Kingfisher Leadership
1st July 2020
Kingfisher Leadership news Intentional Leadership One of the major challenges of leadership continually ask God to fill you with the is to remain focussed and purposeful. We knowledge of his will through all wisdom and may start that way, but sooner or later, we understanding that the Spirit gives, so that find ourselves becoming immersed in (hina) you may live a life worthy of the Lord activities and spinning plates that are little and please him in every way: bearing fruit in to do with our primary reason for every good work, growing in the knowledge of becoming leaders and more to do with just God, being strengthened with all power ‘keeping the show on the road’ , or according to his glorious might so that (hina) perhaps keeping people happy. Truly you may have great endurance and patience, successful leaders avoid these red herrings and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has as much as possible and manage qualified you to share in the to stay focussed on their mission inheritance of his holy people in the and calling. In other words, they kingdom of light.” (Colossians Leadership: adopt an ‘intentional’ style of 1:9-12) Intentional leadership. Indeed, one Paul was very explicit about his definition of leadership is influence purpose: he was ‘exhorting, ‘Intentional influence that takes encouraging and imploring each that takes place in the context of a place in the one of them, as a father would relationship’. Understanding his own children, “…so that context of a (hina) you may walk in a manner how we remain intentional when there is constant pressure for us relationship worthy of the God who calls you into to step in and fill the latest gap his own kingdom and that has appeared is anything but glory.” (1Thessalonians 2:11-12) easy. However, St Paul was just such a leader and fortunately for us, his To be intentional means to know why you writings reveal how he stayed focussed are doing something. Paul’s repeated use and intentional throughout his ministry of the word hina shows just how life. He had a strong sense of purpose, intentional he remained: which is highlighted by his repeated use of “…so that you will walk in a manner worthy the Greek word, hina, in his writings. Hina of the Lord, to please him in all respects, translates to: ‘so that’, or ‘in order that’. bearing fruit in every good work and For example: increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We
1:10, NIV) 1
Kingfisher Leadership
“He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” (Colossians 1:28-29) Paul was very intentional about the influence he was exerting. He had an overriding purpose - a ‘so that’ vision for his leadership, which provided the context for every instruction, correction or assignment he gave his followers. Think this through: What is the ‘so that’ of your leadership? What is your ‘so that’ vision? If you were to write down the ‘so that’ of your leadership - what would it be? How much of your leadership activity actually goes to furthering your ‘so that’ goals? Write down a list of your most common and time-consuming activities as a leader. Next to each item on that list write the following: ‘So that…’ Then, write next to that the conclusion of that thought. I do (this)…so that… (this goal) will be achieved. Some ‘so thats’ will be easier than others, and some ‘so thats’ may well lead you to modifying or even stopping the associated activities. The two pre-requisites of intentional leadership: “There is no limit to what can be achieved by those who don’t mind who gets the credit” (Ronald Reagan)
1st July 2020
the credit. The legacy we leave needs to stand on its own rather than being a memorial to us.
Pre-requisite # 2: The prioritising of genuine relationships. Intentional leadership has at its heart an openness to scrutiny and a genuine desire to grow real community. “And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message” ( 1 Thess. 1:5, NLT) Think this through: How have you intentionally got close to and developed relationships with those you are leading? For each person, how would you describe the most effective way for them to be taught? The results of intentional leadership: The Ripple Effect: Paul impacted the Thessalonian church, who turned from idol worship to the true and living God. They then became imitators of Paul and his team. This was the ‘initial splash’ of his leadership. (1 Thes. 1:6) Not only did the Thessalonians become imitators, they also became examples for others…”to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1:7) - the beginning of the ‘ripple effect’
Pre-requisite # 1: Humility. Intentional leaders are generous in terms of sharing the spotlight.
The ripples continue: “And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere , even beyond Greece, for wherever we go, we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it …” (1:8)
“This letter is from Paul, Silas and Timothy.” (1 Thess. 1:1) To be intentional about leadership means that we have to let go of minding who gets
Think this through: Can you trace any ripples that have happened as a result of your own intentional leadership? 2