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By Pastor MISAEL ZARAGOZA Church Leadership TraitsEvery man within the Apostolic Assembly has the potential to be a leader. A faithful man does not need the name or a title in order to be a leader; Nehemiah is a very good example. Leaders are not born leaders or receive leadership through inheritance. The effective leader is formed through a complete consecration and a strong desire to serve God, family and the Church. The Apostolic Assembly deserves the best in leadership.
Give your Church your best and you will find that you will accomplish your goals and have the willing cooperation, confidence, loyalty, and respect of those that you lead. The following are some of the Traits a leader must practice: 1. Integrity: Our responsibility to God and the church is too high to gamble leadership on dishonest leaders. When you give your word, keep it, they are people depending on your integrity. 2. Knowledge: Know your job, organizational goals, and the techniques required to reach those goals. Most important, know your subordinate and learn what caliber of performance to expect from each of them. Put confidence in those whom you can. Give closer supervision to those who need it. 3. Courage: This comes in two kinds: physical and moral. If you are under pressure and feel stress, recognize it. Get control over it through prayer and ask for help from your superiors. Pressure stimulates the body processes, so do not let a little pressure make you panic inside. Courage grows with action. When things are really tough, take some action even though it might be wrong. Positive action on a poor decision is better than a half-hearted attempt on the best possible one. 4. Decisiveness: Get the facts, all of them. Make your mind up when you have weighed them, then issue your order in clear, confident terms. Do not confuse your subordinate by debating with yourself out loud. Say what you mean and mean what you say. If the decision is beyond the scope of your authority, take the problem up the chain of command to the person with the authority to make the decision, but if the decision is yours, make it -- do not pass the buck! 5. Dependability: If only one word could be to describe a quality leader, that one word would have to be "dependable". Dependability gets the job done regardless of the obstacle. Dependable leaders are solid people. They are always on time, never make excuses and stay on the job until it is done. They are aboard when needed and out the way when not needed. Duty demands that they often make personal sacrifice. They sense what has to be done, where duty lies. 6. Initiative: Think ahead. Stay spiritual and mentally alert and physically awake. Look around, if you see a job that needs to be done, do it. Do not wait to be told. If you recognize a problem, develop a solution to resolve it. Your situation and the fruit of your subordinate can always be improve. Do what you can. Use the means at hand. Think ahead and you will stay ahead. 7. Tact: The right thing at the right time, that is what we mean by tact. It embraces courtesy, but goes further. It is also the Golden Rule; consideration for others, be they senior or subordinate. In dealing with superiors, the Golden Rule again applies. Approach them in the manner you would want to be approached if you were in their position with their responsibilities. 8. Justice: Subordinates accomplish more over the long term for a fair leader. Be fair, do not play favorites. Spread the working responsibilities around equally. Keep anger and emotions out of your decisions. Do not let your subordinate be over looked. Congratulations are deserved for a job well done. Give every one of your subordinate a chance to prove himself. Help those who fall short of your standards, but keep your standards high. 9. Enthusiasm: It is a fact that the more you know about something, the greater your interest and enthusiasm, so show it. Others will follow your lead. Enthusiasm is more contagious than the measles. Set a goal for your team, then put out all you have to achieved that goal. Do not get stale. Taking time to listen is sometimes good advice. Always stay alert and it will strengthen your leadership role and the productivity of your team. 10. Bearing: Remember, you are a leader and a representative of the Church. As a leader, you must respectfully and ethically conduct yourself verbally and emotionally to the highest Christian standards. Be proud to be a representative of the church who gives you the opportunity to be a leader. That is part what is meant by bearing. Learn to control your voice and gestures. A calm voice and a steady hand are confidence builders. Do not ever show your concern over stressful assignments, even if you feel it. 11. Endurance: A short five foot sergeant once led his squad through 10 days of field training in Japan. He topped it off with a two day hike, climbing Mt. Fuji on the 36 mile back to camp. When asked how a man his size developed such endurance, he replied, "It was easy, I had 12 soldiers pushing me all the way." What he meant of course, was that 12 other men were depending on his endurance to pull them through. He could not think about quitting. Every leader must have endurance beyond that of his subordinates. A leader will often carry part of another's load in addition to his own. He also has the burden of command upon him. An undisciplined spiritual life, mind and unfit body could never make it. 12. Unselfishness: Leaders get their own comforts, pleasures and recreation after their subordinates have provided with theirs. You will find higher management team leaders and staff at the end of the line. This is more than a tradition, it is leadership in action, it is unselfishness. Share your subordinates hardships. Then the privileges that go with your leadership position will have been earned. Do not hesitate to accept them when the time is right, but until it is, let them be. When your subordinates are tired, you had better be too. That is the price you pay for leadership. What it buys is well worth the cost. 13. Loyalty: This is a two way street. it goes all the way up and all the way down the chain of command. As a leader of people, every word and every action must reflect your loyalty up and down. Back your subordinates when they are right; correct them when they are wrong. You are being loyal either way. Pass on orders as if they were your own ideas, even when they are distasteful. To rely on the rank of the person who told you to do a job, is to weaken your own position. Keep your personal problems and the private lives of your superiors to yourself, but provide empathy for your own people when it is proper to do so. Never criticize the Church, your superiors or fellow team members in the presence of your subordinates. Make sure they do not do it either. If deserving person gets into trouble, go and offer help and guidance. They will work harder when it is all over. Let us remember that when it comes to spreading corruption, the proverbial rotten apple could not hold a candle to the damage that can be done by a disloyal leader. 14. Judgement: This comes with experience. It is simply weighing all the facts in any situation and applying the other 13 traits you have just read about, then making the best decision. But until you acquire experience, you may not know the best move. What, then do you use for experience? Judgment in the meantime. Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find. Develope these points in yourself as you guide the groups that you lead in God's church. I pray that you will be a blessing to your community. God bless you.
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