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THE HEarT OF a GrEaT LEaDEr 3

table of contentsour hope for you ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Study Guide overview ......................................................................................................................................................6

about Lead Like Jesus ......................................................................................................................................................8

Letter from Phyllis hendry ...............................................................................................................................................9

Week 1 Self-Serving leaderS vS. Servant leaderS ..................................................................... 11

day 1 Integrity or Illusion? ............................................................................................................................................. 12

day 2 Two Pivotal Questions ......................................................................................................................................... 15

day 3 Service Bulletin: heart Transplant required ................................................................................................. 18

day 4 driven or Called? ................................................................................................................................................. 21

day 5 Preparing Your replacement ............................................................................................................................ 24

Week 2 hoW do We edge god out? ...................................................................................................27

day 1 Who Leads and Who follows? ........................................................................................................................... 28

day 2 edging God out as Whom I Worship................................................................................................................ 31

day 3 edging God out as My Source of Security and Self-Worth ........................................................................ 34

day 4 edging God out as My audience, My Ultimate authority and My Judge ................................................37

day 5 Practical results of edging God out ............................................................................................................... 41

Week 3 pride and fear edge god out ............................................................................................ 45

day 1 Pride drives Self-Promotion .............................................................................................................................. 46

day 2 Pride’s far-reaching Impact ............................................................................................................................. 49

day 3 Pride, The Seedbed of fear .............................................................................................................................. 53

day 4 fear, an anti-God State of Mind ...................................................................................................................... 56

day 5 fear - false evidence appearing real ............................................................................................................ 59

Week 4 altaring your ego to exalt god only ...........................................................................63

day 1 True humility ........................................................................................................................................................ 64

day 2 humility Leads to Confidence ...........................................................................................................................67

day 3 The Benefit of ego Transformation ................................................................................................................. 70

day 4 The Way of forgiveness ......................................................................................................................................73

day 5 The Way of Grace .................................................................................................................................................76

after WordS ............................................................................................................................................ 80

aBout the authorS .................................................................................................................................81

next StepS ..................................................................................................................................................83

The hearT of a GreaT Leader

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We WanT YoU To exPerIenCe JeSUS In a WhoLe dIfferenT WaY — To GroW To TrUST hIM aS The PerfeCT one To foLLoW aS YoU Seek To Lead oTherS. ThIS InvoLveS SUrrenderInG oUr LIveS and LeaderShIP To hIM.

The real secret to leading like Jesus is found in Proverbs 3:5–6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Jesus is clear about how He wants us to lead. He asks us to make a difference in our world by being effective servant leaders. It is our prayer and desire that this Lead Like Jesus HEART Study Guide will be the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in your personal journey to becoming just that. It is designed to guide you in exploring your personal response to Jesus’ call to follow Me and to put into action the principles of servant leadership.

Don’t worry if you do not have a formal leadership role. The principles are applicable to your relationship with your spouse, kids, friends, coworkers, colleagues, and casual acquaintances. This isn’t the intellectual pursuit of a complicated philosophy of leadership; it is a guide to a more practical application of the truths of Scripture. We want you to think differently, but we also want you to develop a lifestyle that is built upon and governed by your relationship with Jesus Christ — the ultimate leader!

our hope for you

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how this study Guide is desiGnedWe have designed this guide for daily study so that the principles you learn can be consistently put to work in your daily life. The focus is your heart – your motivations and intentions about leading. as you are challenged to look at your own leadership, resist the temptation to respond in ways that you wish things were but do not actually reflect your current, up-to-now motivations, attitudes, actions, and beliefs. The truth of the moment may not be pretty. But Jesus said “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32) and so it will, when you confront it with honesty and the knowledge that, in Jesus, we have received the ultimate expression of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness.

You will find the following icons throughout the text to guide your thinking:

memory verse for the week Hiding God’s Word in your heart is how you keep your way pure (Ps. 119). Take time each week to store this treasure in your heart and mind.

