Everyday Leadership | Leading as Influence

Hi this is breeding welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life. Welcome back to words at lifetimes. Cheryl Guillen and I'm here with my cousin was for this series and am excited to be here how we are so glad you're here last week we launched a new series on leadership with Maj. John Murphy and Bethany Farrell in this episode John shares a principal that's at the heart of this series. Yeah so the principle that he he taps into in this episode is that we all have some kind of influence either. That means influencing those that are undressed, those who surround us, and even those who are above us. How do we impact those who lead us, is a really interesting concept because that that really denotes the fact that leadership is more than just management right it is that management is not being a boss, but it is having the influence even with those who perhaps are leading you that's that's a very interesting concept to think about and I can't wait to hear mom packet you're enjoying this series already. If you missed last week's episode. You can listen on your favorite podcast store or visit Salvation Army radio.org for kids at the Salvation Army meal isn't just a meal. It's fuel for imagination determination in dreams energy.

The role models changemakers to just be kids with your gift a full meal will heart full length feature possibilities give $25 a month to show local kids beyond hunger, Salvation Army, USA.org major Murphy quarterback to hack into of everyday leadership is certainly good excited to hear today's topic I see is called the shape yet leaving as influence, and in what kind of alluded to this. You did little bit before about positions and I think this is where we really kind of move away from that perhaps some people sinkings hopefully.

I believe there are a large group of people out there that are kind of waiting right when I get here when I get here aspiration. Yeah, I need to be at the Cavalier leader exactly then you know God is gonna put me in a place where I can really have an effect missed so many opportunities when we do that we really do you mean by that will be tell you story about my first job actually had it twice job. Yes, I hardly think I probably should've a couple times but I have the first job twice. We had a family friend when I was in high school named Cliff and that he and his family bought RV campground in Arkansas in the mountains of North Arkansas recruit recreational vehicle campground and I don't know how we talk them into it was me or my dad. I just remember he was at her house one weekend. I'm just talking to us because we are friends and he was going back to the campground and I ended up in in the vehicle going back with him.

He hired me some or all rights to the whole summer for the whole thing but actually now I had no experience in RVs for campgrounds were running the camp store anything like that, but as it turns out I didn't need any because you can imagine what I ended up doing was cleaning the bathroom's right those kind of things mowing the substantial amount of grass that that an RV campground cleaning the pool emptying trash cans. Nothing major, exactly, but he taught me through that those entire two summers and his confidence grew and eventually I feel secure. He felt secure enough in me to leave for the weekend with his wife and it was me and his daughter, and we ran that place for two days.

I believe it was two days in my mind.

He is an example of tremendous leader he really is and I'll tell you a little more later on but I'm sure you've heard many definitions of leadership heard a lot, and I've seen a lot of different types of leaders. Yeah, that some of your favorite definitions know if you want to say favorites I got. I have one favorite okay and will spring it a little later but okay let me just give you these three leadership is about the ability to drive results. Set the vision and share it create an environment of success and remove obstacles set under some of those ideas yeah yeah okay how about this one the most basic definition of leadership is you set the destination you come up with a strategy to get to that destination and do your best to align and supply the resources to make it happen and here's what I really like for various reasons. Leadership is getting people to willingly go someplace they wouldn't go themselves.

Leadership is getting people to willingly go someplace they wouldn't go themselves, pushing them farther than they might push themselves. In other words yeah I think so.

I can't. I can't read that without smiling a little bit, though, it just sounds a little kind of like sneaky right.

These are better definitions.

Not all there some very good things in here and they may be helpful to a lot of people and to us as well. However, I don't know about you when I hear these when I listen to them being red when I read them myself.

My thoughts turn to CEOs running multinational corporations or something that's kind of the direction I go right when I look at those I begin with. I want to or not to associate leadership with some sort of position right with now you're here. This is your job description right this is what you've been brought up to this place to do and I think that's not helpful. Honestly, if any of you heard of Alfred P. Sloan do not recognize that he was a household name, General Motors fame, one of the architects of what we now call General Motors combining all of those car companies into one piece written a great autobiography. I really enjoyed it. I'm I'm kind of car nut a little bit and so it was interesting on their in that respect, but I think you'd enjoy parts of it, but he said this. Are you ready ready rank. Let's say position okay on the interchange those two rank or position does not confer privilege.

