an enduring willingness to lift someone up.

Reported and compiled by
Jane Wanjiku Mwangi
Sword of the Spirit Ministries

PS: In Part II of this special report, Dr John Maxwell talks on Laws of Leadership.