Quote of the today A wise word to get us started in the right direction.

what God’s word says We will seek first the kingdom by God by looking to His Word as our source of wisdom and direction. When God’s Word speaks specifically of how followers of Jesus are to walk a different path from the world around them in heart, mind, body, and spirit, we will seek not to ask why, but rather how.

pause and reflect This is an opportunity to consider the proposed concept and to record your reaction to it.

a prayer for today Following in the habit of Jesus, we will make prayer our first response instead of our last resort. As we invite the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, we will take time to read the prayer for the day and offer it up to God as our own.

today’s topic Segments adapted and expanded from Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time, a book by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges on which this study guide is based.

look inside Through the use of a variety of learning tools, questionnaires, and exercises, we will explore our up-to-now leadership motivations, thinking, behavior, and habits and how they compare with leading like Jesus.

study Guide overview

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Key concepts As we explore leading like Jesus, we will discover key principles, concepts, and nonnegotiable mandates that we are not able to accomplish on our own but are called to implement under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

a point to ponder A thought or idea to keep with us throughout the day.

next steps Leading like Jesus will be a lifetime journey to be traveled in His company step-by-step, moment-by-moment. At the end of each day’s lesson, you will be asked to prayerfully consider your Next Steps.

how can you reap the Greatest benefits from this study?

1. Pray for insight each day as you meet the Lord through this study. Let Him lead you to experience His direction in your life through every learning activity.

2. Experience the focus for each day as you study and apply it to your life. Write down those Aha! ideas that challenge your leadership behaviors and motives. Ask yourself how you can realign your leadership to better reflect Christ’s example.

3. Review your progress each week and recognize what God is doing in your life and in the lives of those you lead.

4. Keep a journal in which you will list the action steps and plans associated with your Aha! ideas. Additionally, write down specific ways in which you are putting into practice what you are learning.

5. As your group follows the instructions in the Facilitator’s Guide found at www.LeadLikeJesus.com/freeStuff, your knowledge of the principles and their application to everyday life will be multiplied. You cannot learn to lead like Jesus unless you interact with other people. If a small group study isn’t possible, invite one or two other people to go through the study with you.

We hope as you learn to trust Jesus as your leadership model, it will make you an active agent for restoring joy to work and family. So whether you’re leading in business, nonprofit organizations, your community, your church, or your home, you will make Jesus smile. It is the vision of the Lead Like Jesus ministry (LeadLikeJesus.com) that someday, everyone, everywhere will be impacted by someone leading like Jesus.

a point to ponder

Imagine this setting: You, Jesus, and the authors of this Study Guide are sitting together conversing about His kind of leadership. Just as the Master Teacher did with His disciples, you will be asked questions, given assignments, and told stories and examples that will help you connect your own experiences with leading like Jesus. So, as you interact with this study guide, invite the Holy Spirit to guide you to new insights and a new perspective on how to put what you learn into practice. Together we will learn to lead like Jesus!

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WEEK ONEself-servinG leaders vs. servant leaders

memory verse for the weeK

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.PSaLM 19:14

Few people admit to themselves or to others that they are self-serving leaders, yet we see self-serving leaders all the time. We read about them in the paper. We see them going to trial for corporate corruption. We meet them in church work and other volunteer organizations. We experience them in our own families, and some times we see them in the mirror.

The most persistent barrier to leading like Jesus is a heart motivated by self-interest. Its attitude is “give a little, take a lot.” Self-serving leaders operate out of pride and fear, and in turn they drive people by fear or greed, or sometimes encourage others to sacrifice for causes and principles in order to fulfill their own ambitions.

Since this condition is more often a blind spot than a conscious choice, we want to focus, during this first week, on seeing ourselves accurately. A good diagnosis must precede effective treatment.

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Quote for today

Integrity is not perfection; it is transparency in a heart performing for an audience of one. STeve d. Gardner

what God’s word says

I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. 1 ChronICLeS 29:17

pause and reflect

How do you believe God tests the heart? Do you suppose it’s a cursory surface check? See Genesis 22 for a chilling example of God testing Abraham. Would you have passed? Give at least one example of how God has tested your integrity in the past.

a prayer for today

Lord, thank You that I have been declared “Not guilty” because of my faith in Jesus, who bore my sin on the cross. Help me to grow in integrity, living in the loving freedom You have given me so that my lifestyle testifies to my position as Your child. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

today’s topic

Leaders naturally want to look good. After all, who wants to follow a sloppy leader whose life and business is in disarray? But the temptation is to focus our concern on what the public sees — external appearances rather than internal realities. The result is an illusion: a private life that doesn’t match our carefully constructed image; actions that don’t match our pronouncements.

SeLf-ServInG LeaderS vS. ServanT LeaderS

IntegrIty or IllusIon?

week 1

Day 1

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Jesus pulled no punches in bringing this to the attention of the established leaders of his day. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence (MaTTheW 23:25). We don’t know whether they ever claimed to be servant leaders, but we know that they took the laws God gave to protect us and twisted them to serve their own greedy purposes. Two thousand years later, apart from transformation by God’s Spirit, we do the same.

