Today is Day 5 in our 7 Day Series on Personality Traits of a Great Leader. At the end of the article is new Blog information just in case you are in a hurry and read the article yesterday. For those that missed yesterday thanks for joining me this morning.
Let me begin by saying I do not know Jim Rohn personally but he has had a huge impact on my life. I have learned a great deal from him and Michael Hyatt who he mentored. I wanted to post this article he wrote and teach further on each trait he mentions in this article. Please continue to research his materials and glean from his rich wisdom and vast knowledge.
7 Personality Traits of a Great Leader by Jim Rohn
The qualities of skillful leadership
If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. Jim Rohn calls leadership the great challenge of life.
What’s important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here’s how:
1. Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It's not even a good substitute.
2. Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.
3. Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, and discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have got to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You've got to seize the moment.
4. Learn to be humble but not timid. You can't get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It's an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word—a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we're part of the stars.
5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to build your ambitions. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It's intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much to take.
6. Learn to develop humor without folly. In leadership, we learn that it's OK to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish.
7. Learn to deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony of delusion. Just accept life as it is—the whole drama of life. It's fascinating.
Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.
I pray you learned from this article and will stay with me for the remaining 2 days as we look at each one of these closer from a Bible prospective. It's hard to believe this is our fifth day learning together about leadership. Today we look at #5 Learn to Proud but not Arrogant.
“In his book, “The Applause of Heaven”, Max Lucado tells the sad story of a man he came to know through a friend. The man’s name was Anibal. Anibal was a tough man. Max Lucado said that his tattooed anchor on his forearm symbolized his personality—cast-iron. His broad chest stretched his shirt. The slightest movement of his arm bulged his biceps. This was no meek man. This was a man who was tough in every sense of the word. But he was also a man in a prison cell condemned for murder.
As Max spoke with Anibal, they began to talk about becoming a Christian. They talked about guilt, and forgiveness. Max wrote that, “The eyes of the murderer softened at the thought that the one who knows him best loves him most. His heart was touched as we discussed heaven, a hope that no executioner could take from him.”
But as the conversation moved toward the conversion, Anibal’s face began to harden. Anibal didn’t like the statement that the first step in coming to God is an admission of guilt. He was uneasy with words like “I’ve been wrong” and “forgive me.” Saying “I’m sorry” was out of character for him. He had never backed down before any man, and he wasn’t about to do it now—even if the man were God.
In one final effort to pierce his pride (Max writes), I asked him, “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” “Sure,” he grunted. For a moment I thought his stony heart was cracking. For a second, it appeared that burly Anibal would for the first time admit his failures. But I was wrong. The eyes that lifted to meet mine weren’t tear-filled; they were angry. They weren’t the eyes of a repentant prodigal; they were the eyes of an angry prisoner.
“All right,” he shrugged. “I’ll become one of your Christians. But don’t expect me to change the way I live.” The conditional answer left my mouth bitter. “You don’t draw up the rules,” I told him. “It’s not a contract that you negotiate before you sign. It’s a gift—an undeserved gift! But to receive it, you have to admit that you need it.”
“OK.” He ran his thick fingers through his hair and stood up. “But don’t expect to see me at church on Sundays.” As I watched Anibal pace back and forth in the tiny cell, I realized that his true prison was not made of bricks and mortar, but of pride. He was twice imprisoned. Once because of murder, and once because of stubbornness. Once by his country, and once by himself.” ~Bradford Robinson
The bible is clear. Pride goes before destruction. And although we may condemn more visible sins, Pride by far is the most deadly. Pride acts as the gateway to just about every other sin, and Pride acts as a barrier between you and God, and your will and God’s will.
That is why the bible speaks so harshly against the sin of pride. In the book of Proverbs God gives a list of things He hates, and the first one on the list is pride. Pride is included in the seven deadly sins, and over and over in the bible, we are warned that if we exalt ourselves, God will bring us down.
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Pride becomes sinful when it begins to cause a feeling of superiority over other people. Pride is sinful when it begins to inflate who you are and what you have done. We said it’s okay to put a bumper sticker on your car about your kid being an honor student, but if you put one up there saying my kids and honor student and your kid is dumb, that would be wrong! Sinful pride inflates oneself, and everyone else is deflated in the process. Pride is sinful when it causes you to not admit wrong doing, imperfections, and the role others have played in your life.
Today I challenge you to exalt others. Be an encourager of people.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)” Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Let me begin by saying I do not know Jim Rohn personally but he has had a huge impact on my life. I have learned a great deal from him and Michael Hyatt who he mentored. I wanted to post this article he wrote and teach further on each trait he mentions in this article. Please continue to research his materials and glean from his rich wisdom and vast knowledge.
7 Personality Traits of a Great Leader by Jim Rohn
The qualities of skillful leadership
If you want to be a leader who attracts quality people, the key is to become a person of quality yourself. Leadership is the ability to attract someone to the gifts, skills and opportunities you offer as an owner, as a manager, as a parent. Jim Rohn calls leadership the great challenge of life.
What’s important in leadership is refining your skills. All great leaders keep working on themselves until they become effective. Here’s how:
1. Learn to be strong but not impolite. It is an extra step you must take to become a powerful, capable leader with a wide range of reach. Some people mistake rudeness for strength. It's not even a good substitute.
