Leadership Like Jesus

I have been reading a book about Leadership and Leading like Jesus by Charles C. Manz and 2 chapters in I want to talk about what I have been learning so far. We can all improve as leaders no matter how much we have it all figured and it's never too late to get better in all aspects. No one is perfect and as leaders we must know how to work diligently with others and understanding that it takes more than one person. The first chapter talks about cleaning up our mirror image. We first should make sure we're where we need to be before we start judging others. It is easy to criticize others when we think we have it all figured out as people but in a lot of moments that is not the case.

We all have our flaws and if you know you haven't worked on them you should be the last person calling out the flaws in others. We must figure out how to lead ourselves first before we even start thinking about others. In the words of Jesus, "First take out the log out of your own eye, which will lead you to see enough to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye". Another quote I have lived by for the most part is "We can't change the world unless we change ourselves" and there is truth in that. The second chapter is focused on humbleness and says, "The first shall be last and the last first". This is a verse we have heard a lot and talks about being a leader who is selfless and puts the needs of others before our own.

One thing I combat from that is you can't pour from an empty cup and as humans we always have to make sure our needs are met first before looking to the needs of others but that doesn't mean we can't do both. We must know when to put our ego aside for the betterment of everybody and that is hard to do at times. A good example the author uses in the book is a person being invited to a wedding banquet. The humble thing to do is sit at the lowest place and when the host sees you, they will come up and tell you the guest to move up higher. This is better than the opposite which is sitting at the highest point upon walking in and the host having a more distinguished person walk up and asking if you can move back. Different outcomes for the same set of situations. "Greatness comes more from avoiding it than seeking it" says the author and this is true. I'm only 2 chapters in and have a while to go but I'm excited to see what more I can learn from this book going forward.