LEADING YOURSELF

BEFORE YOU CAN LEAD OTHERS YOU MUST LEAD YOURSELF

In a recent article in the Arizona Republic I was impressed by these leadership principles that will help us be healthier pastors.

Assess yourself: Ask five of your most trusted friends,colleagues or family members about your strengths and weaknesses. Take two of your strengths and find ways to make them great. Then take two areas that you're not as good at and develop actions to improve them.

Manage your priorities: Before you start each week, schedule your work, not just your meetings.

Build Accountability: Develop a list called, "What am I avoiding, what am I not being responsible for, what am I afraid to say and to whom? Always start by tackling the easiest items first.

Improve your emotional IQ: The next time you assess what caused a painful discussion, break it down into three areas to avoid blaming others. What do I own about this situation? What should they own? And what perception do they have of me that I need to manage?

Build Confidence: the next time someone praises you for the work you've done, fully accept it and say thank you.