2. Learn to be kind but not weak. We must not mistake weakness for kindness. Kindness isn't weak. Kindness is a certain type of strength. We must be kind enough to tell someone the truth. We must be kind enough and considerate enough to lay it on the line. We must be kind enough to tell it like it is and not deal in delusion.
3. Learn to be bold but not a bully. It takes boldness to win the day. To build your influence, you've got to walk in front of your group. You've got to be willing to take the first arrow, tackle the first problem, and discover the first sign of trouble. Like the farmer, if you want any rewards at harvest time, you have got to be bold and face the weeds and the rain and the bugs straight on. You've got to seize the moment.
4. Learn to be humble but not timid. You can't get to the high life by being timid. Some people mistake timidity for humility. But humility is a virtue; timidity is a disease. It's an affliction. It can be cured, but it is a problem. Humility is almost a God-like word—a sense of awe, a sense of wonder, an awareness of the human soul and spirit, an understanding that there is something unique about the human drama versus the rest of life. Humility is a grasp of the distance between us and the stars, yet having the feeling that we're part of the stars.
5. Learn to be proud but not arrogant. It takes pride to build your ambitions. It takes pride in your community. It takes pride in a cause, in accomplishment. But the key to becoming a good leader is to be proud without being arrogant. Do you know the worst kind of arrogance? Arrogance from ignorance. It's intolerable. If someone is smart and arrogant, we can tolerate that. But if someone is ignorant and arrogant, that's just too much to take.
6. Learn to develop humor without folly. In leadership, we learn that it's OK to be witty but not silly; fun but not foolish.
7. Learn to deal in realities. Deal in truth. Save yourself the agony of delusion. Just accept life as it is—the whole drama of life. It's fascinating.
Life is unique. Leadership is unique. The skills that work well for one leader may not work at all for another. However, the fundamental skills of leadership can be adopted to work well for just about everyone: at work, in the community and at home.
I pray you learned from this article and will stay with me for the remaining 2 days as we look at each one of these closer from a Bible prospective. It's hard to believe this is our fifth day learning together about leadership. Today we look at #5 Learn to Proud but not Arrogant.
“In his book, “The Applause of Heaven”, Max Lucado tells the sad story of a man he came to know through a friend. The man’s name was Anibal. Anibal was a tough man. Max Lucado said that his tattooed anchor on his forearm symbolized his personality—cast-iron. His broad chest stretched his shirt. The slightest movement of his arm bulged his biceps. This was no meek man. This was a man who was tough in every sense of the word. But he was also a man in a prison cell condemned for murder.
As Max spoke with Anibal, they began to talk about becoming a Christian. They talked about guilt, and forgiveness. Max wrote that, “The eyes of the murderer softened at the thought that the one who knows him best loves him most. His heart was touched as we discussed heaven, a hope that no executioner could take from him.”
But as the conversation moved toward the conversion, Anibal’s face began to harden. Anibal didn’t like the statement that the first step in coming to God is an admission of guilt. He was uneasy with words like “I’ve been wrong” and “forgive me.” Saying “I’m sorry” was out of character for him. He had never backed down before any man, and he wasn’t about to do it now—even if the man were God.
In one final effort to pierce his pride (Max writes), I asked him, “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” “Sure,” he grunted. For a moment I thought his stony heart was cracking. For a second, it appeared that burly Anibal would for the first time admit his failures. But I was wrong. The eyes that lifted to meet mine weren’t tear-filled; they were angry. They weren’t the eyes of a repentant prodigal; they were the eyes of an angry prisoner.
“All right,” he shrugged. “I’ll become one of your Christians. But don’t expect me to change the way I live.” The conditional answer left my mouth bitter. “You don’t draw up the rules,” I told him. “It’s not a contract that you negotiate before you sign. It’s a gift—an undeserved gift! But to receive it, you have to admit that you need it.”
“OK.” He ran his thick fingers through his hair and stood up. “But don’t expect to see me at church on Sundays.” As I watched Anibal pace back and forth in the tiny cell, I realized that his true prison was not made of bricks and mortar, but of pride. He was twice imprisoned. Once because of murder, and once because of stubbornness. Once by his country, and once by himself.” ~Bradford Robinson
The bible is clear. Pride goes before destruction. And although we may condemn more visible sins, Pride by far is the most deadly. Pride acts as the gateway to just about every other sin, and Pride acts as a barrier between you and God, and your will and God’s will.
That is why the bible speaks so harshly against the sin of pride. In the book of Proverbs God gives a list of things He hates, and the first one on the list is pride. Pride is included in the seven deadly sins, and over and over in the bible, we are warned that if we exalt ourselves, God will bring us down.
Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Pride becomes sinful when it begins to cause a feeling of superiority over other people. Pride is sinful when it begins to inflate who you are and what you have done. We said it’s okay to put a bumper sticker on your car about your kid being an honor student, but if you put one up there saying my kids and honor student and your kid is dumb, that would be wrong! Sinful pride inflates oneself, and everyone else is deflated in the process. Pride is sinful when it causes you to not admit wrong doing, imperfections, and the role others have played in your life.
Today I challenge you to exalt others. Be an encourager of people.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV)” Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
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