Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life – Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
Leadership has been a topic discussed since the beginning of time. We humans intuitively know that everything rises and falls on leadership. Yet we live in extraordinary times where the turn of the millennium brought the realization that we need a new kind of leader to help navigate us through a new world. We have never been here before, therefore it requires a different paradigm of leadership. The need for leaders that innovate, create, leaders that can adapt to changing environments. However, all these special gifts and skills needed are still informed and directed by what lies inside a leader. At the core of this issue must be the awareness that the business of leadership starts and ends at the heart level. The soul of a leaders determines the direction and the course of life no matter the context. Techniques, skills and natural talents are not enough to create a society that flourishes. Extraordinary leaders are those that transcend the work at hand and create change not only in the material world but leave behind people who are changed by their character and ethics for the better. They leave themselves in others. Here are 4 characteristics that define extraordinary leaders.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Extraordinary leaders are reflective leaders.
These leaders listen carefully to others to understand before trying to be understood. They refuse to past quick judgement or make hasty decision without considering the impact it will have on others. They don’t sacrifice great and deliberate decision on the altar of immediacy. Reflective leaders take responsibility for their decision and don’t spend their time blaming everybody else for their lack of progress or mistakes. They always plan time, days and even seasons of reflection. Their lives are not reactive but proactive.
Extraordinary leaders are present in the moment.
These leaders are always in the present now with you. They don’t have shifty eyes always thinking about themselves or something else while you talk. They make you feel like you are the most important person at that moment. They focus on you and make you feel listened to. They are so secure in who they are and are quite content in their personhood that criticism or flattery does not move them. They exude kindness and friendliness to everyone.
Extraordinary leaders are Authentic.
These leaders are very honest about themselves and their deficiencies. They are people of integrity; or wholeness. They celebrate their imperfections in the context of needing others. They understand that our deficiencies are simply an invitation to participate in our collective humanity to create a better world together. Authentic leaders are really happy in their skins and celebrate other’s gifts and success. They are mostly called real when you meet them. People feel comfortable and at peace in their presence.
Extraordinary leaders live from a higher calling.
These leaders live above just the mundane acts or doing. They are driven by a higher calling than just making money of having the biggest church or wanting to make a name for themselves. There is a sense of deep abiding rest in the midst of the work. They are not workaholics yet work hard. They know when to play and are at peace in the times of rest and play. These leaders live from a sense of calling not competing, usually their vision transcends time and space knowing they are here for a season and they play just a small part in the story of humanity. They prefer to leave a legacy not just make history.
As we move into a new era of great innovations like in the field of artificial intelligence; where knowledge-based workers are replacing with machines that can hold many times more knowledge than humans. The displacement of jobs is upon us as machines take over many of the high skilled knowledge base jobs. The need for extraordinary leaders will be in high demand, because machines are not reflective, are not present in the now, are definitely not authentic and have no sense of a higher calling. Their souls are animated by a power cord with a 220v plug. Not like human being who are created in the image of God and whose souls are animated by the spirit of God. This new world of great advances in every domain of society has created a demand for extraordinary leaders.
