Pillar No 5 of the 12 Pillars of Leadership – Self Control, Lose It And You Lose All Control

One of the most important pillars for solid leadership is self control. I am sure that you have heard the quote:

“Your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear what you are saying.”

(If you know who said this, please let me know).

The simple fact is that is in order to gain the respect and HEART co-operation of your team, you will need to live a life that has a huge measure of self-discipline and self-control.

There is so much that we could explore on this subject, but let’s keep it in a simple bit sized portion for today. There will very likely be more discussed about this very important area at a future date.

One huge benefit of learning to exercise self-control in your “private life”. Self control gives you authenticity as a leader. Integrity is a part of this also.

Pillar No 4 of the 12 Pillars of Leadership – Humility Strengthens Leadership

This may seem to be a paradox, but it is true that people will respect and follow a humble leadership long before they will respect a proud one.

Notice, I left out the word “follow” in the comparison above. Why?

Many folk may “follow” a proud leader out of necessity because the “leader” happens to be placed in charge of the group or activity they are a part of. BUT ..

Proud leaders will not have the loyalty and
respect (heart following) that humble leaders have.

Let’s consider some comparisons between a proud person and a humble person.

Pillar No 3 of the 12 Pillars of Leadership – Genuine Love For Your Team Members

Of all of the great foundations, corporations and organizations that have been built over the years by diverse leaders, only One Leader founded His empire on love. To this day millions of people would gladly die for their leader – Jesus Christ.

There is a very well known chapter in the Bible that outlines 14 foundational qualities of love, and concludes with these simple words - love never fails. This is found in 1 Corinthians 13, in the New Testament of the Bible.

One of the great dangers of leadership is the power that the leader finds in his or her hands. The balancing factor to this danger, is love.

Pillar No 2 of the 12 Pillars of Leadership – Clear, Defined Goals

Your vision will become your mission once you have broken it down into “bite sized” pieces that you and your team can put into action. These pieces are your goals.

You will have long term goals (which is the bigger picture) and short term goals (where you want to go this week, this month and this year).

The long term goals are for YOUR files, and the short term goals are what you can share with your team. Of course you can also share a summary of your vision with them also.

Without a vision the people will perish – Proverbs 39:18

We have been discussing the concept that true leadership begins with a vision.

One Great Way To Crystallize Your Vision
One great way to clarify and sharpen the vision in your heart and mind is to take some time alone to think, meditate and write down your thoughts. It does not matter if what you are writing down makes sense. You can go back and edit and organize your thoughts later.

The key is that writing out the vision will clarify your thoughts and allow you to put them in order and discover the vision that is in your heart. This will also keep your vision sharp.