Welcome to the Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast. If you're a podcast subscriber, you can find the videos and notes in a few places like YouTube, craiggroeschelbooks.com, and here on Open, the home of free Life.Church resources.
In this podcast, I’ll continue to discuss five kinds of leaders and a sixth one that may surprise you. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here. Watch the video here or subscribe on iTunes for the audio podcast; below you'll find notes, helpful links, and a summary.
Let’s get back into our six types of leaders. Last time, we talked about three types of negative leaders: unpredictable, domineering, and secretive. Today, let’s look at three more types of leaders.
4. Passive leaders produce disengaged followers. If there’s a problem everyone can see, but the leader doesn’t fix it, eventually the problem is not the real issue—it’s the leader. If a leader doesn’t care, the team isn’t going to care.Acknowledging the problem is the first step to overcoming passivity. If you've been a passive leader, start by doing something. Doing nothing is worse than doing something.
5. Healthy leaders produce faithful followers. Instead of being unpredictable, a healthy leader has a clear vision. Instead of being domineering, a healthy leader listens and collaborates. Instead of being secretive, a healthy leader is transparent and trusting. Instead of being passive, a healthy leader is active. A healthy leader is engaged daily in the organization. If you work for a healthy leader, you’re going to want to follow, sacrifice, and give your best.
The next type of leader, however, is a step beyond healthy.
6. Empowering leaders don’t just produce followers—they produce other great leaders. Empowering leaders are going to do all the things a healthy leader does, and then do more. Empowering leaders are not focused on themselves. Instead, they empower people with the ability to say ‘yes’ to opportunities and vision. If people deep within the organization have the ability to say ‘yes,’ you have an empowering culture.
"Empowering leaders don’t just produce followers—they produce other great leaders."
How do you get to be an empowering leader?
First, lead yourself. Then lead others. Then, lead leaders. Don’t just tell them to do what you say, or even to do what you do—tell them to do the things you can’t do! Train them to create, innovate, and lead. That’s how to become an empowering leader.
If you'd like to ask a question or send feedback, email me at leadership@life.church.
What we've learned:
Analyze your tendencies and work on cutting out the negative attributes. Once you shed the layers of being unpredictable, domineering, secretive, or passive, you’ll be a much healthier leader who can empower others to do more together than you ever thought possible.