For this reason, Paul instructs us: In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity … For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (TITUS 2:7, 11-14).

looK inside

What integrity gaps do you struggle to fill? This is not about what you are tempted to do. Even Jesus was tempted. This is about the difference between the image you project and what you do when no one is watching.

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Key concept

Leadership does not survive without integrity. Enduring leadership is based on trust, and trust is earned day by day, moment by moment in a life that says, “What you see is what I am.”

Give at least one example of how you think God might test your integrity in the future.

a point to ponder

Followers may continue to follow a leader they do not trust, but only as far as they determine it to be in their own self-interest.

next steps

What steps can you take to keep the inside “of the cup” clean? How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you (PSaLM 119:9-11).

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WEEK TWOhow do we edGe God out?

memory verse for the weeK

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. ProverBS 4:23

We have all been in the presence of and have sometimes even imitated someone who is at least temporarily obsessed with his or her own self-importance. Self-important leaders are highly sensitive to any criticism or any effort to wrench the spotlight and the microphone from their hands. What on the surface looks like prideful self-promotion is probably an expression of a more basic sense of at-risk self-esteem and security.

Without God-grounded confidence, we set up elaborate defenses to protect our always-at-risk sense of security and self-worth. We hide behind the rights and privileges of our position, hoard control, revenue and information, and keep others at a safe distance. This leaves us vulnerable to making the wrong decisions for the wrong reasons and diminishing the value of our influence and trust.

This week we focus on the ways we allow our heart to Edge God Out by:

Putting something in God’s place.

Trusting in something other than God.

Valuing opinions other than God’s.

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Quote for today

When God tells us to do something we should ask how, not why.henrY BLaCkaBY

what God’s word says

This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.heBreWS 10:16

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. PSaLM 119:10

pause and reflect

Although we have free access to God’s written Word and His Spirit in our heart, we still face the challenge of directing our will to pursue Him. Does Psalm 119:10 above reflect the passion of your heart? What do you seek most?.

a prayer for today

Lord, thank You that You haven’t left me to my own devices, to sink or swim based solely on my accumulated wisdom and experience. Help me to rely on You, not as a courtesy or formality but in recognition of Your loving authority. Please give me the wisdom to lead in the humility that gratefully trusts and obeys You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

hoW do We edGe God oUT?

who leaDs anD who follows?

week 2

Day 1

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today’s topic

The Bible’s many accounts of solid human leadership — from Abraham and Moses to Paul — present a unified pattern: When God was the leader and these faithful people were servants, His plan was effectively accomplished.

Unfortunately, the reverse pattern occurs more frequently as leaders attempt to make God their servant. There’s a good reason for the old Yiddish saying: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

The arrogance required to think that a mere human could somehow manipulate the God of the universe is astounding; even more astounding to think that if it were possible it would be a good thing. And yet that kind of arrogance seems almost universally human.

If you aspire to effective leadership, this question of who leads and who follows must be job number one, both now and daily. This is not a simple once-for-all decision because the enemy never quits trying to lure you onto the throne of your life.

looK inside

Do you recognize God as the Leader and yourself as His servant? This requires a major reorientation for most leaders. If you can honestly answer yes to this question, how would you rate yourself as God’s servant? Are you a skeptical foot dragger or an enthusiastic ambassador?

Skeptical foot dragger ----------------------------------------------------Enthusiastic ambassador 1 2 3 4 5

Key concept

Self-serving leaders do not see themselves as followers; they lead everyone — including God. God, however, is not looking for leaders but for servants who will let Him be their Leader.

a point to ponder

Your leadership ability is unlikely to exceed your followership ability. Since authority does not originate with you but is passed down to you — with God as its ultimate source — the quality of your command is dependent on the quality of what you receive. Having the right attitude

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toward your Commander-in-Chief and maintaining a close relationship with Him is crucial.

Consider a declaration like this as a key operating principle:

Trusting You to be God over all, I wholeheartedly follow Your lead to the best of my ability. If I don’t like doing something Your way, I will make it my business to learn to like it, trusting that it is superior to whatever I would substitute for it.

next steps

Try a little role-reversal exercise with God. Looking at yourself from His perspective, what would be the top two things in your attitude as a follower that He might want to improve?.

What steps are you willing to take to improve these two attitude issues?

