One of the characteristics I believe a leader must possess if he/she wants to accomplish more than they ever imagined is humble confidence.
I know that is a unique phrase…almost sounds like an oxymoron…so let me try to explain it.
“HUMBLE”
OK, so, you CAN’T say you are humble. AND…when people say you are not you cannot argue with them (well, you can…but you will lose. I dealt with that in this blog post several months back.)
Reality is this…God KNOWS our hearts. We cannot hide or disguise our motives from Him. The humility argument will never be settled in front of the masses but rather on our knees in front of a holy and awesome God.
A humble leader is one who is amazed that God has chosen them for the task. He often remembers when he was when God found him…and is completely overwhelmed by His grace. The things that matter to God matter to him…and he daily seeks to abandon his agenda so that God’s can consume him.
A humble leader is a hungry leader—always seeking to learn, grow and be stretched. They acknowledge they do not have all of the answers and never allow themselves to reduce God down to a system or formula.
Humble leaders don’t view themselves as better than others (Philippians 2:3-4) when their church experiences success.
A humble leader will be careful about what they say about other people…understanding that how they speak about others truly reveals the motives of their hearts.
AND…humility is developed over time. I know the Lord has invested a lot of time humbling me…it isn’t fun…but it has definitely shaped my leadership.
“CONFIDENCE”
Some people have a problem when a leader displays confidence on any level. (It is so unfortunate that many people’s definition of “humility” is when the other person is willing to do everything I say…and if they resist me in any way then I can call them prideful!)
One of the things the Lord has taught me is that leadership on the most effective level is when I listen to God and then do what He says.
A leader must be confident that he has heard from the Lord. He must have a fire inside of him that consumes him…one that he is willing to talk about with anyone who will listen…and one he should be willing to lay down his life for.
He must understand that if the vision is from the Lord it will be attacked…people will not like it…it will get personal…BUT, even when all of these things happen he simply will not back down from what he knows the Lord has spoken into him.
Confidence is casting a strong vision and asking others to join you…
Humility is being willing to let those who hate you say whatever they want…and not coming down off the wall to try to defend what you are doing because you are confident the Lord has spoken to you.
A balance must be fought for and maintained…it IS a struggle…but it will produce impactful, Kingdom building leadership!