Leadership development doesn’t happen overnight, it’s developed over a lifetime. Let that sink in. It’s easy to be misled when you see the success of someone today, not knowing what they went through yesterday. That’s because leadership is a daily process, it’s not accomplished in a day.

Many of us are guilty of rushing the process. I know I am guilty of wanting tomorrow’s results today, without going through yesterday’s grind to get there. Are you guilty of rushing the leadership process?

Overnight Success

There are no shortcuts in leadership. You have to put in the work to reap the success. You have to be willing to invest in yourself if you desire to add value to others.

It takes time, to grow as a leader. Unfortunately, most people aren’t willing to go through the process but still want instant results.

It’s important to understand that overnight success doesn’t happen overnight. Overnight success is the result of intentional daily grind.

Overnight success is the result of intentional daily grind.
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Want to be a great leader? You have to be willing to sacrifice, commit and invest the time and effort it will take to develop as a leader.  If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice.

I want to share with you three concepts to help you embrace the process as you grow as a leader. As the saying goes, you have to pay the cost to be the boss. What you do on a consistent and disciplined basis will lead to your success.

If you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want becomes the sacrifice. -Unknown
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Slow Cook

The problem today is that too many leaders want to be microwaved and not slowed cooked. Leadership development is more like a crock pot than a microwave.

You have to be willing to marinate today so you can sizzle tomorrow. The longer you develop, the more prepared you will be to lead. A great leader is never done developing. You’re always looking for ways to get better.

Recently my wife purchased a Kitchen Aid Classic Mixer for my Anniversary present, to satisfy my new baking hobby. I’ve gotten pretty good at baking cakes but I didn’t start off that way. I had a tendency of taking the cake out before it was done baking (rushing).

If you have baked a cake before, you know that to test and see if it’s ready you stick a fork in it. It smelled ready, it even looked ready but it wasn’t. That’s because you can look like your ready on the outside but on the inside your not.

You don’t want to be taken out of the oven to early. When those you lead stick you with their forks, you want to make sure that what comes out of you adds value and doesn’t cause a mess.

Leadership development is more like a crock pot than a microwave.
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Law of Process

In his best-selling book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership“, John Maxwell in The Law of Process states, “Leadership develops daily, not in a day.” He observed that “Champions don’t become champions in the ring, they are merely recognized there.”

Your daily routine, daily preparations will reveal if you are rushing the leadership process. You can have all the talent and potential in the world but if you cheat the process in the dark, you will get exposed under the lights.

When your time comes, you have to be ready to lead. Continuously commit to investing in your learning. A leaders learning never ends, it’s an ongoing process. Strive to get better each day.

Leadership develops daily, not in a day. -John Maxwell
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Seed Time Harvest

I’m a systems guy and God has given us the seed time & harvest system that produces (Gen 8:22). A seed is designed to multiply, the harvest is always greater than the seed & there is no harvest without a seed.

I’m not just talking about corn, apples & watermelons. This applies to leadership as well. A farmer doesn’t sow a seed and reap his harvest the next day; it takes time then the harvest. As a leader, you sow seeds of sacrifices today so in time you can reap harvests of success tomorrow.

It takes a long period of time to lead well. You must be faithful in your daily interactions with those you lead and investing daily in yourself. Patience is a virtue, don’t rush the seeds you have sown.

Self-discipline and perseverance are qualities you will have to sow to resist the urge to rush the process. Your harvest is waiting on the other side of the time it will require for you to develop, prepare, train, and mature into the leader you are called to be.

A leader sows seeds of sacrifices today, to reap harvests of success tomorrow.
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Remember there are no shortcuts to leadership. A leader is in it for the long haul, not shortcuts. The longer you develop in the leadership crock pot the more prepared you will be to lead. Leadership develops daily, not in a day.

Trust the process, invest in yourself and sow seeds of sacrifice today to reap success tomorrow. Leadership doesn’t develop overnight. It’s developed throughout life. Enjoy the journey!