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WEEK THREEpride and fear edGe God out

memory verse for the weeK

Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. ProverBS 13:10

Before we launch into a week’s scrutiny of pride and fear, we should point out that both terms have positive and negative manifestations. The NIV New Testament uses the word “pride” eight times, and all eight are positive. The one that may seem negative on the surface is 1 Corinthians 4:6, where Paul says, Then you will not take pride in one man over another. But the negative, the prohibition, is against favoritism, not pride itself. In other passages he encourages his readers to take pride in us [Paul and Timothy], and even to take pride in ourselves (GaLaTIanS 6:4, JaMeS 1:9-10).

Fear can also be healthy; in fact, it can be a life saver. And we all are familiar with the Bible’s many exhortations to fear God. We understand this fear to be a reverential awe, a deep respect for His righteousness, justice and power.

Enter the dark side. Satan takes God’s good gifts and twists them into something unhealthy. Dressing them in an attractive façade does nothing to counteract their poison. Many times during this study we will refer to “false pride” and “toxic fear.” These are the unhealthy devices of the enemy. Virtually every time we mention pride or fear in this study, we are speaking of these, but we don’t use the descriptive adjectives every time simply because it would be cumbersome.

You will probably find this week’s study to be very enlightening, especially if you think you are not particularly vulnerable to pride or fear. Prepare to be challenged.

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Quote for today

Pride, more than any other sin, excels at alternately denying and justifying its existenceSTeve d. Gardner

what God’s word says

By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud. ezekIeL 28:5

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

hoSea 13:6

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 PeTer 5:5

pause and reflect

How do you distinguish between healthy pride and false pride? The first is an intense satisfaction and appreciation for the value of someone or something, as in a job well done. The second is an attempt to take undue credit or overestimate personal power or virtue. The first never has to lead to the second, but it will if you are not careful to examine your heart routinely. In what areas of your life and leadership do you sense the most vulnerability of slipping into false pride?

a prayer for today

Lord, thank You for meeting my needs and blessing me with opportunities and riches far beyond my actual needs. Please help me to never lose sight of the fact that every good thing comes from You — even the desire and opportunity to develop the gifts You have given me. Protect me from pride and self-promotion. Help me to glory in You alone. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

PrIde and fear edGe God oUT

prIDe DrIves self-promotIon

week 3

Day 1

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today’s topic

False pride centers on the promotion of self. It is, as we read in Romans 12:3, thinking of yourself more highly than you ought. If this conjures up an image of a peacock strutting his stuff, you might be inclined to dismiss the threat too quickly. Many blatant appearances of pride — the caricatures we immediately think of — are more rooted in fear and a low sense of self-worth than they are in false pride. Pride can be much more subtle.

Thinking of yourself more highly than you ought is not just a matter of thinking you are better than everyone else or that you are God’s greatest gift to the world. It can also mean thinking that you deserve better than you’re getting, that God should be protecting you more or blessing you more. It can mean that you spend a lot of prayer time trying to convince God of the wisdom of your plan. Or that you spend very little time in prayer at all.

When thinking of yourself more highly than you ought means putting yourself first, you lose trust with those you lead. They constantly seek reassurance — even if much of it is subconscious — that you value their needs and are willing to make personal sacrifices at least equal to those you call them to make. Nearly every decision you make is a silent credit or debit in your trust account with them.

Another quiet, unassuming manifestation of pride is failing to seek counsel. Our memory verse for the week, Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice implies that the proud do not take advice. Not taking advice can be so passive that it never shows up on radar. But the passive proud pay a price for it, as do those around them — especially any under their leadership.

looK inside

Are you selfish? Ouch! Not a pleasant question. Not just because it hurts your pride to answer honestly but because selfishness itself is pride’s first cousin. Greed and selfishness are merely putting yourself first, a universal symptom of pride. Think of ways you automatically tend to protect your personal interests over those of others — others who are also loved children of your Father.

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Key concept

False pride is self-promotion that destroys trust and cripples leadership. The antidote is true humility.

a point to ponder

Effective leadership requires wisdom. Wisdom requires humility. Humility is driven away by pride, which, like leaven, permeates and puffs up. Our battle against false pride is lifelong, and the greater our perceived leadership success, the more sinister its threat.

next steps

What can you do to encourage humility and combat pride? Employ these practices in your meetings this week.

• Spend more time listening, less time talking and demanding attention.

• Judge the value of an idea by its quality rather than by who said it.

• Acknowledge ideas of others that are better than your own rather than resenting or rejecting them.

