4 BOCNEWS.com JUNE 2018 A Call for Leadership Acommon theme of this season is “Everything rises and falls on Leadership”. I wonder sometimes how many really understand the real- ness of that statement. Whether it is a dysfunctional family, a struggling organization, a less than efficient cor- poration, or merely an unsuccess- ful project, the outcome can be laid squarely on the shoulders of lead- ership. Understanding leadership is not only an admirable feat, but it is essential to get the fullness that God intends to provide the world through our pur- pose and destiny. One question that comes to mind is; Is leadership a gift or is it learned? Another simi- lar question is; Are lead- ers born leaders or is it their situational upbringing that forces them into the leadership arena? Well, certainly leadership is many times gifted but, even your gift has to be cultivated. Leadership, like any other God given gift reminds me of a story I share often. There was a man who was gifted many acres of fertile land in anoth- er state. The man loved the land and boasted to everyone he met of how favored and blessed he was to have been gifted such great and fertile land. As the years past his boasting decreased as the newness wore off and the admiration from his friends and colleagues diminished. But the worst thing that happened was that the man never cultivated the land. He never built anything on the land. He never even checked on the land and even though he received many offers to buy the land that he refused. Eventually the land was overgrown with weeds and people began to use it as a dump- ing ground for their unwanted debris. The years passed and after 20 years the man decided to retire and move there and build a house on the land. When he arrived, the unattended acres seemed so much smaller, much like the great big house we lived in as a child and return to as an adult to rem- inisce. No one had built anything of substance around the land because it had become the eye sore of the county. The acres were isolated and stores and businesses were far away. The man sadly placed a sign on the corner of the acreage saying “FOR SALE – BEST OFFER”. The gift of leadership can’t be taken for granted. I’ve spent the better part of the last decade studying Leadership. I’ve invested in my learning and under- standing the importance of leader- ship. 2 years ago, God blessed me to attend and study at the John Maxwell University and become a certified John Maxwell leadership trainer, Coach and speaker. I not only developed the lead- ership skills in me, but also I learned how to cultivate the leadership gift in others. I embrace the idea, I want leave this life with Memories rather than Dreams. Leaders must ensure they don’t allow the cravings of people to change them from leaders into performers. What happens is we still are leaders but we tend to lead people in circles. Pastors, if we are not careful will become a Cheerleader for a weekly pep rally, a Corporate Executive’s may become a profit driven insensitive manager, giving direction but never leading the way. God calls leaders to first of serve and only after mastering the ability to serve does he add additional assignments. As a Pastor I recognize a pastor cannot fulfill God’s purpose in a pastor until the word PASTOR changes in his heart from a PROPER NOUN to an ACTION VERB. Selah I thought, AWESOM”, when I read the book “5 Levels of Leadership”. But after I finished the curriculum on it, my life and my focus was forever changed. God has given me the oppor- tunity to share as a John Maxwell Certified Trainer/Coach now in Nevada, California, Texas, Oklahoma and I've had the opportunity to share it 3 occasions in South Africa. As Believers we realize Leadership is not merely a natural ele- ment of success but it is Spiritual. For instance, we have experienced a sig- nificant increase in violence. We place more emphasis on “GUN” violence but violence is violence. Violence mani- fests itself in different ways. When a Nation’s leaders release the spirit of violence by saying things like "I'll beat the crap out of you," "I'd like to punch him in the face", "Part of the problem ... is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore." it leads to an increase in violence. So it is that Leaders can lead in both a good direction or a bad direc- tion but, they are still leaders because Leadership is Influence. In teaching Leadership, I encourage leaders to leverage their success using their strengths, not their weaknesses. Focus on what you have, not what you don’t have, on what you can do and not what you can’t. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King profoundly said, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep mov- ing forward.” This was derived from God’s Word in Isiah 40:31 Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with WINGS as eagles; they shall RUN, and not be weary; and they shall WALK, and not faint. KJV I agree with John Maxwell that Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. In my class “Everyone communicates but few Connect” I emphasis the importance of commu- nication and the ineffectiveness gen- erated by the inability to connect. Leaders often are articulate in their communication or are great orators, but sometimes that offers little more than entertainment if we can’t con- nect. One of the reasons for this is we forget the element of relationship. Without relationship there can be no fellowship and we can’t have relation- ship if we don’t know each other. As leaders, how much we know takes sec- ond place to how much we care. Thus, the quotes: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." — Theodore Roosevelt johnmaxwellgroup.com/thomasmayes Thomas Mayes & John Maxwell By Dr. Thomas Mayes SERMON