I completely agree with Ken Blanchard, author of Lead Like Jesus, that the greatest leader in all of history is Jesus. My faith convictions about him being the Son of God and Savior of the world aside, his organization should have died long ago if judged only in business terms and yet, it’s still living and breathing two thousand years after several major world empires have fallen. I also believe some people echo Jesus’ leadership style without even realizing it. Any talk of servant leadership certainly traces back to the influence of Jesus on our modern era. One of the facets of Jesus’ leadership that put him in a class of his own is his absolute purity of motives for leading.
Jesus seemed to have no care whatsoever for acquiring personal possessions. That was never his primary motive in leading people. I do believe he wanted some things, but his wants were different from the desires of many other leaders.
Four Good Motives for Leading
Let me offer four desires that good leaders seem to have:
1. Good leaders want to change the world for good.
It isn’t that good leaders only lead and manage organizations with good causes, it’s that good leaders see their leadership as significantly affecting the world around them in good ways.
In general, good leaders seek to contribute something to human flourishing.
2. Wanting more influence is among the good motives for leading.
Some leaders won’t admit it, partly because our culture tends to push back against people who desire achievement, but most of the great leaders I know see leadership as both a privilege and a responsibility. That is, leaders should lead people.
Therefore, we want more influence so that we can lead more people and change more of the world for good than we are currently leading. Don’t apologize for this. It’s okay to desire more influence.
