“Humility has to be a value to learn and increase your influence.”
I recently had the opportunity to attend the Global Leadership Summit. Bill Hybels gave the opening talk. This was my first time hearing Bill and he had a lot of great information for gracious leaders.
Bill pointed out that humility enables us to learn from each other.
He went on to speak about great leadership being by definition relentlessly developmental. This would be both personally, but especially developing the next generation.
Hybels then turned to a look at John 10, comparing short-term (hireling leaders) versus long-term (owners).
John 10:11-13
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and qI lay down my life for the sheep.”
A short-term mindset doesn’t care about the sheep, will run from predators, and will not risk.
Owner type shepherds are ones who care, consider the long-term, and defend the sheep.
We want to find and develop leaders with a legacy mindset
Hybels showed this was not the norm by citing the average tenure for Fortune 500 CEO is 4.5 years.
“We cannot sustain long-term success on the shoulders of hirelings.”
“The natural drift is always towards safety and comfort, not the other way around.”
Of course a talk on this would not be complete without considering the price tag. Hybels encouraged making endurance strategies to be developed and employed, thereby keeping us in the game.
So what does a legacy mindset have to do with gracious leadership?
The content of this talk hit on 6 elements of our gracious leadership discussion.
1. Gracious leaders are humble.
2. Gracious leaders desire to learn from others.
3. We are relentlessly developmental of ourselves and others.
4. Seek out younger leaders to pass things on to rather than holding on to power.
5. Gracious leaders have a legacy mindset.
6. Long term minded, gracious leaders develop endurance strategies to keep ourselves in the game.
Let’s be owner / legacy minded leaders and seek out those type of leaders to multiply and develop into those who succeed us!