It does not give power it imposes responsibility like that, especially that last part always posit can emphasize that it imposes responsibility. We spent a lot of time on that little short statement. What I'd like to remind myself and I like to have other people here is when we talk about positions in leadership. We always want to seem to go there right as we said before, what positions do are they make demands on us positions make demands on other people, they impose responsibilities being given a position or having a title or being a specific chair is not bad, it just doesn't guarantee influence.

I remember one of the first times I was given a leadership opportunity quote unquote yell at as a young adult, probably an older teenager and I remember just being so fond of the leader who had gone before me. And so excited that now this is my role and I remember feeling frustrated that I wasn't receiving the same respect or admiration because I'm in.

This will now why don't I get this and it took a while for me to finally realize just because I'm the leader doesn't mean I have that same influence that she had taken time to cultivate really growling and deserve, and how she treated the team and not what she expected from Bethany I heard through the grapevine that you know a bit more about salt you did just a little while ago. It's a very strange story, but for whatever reason. Recently my husband and I so we on a little farmhouse getting into homesteading just a little bit for kids is not like we have free time but we are just interested in these things and trying things the way they used to be done in one of those is for preservation and more specifically this week it's been in making sauerkraut's you take that humble cabbage and you add salt and you need the salt into this cabbage and you leave it sitting at with you know little bit of other stuff that's happening but the comes after a couple days he goes to this fermentation process and now you have a very healthy food that's it's a superfood and it's good for you and you should eat every day and it just comes from humble bland cabbage bit of salt that's a wonderful story.

I can tell you honestly, I'm not any sort of credit probably will need a very familiar. All of us with the Scripture verse for Matthew chapter 5 in Matthew chapter 5 right where Jesus is. You are the salt of the earth. I think you had a couple of those. There are multiple things that Saul does, but I think you had a couple of them very well. Early in Israel's history. Moses explained how they were to offer sacrifices to the Lord. This is from Leviticus 213 you shall seize all your grain offerings will salt you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering with all your offerings, you shall offer salt. Salt was a necessary component of all Israelites sacrifices and even represented God's relationship is covenant to them as well.

I think in all those ways when you think when you look at leadership and think about influence. We are salt right Peter, Luther writes the world is an altar humanity in the world are to become a single grade offering to God as we offer ourselves in obedient suffering self-sacrifice.

We become the seasoning on a cosmic sacrifice that makes it well pleasing to God so early on we had some close from leadership. Let me give you my favorite okay held to this moment Christian leadership is a servant oriented relational process whereby those who believe under God's leadership using their God-given capacity seek to influence others towards kingdom honoring goal since leadership is influence in a specific direction and when we take position of the equation were not concerned about where actually we are if we have a title or position. Then I see it as being free to utilize wherever we have been placed to impact others, for the kingdom. We can influence down right which is more the standard understanding of influenza exactly traditional view. Our children were influencing or leaving our children subordinates.

Those who come to us seeking guidance or assistance right we can do that.

We can also influence or lead across. I have peer pressure, yeah positive, positive peer influence there you go. In the last of which we don't think about or maybe were a little concerned or afraid of. I think were called to leader influence up as well were called to speak into our leaders were called to lead those who lead us were to provide guidance give our aid to those who responsible for our well-being for our productivity. We can even say there's a tremendous opportunity for us to lift up those who are actually in charge of us in that respect or action points for today. What can we do today like the one complicated so think of one individual in each group solicit three individuals think of one individual in each group. Somebody down somebody across somebody out down across and up.

How can you influence how can I influence the down across were, for example with just one way I could encourage, support, give guidance to my boss right. It's one way I could do that at work. Pick a coworker right pick somebody at school that you associate with a peer. What's one way that I can encourage, support, or give guidance to somebody needs one of those groups and do that today could be very simple and always with that idea of how my also building the kingdom in this exactly the Salvation Army's mission doing the most good. Helping people with serial and spiritual. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and would love to hear from call 1-800-229-9965 or visit Salvation Army radio.org connect tell us that we can help your prayer requests or your testimony with your permission would love to use your story on the show.

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