Do you struggle with rushing your leadership development? 

The post ARE YOU GUILTY OF RUSHING THE LEADERSHIP PROCESS? appeared first on Steve Messam.

How important is “influence” to you as a leader? Do you find yourself more focus on attaining a fancy title or reaching a certain position? Leadership isn’t based on position or fancy titles. Leadership is Influence.

I had the privilege over 15 years ago to attend a conference where I heard one of the world’s leading experts on leadership, John Maxwell, talk about his bestselling book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

The second law, which is the law of influence, had a profound impact on my life. In that law, he dispelled a common myth by saying that leadership isn’t based on position or impressive titles. He summed up the definition of leadership as, “Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less.”

Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less. -John Maxwell
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There’s a leadership proverb that states, “He who thinks he leads but has no followers is only taking a walk.” If you were to look behind you, who is following you? Your spouse, kids, coworkers, colleagues? Maybe it’s students, congregants, or even teammates? What causes people to follow each other?

Another world leading expert, Ken Blanchard, author of the bestselling book The One Minute Manager, stated this, “The key to successful leadership today is influence.” There’s no getting around it, if you want to be a leader, you have to have influence.

The challenge for you as a leader is to not focus on what it will take to attain a position but what will it take to attract followers. As a leader, influence is critical not only in leading and impacting others but also in leading yourself.

The key to successful leadership today is influence. -Ken Blanchard
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2 Ways to Influence Yourself and Influence Others

1. Check Your Habits.

The first key point is to check your habits. We are creatures of habit and habits influence us. Influence flows inside out and there is no influence like the influence of habits. What drives you? What are your interests, your passions?

Your passions and your interests actually cause you to develop habits and routines to get you closer to your goals. Your passions and your interests also are huge motivators, but motivation alone will not get you to the leadership mountaintop.

Motivation points and focuses you there, but habits get you there. Another way to look at it is motivation gets you started, but your habits keep you going. While you’re checking your habits make sure that you break the bad ones and create some new ones.

In order to understand a new idea, new concept, new solution, you have to break old habits. The Apostle Paul once said, “Don’t let evil overcome you, but overcome evil by doing good. (Romans 12:21)” Let’s actually substitute the word evil with whatever old or bad habit that’s standing in your way.

Don’t let doubt, don’t let fear, don’t let negativity get the best of you, but get the best of whatever it is that is standing in your way to success as a leader, by doing good, by doing what is right, by creating new habits.

We lead ourselves by using our heads, our habits, our experiences, but we impact others by using our hearts. Which leads us to our second and final key point, which is to check your actions.

Motivation gets you started but your habits keep you going.
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2. Check Your Actions.

When leading and impacting others it is important to remember that it’s a heart thing, not a smart thing. I’m sure you would agree that for the most part, people don’t care what you know, they just want to know that you care.

Ben Franklin had this to say, “If you would persuade or influence, you must appeal to interests or passions rather than intellect.” As a leader, care more about helping people than you do, trying to impress people.

Care more about Helping people than Impressing people.
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A leader should touch their heart before they ask for their hand. Just like you have your own interests and passions, so do others. It’s your job, it’s your duty to connect with others passions and interests.

Leading by example is a great way to check your actions. The most powerful moral influence is an example. You develop your credibility with people by actually connecting and showing genuine interest through your actions, by sharing freely, by giving generously.

Pastor Chris Hodges, the author of the book Fresh Air,  has a saying that is a great example of how to lead by example, “Find a need and fill it. Find a hurt and heal it.” That’s leading by example.

In conclusion, I want to challenge you instead of focusing on a position or an impressive title to focus on being an influencer, because influencers make things happen. But here’s a warning; influence is earned, not given.

You earn it by actually touching other’s hearts, not showing them that you’re smart. God will give influence to those who use it to bless others and to honor him. One more thing. Your habits influence you, your actions influence others. Now go and change your world!

Your Habits influence you. Your Actions influence them.
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Who has influenced you the most in your leadership journey? Please comment below.

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