• Value truth and transparency above your image.

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WEEK FOURaltarinG your eGo to exalt God only

memory verse for the weeK

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.PhILIPPIanS 3:13-14

The mirror image of Edging God Out is Exalting God Only. The key to this transformation is altaring your leadership EGO. Altaring is not misspelled. It’s exactly what you have to do. To successfully combat the temptation to be self-serving in your leadership, every day you must put your EGO on the altar and Exalt God Only. … let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus … (heBreWS 12:1-2).

Exalting God Only means worshiping Him only, depending on Him completely, and exalting Him as your only audience and judge. Acknowledging God as your ultimate audience and judge affects everything you do. All of life becomes worship if you are always aware of God’s presence and do everything to His glory. By myself I can do nothing … for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me – Jesus (John 5:30).

Your reaction to the fact that God is always watching you depends on your image of who He is. Remember, God is for you. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). He knows the worst about you and He loves you anyway - enough to die for you and to patiently transform you into something that resembles Himself. Enough to share His glory with you! He called you … that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 TheSSaLonIanS 2:14).

Seeing God as your loving Father enables you to revert to the delight of a child wanting Dad to watch. “Look at me, Dad. Watch what I can do!” And this time, the Father delights in watching. His plan is working and you are living proof of it.

This week will be a great experience as you Exalt God Only and find freedom from the addictions of pride and fear. To help you do that, we’ve incorporated one or more of the Twelve Steps of EGO’s Anonymous in many of the “Look Inside” and “Next Step” sections. Enjoy!

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Quote for today

People of humility don’t think less of themselves, they just think about themselves less.ken BLanChard and norMan vInCenT PeaLe

what God’s word says

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

pause and reflect

John 15:5 above summarizes godly humility. You are not the vine, but you are connected to it. You have no power in yourself, but in right relationship to Christ you can accomplish a great deal.

The flow of power is limited by the quality of your connection. Are you consciously increasing the size of your connection — your exposure to the flow of God’s power — through your awareness of His presence and yielding to His direction? Or are you restricting your connection through neglect and self-direction? How would you describe the state of your connection?

a prayer for today

Lord, thank You for entrusting Your power to me and safeguarding it by requiring my constant connection with You. Please help me to grow in the wisdom of humility, recognizing that all of Your children are loved by You and empowered to reflect Your image. May my leadership be marked by the love and respect You demonstrated. In Jesus’ name, Amen!

aLTarInG YoUr eGo To exaLT God onLY

true humIlIty

week 4

Day 1

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today’s topic

Humility has its roots in understanding whose you are and who you are. This requires holding in tension some seemingly contradictory facts.

Understanding whose you are implies that you are not your own master, and your life is not all about you. This fact cuts you down to size. But you are an ambassador of Christ, commissioned to help reconcile the world to God through the work of His Spirit in you. This fact elevates you to a status far higher than any independent agent.

Understanding who you are means acknowledging that you are a condemned sinner worthy of judgment. But being the specific, intentional creation of an omnipotent God who made you in His own image and then loved you enough even in your rebellion to sacrifice Himself for you proves that you are of great value. Blending these apparent contradictions yields humility.

Humility is realizing and emphasizing the importance of others. Humility is not putting yourself down; it is lifting others up. It is saying to yourself and others, “I am precious in God’s sight — and so are you!” Leaders who consistently operate with this awareness are far more effective than those who are more concerned with proving their own importance.

looK inside

Consider the first two steps of the EGO’s Anonymous program and write a brief personal response.

Step 1: I admit that on more than one occasion I have allowed my ego needs and drive for earthly success to negatively impact my role as a leader and that my leadership has not been the servant leadership that Jesus modeled.

Step 2: I have come to believe that God can transform my leadership motives, thoughts, and actions into the servant leadership that Jesus modeled.

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Key concept

Leading like Jesus means leading with humility. There is a difference between putting on the appearance of humility before others and being truly humble in the presence and purposes of God. Humility is realizing and emphasizing the importance of others.

a point to ponder

The humility that Jesus demonstrated did not arise from lack of self-esteem, love, power, or ability. his humility came from the fact that he knew who he was, where he came from, where he was going, and whose he was. That permitted him to treat people with love and respect. and so can you.

next steps

Consider the third step of the EGO’s Anonymous program and write a brief personal response.

Step 3: I’ve made a decision to turn my leadership efforts over to God and to become a disciple of Jesus and the servant leadership He modeled.