"How can you have charisma? Be more concerned about making others feel good
about themselves than you are making them feel good about you" - Dan Reiland
(Vice President of Leadership Development, INJOY)"In humility count others more significant than yourselves." - Philippians 2:3
Focusing on others is a very difficult thing indeed. Nonetheless, this is a necessary attribute of an effective Christian leader. Whoever it is that is under our leadership must know that we have their best interests in mind; in fact, they must feel that we consider them more significant than ourselves.
This week focus on serving those who work for you. Be intentional about making them feel significant.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Leadership Corner: Charisma and Serving Others
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“A RULER ought to excel his subjects not only in point of being actually better than they, but that he ought also to cast a sort of spell upon them,” wrote Xenophon, a famous Greek general.
Today, many would call such a “spell” charisma.
Not all human rulers have charisma, of course. But those who have it use their ability to inspire devotion and to manipulate the masses for their own ends. Perhaps the most notorious example was Adolf Hitler. “[In 1933] to the majority of Germans Hitler had—or would shortly assume—the aura of a truly charismatic leader,” writes William L. Shirer in his book The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. “They were to follow him blindly, as if he possessed a divine judgment, for the next twelve tempestuous years.”
Religious history is also full of charismatic leaders who inspired people to be devoted to them but who brought disaster upon their followers. “Be careful that no one misleads you,” warned Jesus, “for many men will come in my name saying ‘I am the Christ’, and they will mislead many.” (Matthew 24:4, 5, Phillips) Charismatic false Christs did not appear only in the first century. During the 1970’s, Jim Jones was described as “a charismatic churchman” with “a strange power over people,” and in 1978 he instigated one of the greatest mass suicides of history.
Evidently, charisma can be a dangerous gift. The Bible, however, talks about a different type of gift, or gifts, from God, available to all for the benefit of all. The Greek word for this gift is kha′ri·sma, and it appears 17 times in the Bible. One Greek scholar defines it as ‘a free and undeserved gift, something given to a man unearned and unmerited, something which comes from God’s grace and which could never have been achieved or possessed by a man’s own effort.’
So from the Scriptural standpoint, kha′ri·sma is a gift received, thanks to God’s undeserved kindness. It is clear that every Christian has a measure of charisma. We have been granted the priceless hope of everlasting life. We also have spiritual gifts that we can share with one another. And we can strive to inspire or motivate others toward right ends. Some have additional gifts in the form of service privileges. All these gifts are proof of God’s undeserved kindness. And since any gift that we might have is something we have received from God, we certainly have no reason to boast.
Some say the Gospels portray Jesus as a man who had such charisma that people stayed for three days just to listen to his absorbing words.—Matthew 15:32. But, Jesus’ perfection did not make him hypercritical or arrogant and overbearing toward the imperfect, sin-laden people among whom he lived and preached. (Matthew 9:10-13; 21:31, 32; Luke 7:36-48; 15:1-32; 18:9-14) Jesus was never demanding. He did not add to people’s burdens.
As Christians, we do well to ask ourselves, ‘Will I use any degree of charisma that I might have to bring glory to God, the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect present”? (James 1:17) Will I imitate Jesus and minister to others according to my abilities and circumstances?’
This is such a worthy topic, thank you both for feeding us. We're all called into leadership, some in family, some in business, others in role or duty, and all in leading ourselves. We all need to ask ourselves the question "where are you leading yourself"? Strap on Jesus, get right and follow his lead by putting others before yourself. This is a 2012 thing "to be" for me.
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