Week 6 :-: Lift others up!

 “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant” 

- Jesus, Mt 23:11. 

“Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

― Martin Luther King Jr.

The Servant Leader's principal goal, is to add value to others. In doing so, he/she lifts them up making them better. Multiple times as we read through the Bible, we see Jesus reminding his disciples of His mission.

“ Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” ( Matthew 20:28). 

 
Jesus' service added a plus in the life of all those that he served and is serving. Does your leadership add value in the life of those in your sphere of influence? Servant Leaders are deliberate about seeking to ensure that the people they serve are in a much better place than when the first met them! A good leader is one who therefore has an intentional plan for lifting up the people that he/she serves. Out of ordinary fishermen, tax collectors etc, Jesus built a group of true fishers of men. Men of integrity, boldness and unparalleled wisdom. Peter and John, previously known as ordinary men, marveled the “schooled” religious leaders with their boldness and wisdom.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

Jesus made the difference. He added value in the life of these “ordinary” and “uneducated” men! Do you make a difference in the life of those in your sphere of influence? Are you intentionally helping people tp become better, rather than bitter?

Do you focus on adding value to others in a bid to lift them up and make them shine? Do you as a husband do this for your wife? Do you as a wife do this for your husband? Do you as a father/mother do this for your children? Do you as a child do this for your parents? Have you made this your primary responsibility? Most leaders seem to prefer to be served rather than serving their followers! When you think about the word leader, what image comes to your mind? Someone offering or receiving service?  Think about it, many leaders love titles, authority, recognition and the perks that come with the position but will stay away from service as this is beyond them. How many leaders have you seen who show up to an occasion early and start setting up the place? Are you one of them?

Maxwell proposes 3 things leaders need to do in-order to become better at adding value in the life of those in their sphere of influence:

1. Add value to yourself. The truth is you cannot give what you do not have so start by adding value to yourself. Make yourself more valuable therefore by putting yourself in situations where you learn new things, develop your mind, skills, competence, etc. Go beyond your comfort zone , read a new book develop a new habit. Read more, sign up for bible school, go the extra mile! Challenge yourself to learn something new.

2. Truly value others. This includes knowing and relating to what they value. Do you value people? Do you greet people when you meet them or do you expect them to greet you first? Do you listen when people try to share their views or are you always thinking of ways of  “increasing the volume” of your ideas only? Do you know the needs, dreams, fears and desires and aspirations of your people? How can you show value to the people in your sphere of influence this week?

3.  Doing things that God values. Do you do those things that God values? The Bible makes it clear that God will judge us by how we treat those who may suffering in various ways:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, 
I was thirsty and you gave me drink, 
I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 
 I was naked and you clothed me, 
I was sick and you visited me, 
I was in prison and you came to me.
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Matthew 25: 35-40).

What lesson do we learn from this? God wants us to observe, identify needs and do something about those needs with the resources that He has graciously given to us.

A  4th way in which we can add value in others is by:

4. Leading them with love: Love is mostly about what you do and less what you say. Love pushes you to act on what you believe. We show love to the people we lead when we seek to empower them while helping them fulfill their visions as we lead them with humility and trust. Are you leading your family, group with love?

When we add value to others through our service to them, we lift them up! -4te

Week 6 Assignment 

1. Name 7 people that you lead/influence either directly or indirectly.
2. List 3 ways in which you can add value to yourself in the next three months. Set SMART goals for achieving these.
3. Look at the list of names you wrote in the first question. Do you know what each person on your list values (dreams, fears, desires, aspirations and needs)? Write that down then call each one of them and ask them to share their values with you. Compare their answers with what you initially wrote down. What did you discover?
4. Do you live in accordance with the things that God truly values (see point #3 in our reading for this week)? 
5. Evaluate your leadership on a scale of 1- 5 using the following modified Servant Leadership Indicators from Dennis' (2004), SLAI - Servant Leadership Assessment Instrument:

Choose the statement that applies to you the most.
a.  Do you lead with love?
Measurements
• My leader is genuinely interested in me as a person
• My leader creates a culture that fosters high standards of ethics
• My leader has shown his or her care for me by encouraging me
• My leader has shown compassion in his or her actions toward me
• My leader shows concern for me

b. Do you seek to empower your people?
Measurements
• My leader lets me make decisions with increasing responsibility
• My leader gives me the authority I need to do my job
• My leader turns over some control to me so that I may accept more
responsibility
• My leader empowers me with opportunities so that I develop skills
• My leader entrusts me to make decisions

c. Do you help your people accomplish their vision?
Measurements
• My leader know my vision and has sought my vision regarding the organization’s vision
• My leader and I have written a clear and concise vision statement for
our company
• My leader has asked me what I think the future direction of our
company should be
• My leader has shown that he or she wants to include employees’
vision into the firm’s goals and objectives
• My leader seeks my commitment concerning the shared vision of our
company

d. Do you lead with humility?
Measurements
• My leader does not overestimate his or her merits
• My leader is not interested in self-glorification
• My leader is humble enough to consult others in the organization
when he or she may not have all the answers
• My leader does not center attention on his or her own
accomplishments
• My leader’s demeanor is one of humility

e. Do you lead with Trust?
Measurements
• My leader trusts me to keep a secret
• My leader knows I am above corruption

Wash feet!

Write a brief summary of what you learned this week and explain why it is important for all leaders. Post on your blog and share the link in your group.

Please e-mail your answers to team21online@gmail.com and your mentor.