Spirit of Leadership

THE LEADERSHIP SPIRIT The Spirit of Leadership Demonstrates Internal Soundness and Security

When you rediscover the leadership spirit, you love and are comfortable with yourself because you become aware that your self-worth, self-esteem, and self-concept are the result of the fact that you were made in God’s image and possess his qualities and characteristics. Suddenly, you’re not trying to compensate for a sense of inadequacy or inferiority, and you’re not trying to use or abuse people to make yourself feel superior. The self-esteem derived from self-discovery sets you free from the assessments of others. When the estimation of your personal value and worth is found in your realiza tion that you are in the “god-class,” in the sense of your being created in God’s image and likeness (though not equal to him), then the result is a high self-esteem. This high self-esteem sets you free from the negative effects of other people’s opinions. That is the reason that you can serve them as a servant leader. Even if they mistreat you, it doesn’t affect your estimation of your value to them. This is why Jesus Christ could say on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” He knew how valuable he was to them—both in who he was and in what he was doing on their behalf. His self-esteem was intact, right to the end. Because a true leadership spirit is borne out of a strong sense of self-worth and self-esteem, leaders can be com passionate, patient, forgiving, and kind. They do not need to gain their self-assessment from the people whom they are serving. They understand that you cannot set people free until you are free from them. If you need the people

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