Friday, February 01, 2008

The Fruit of Leadership

Galatians 5:22-23 : 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law

Aren't these two great verses to live by? In fact, can't we translate it another way to say "But the fruit of 'Leadership' is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."? Think about it a moment.......Don't leaders need to possess these traits, and then instil them into their followers? Shouldn't leaders bring love and joy to their work; and peace and goodness to their lives? Shouldn't leaders be patient, leading with kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control? I sure think so!! But, I'm only one opinion! I'd like your thoughts!

Where do you excel? What are your strengths? Where do you need some work? What are your weaknesses? For me, I think joy, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness are all strengths of mine. But, I can tell you I sure need to work on my patience and self control! What about you? What seeds do you need to sow? What fruit do you need to bear?


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6 comments:

Miss Slay said...

Hey - Jen from Leadership. I've been reading your posts for some time now. I like this one. I've finally gotten my blog shell set up. Now I need to start posting. Hopefully you'll see me around. Keep up the good writing! I enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

Eric - I'm in your boat. I need more patience and self control. I think my problem with patience is that I want things to happen here and now. The reality is things take time. I think I need to temper my thoughts by "sleeping on it." I've learned to do this with impulse purchases, but I think it applies to leadership as well.

Jen - Hello, Bob from Leadership. If you wouldn't mind sharing your url I would be interested in reading. I always appreciated your insight in class.

Take Care,

Bob

J. Erik Potter said...

I agree, up to a point, if you lead with these without fail, you could wind up being taken advantage of.

There needs to be a balance between patience/tolerance and accountability. What is acceptable behavior? How many missed deadlines are you willing to tolerate?

Eric Peterson said...

@Jen - It's great to hear from you. I'm exited to see how your blog takes shape! You always carried on great conversation in class.

@Bob - The old cliche "Patience is a virtue," is one I haven't taken to heart yet. I'm sure part of it is the fact that I'm right on the GenX / GenY line! I'm like you. I want it now.

I think leaders need to be able to make quick decisions, however, you are right in that sometimes it is just best to sleep on it!

@Erik - You make a good point here, Erik, in that you could wind up being taken advantage of, if you "only" lead by these traits. In fact, I've suffered from this. However, I think these may be the traits that a leader needs to follow and try to instill in others the majority of the time.

But, yes, balance here is a key. I think leaders can be "gentle" in their punishments; "kind" in their criticisms; "faithful" in their rewards; "self controlled" in their rants........etc.

Thanks for extending the conversation Erik

Eric Peterson said...

Bob - I failed to mention Jen's site. It is http://rootsandwings-jennifer.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

Eric, nice post. I agree with the fruits of the spirit needed to be a good leader. I would like to add to the discussion that the traits you mention lead to being a trustworthy leader. And with trust, my friend, you can lead people to achieve new heights in any type of organization! Keep up the good work and the very necessary conversation.