“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” - John Maxwell

Before we dig into the messages contained in these leadership qualification posts from 1 Timothy, there are a few things I need to share with you. You can read it... or watch the video!

First, I originally recorded these blogs a year or two ago, as a part of a complete series I called "Timothy, My Son." It was all based on a verse-by-verse study of Paul's first letter to his spiritual son, Timothy. Paul was the experienced, wiser mentor to this young pastor, giving advice on a lot of areas of leadership, and in particular pastoral leadership. But not exclusively. I see it as really good, practical guidance for any Christian who is any position of leadership, and who would benefit personally by having an attitude of servant leadership.

When it comes to servant leadership, there are a whole bunch of "C" words that I often focus on. In fact, I did a series a while back on "The Seven C's of a Healthy Church." I still use the principles of that series, which begins with Clarity, Confidence, and Consistency.

When I think of the qualities of a servant leader, there are two other "C" words that come to mind: Character and Culture. Strategy is essential, but as Peter Drucker said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast." And your culture is primarily made up by your character. It comes out of the priorities you set, the expectations you have, and the means of motivation you use, and those are all a reflection of your character.

So it's important to know what I mean by character.

Character is found in a few simple but complex words.

Trustworthiness.

Reliability.

Integrity.

Honesty.

Now, you need to know that I believe everyone of us is a leader. Whoever you are, and whatever you do, in some role or capacity, you are a leader. Do you own or manage a business? You're a leader. Are you on the board of a non-profit? You're a leader. Do you teach a Sunday School class, or coach a kids baseball team? You're a leader. Are you a Mom or a Dad? A big brother or sister? A grampa or a grandma? You are a leader.

As long as there are people who follow your direction, you are a leader.

As long as you influence others, you are a leader.

And everything rises and falls on leadership.

So this is not just for those who are formally in positions of leadership. Servant leadership is for everyone. So I've called this series of podcasts "The Character of a Servant Leadership."

"Soul Impact" is my coaching and leadership development business and ministry. Through it, I've been able to interact with hundreds of people around the world, and I continue to on my soulimpact.ca group page on Facebook.

More recently, I've shifted gears a little, toward Christ-followers, both men and women, who are frustrated with the progress of their organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, in their businesses, their churches, their ministries, or any other sphere.

There is a natural growth cycle that happens in the life of anything. It's true for human beings, plants, businesses, and churches.

It looks something like this:

Every endeavour begins with birth, as it is launched into existence. There is a growth phase, followed by maturity. Maturity is followed by decline, and then things come to an end. Pretty simple.

Here's where the greatest challenge comes in. It's when we're leading an organization - could be a business or a church - and it's beginning to decline.

And we don't know what to do about it.

Things can get pretty scary, as we begin to wonder if we have a future.

Disappointment can become discouragement, as the pain and sleepless nights take over. You have family and friends, employees, the bank and clients who are depending on you to succeed.

And you don't know what to do about it.

That's what Phil Routly Strategy Coach, and New Day, is all about. It's about coaching those who are losing ground, to climb once again.

I've often thought that what I do is a lot like a GPS.

You might be really clear on where you want to go, knowing your destination, but if you don't know exactly where you are, you can never get there.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in an underground parking garage, and I told my GPS where I wanted to go, and very quickly it came back with the statement, "Satellite access lost."

The GPS didn't know where it was, so it was totally useless.

The first thing I coach my clients to do is gain real clarity on exactly where they are, so that together, we can plot a course for where they want to be. And, to go even deeper, how they got there.

The nine video podcasts that follow are really useful in helping you to know just where you are. Specifically, they deal with Paul's instructions concerning the leaders in the church, often referred to as Elders, Pastors, Bishops or Overseers. But these principles apply for any Christ-follower in any leadership role.

So when I say "church" in the videos, expand your thinking, so it can mean "Family," "Business," "Organization," "Ministry" or "Enterprise."

You get the idea.

So what follows are the qualities of a servant leader.

If you are a leader - and you are - I hope you want to be the best leader you can possibly be.

And I'd love to hear from you, and help guide you through the most turbulent of seas.

In the menu at the top of the page, you can click you'll be able to learn more about me, and what Phil Routly Strategy Coach is all about. You'll also see a button that will take you to a page where you can schedule a zero cost virtual coffee chat with me, over Zoom. That's where we can learn together how I might be able to help you overcome the challenges that are giving you sleepless nights. I would love to start the conversation today!

So, enjoy! And I look forward to hearing from you.

God bless!