LESSON 1 " YOU MUST BE ABLE TO LEAD YOURSELF BEFORE YOU CAN LEAD OTHERS "
The first lesson I learned as a leader is that you must be able to lead yourself before you can lead others . Now , that looks different for everyone because we are all unique in our level of influence . Here is what I mean be level of influence . John Maxwell states , “ Leadership is influence , nothing more , nothing less .” Everyone is a leader whether they know it or not . Why ? We all have influence over someone around us , whether we are a father , uncle , mother , aunt , brother , sister , grandparent , or a co-worker . With that being said , we have to assume it ’ s a matter of time before we move into higher level of influence and when the time comes , are you going to be ready ? That begins with being able to lead yourself . John Maxwell states , “ To lead yourself , use your head , but to lead others , use your heart .”
Let us look at the first thing you must acknowledge if you want to be able to lead yourself . In order to begin to lead , a leader must know what their short comings are . You must have a high level of selfawareness . Often , leaders pretend that everything is great and have the mindset , “ Fake it until you make it .” That is the worse thing you can do . Let us examine David ’ s life for a minute . We find it referenced in the Old and New Testament that David was a man after God ’ s own heart ( 1 Samuel 13:14 , Acts 13:22 ).
5 P R I N C I P L E S E V E R Y L E A D E R S H O U L D K N O W 1