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Disciple Leadership

"The call to be a disciple-leader is a call to minister and to serve.  It is a call to lead as Christ leads.  It is leadership with a small “L”—the kind of leadership that builds and lifts and inspires through kindness and love and unselfish devotion to the Lord and His work. "
                                                                                - Kim B. Clark

The focus of our study this week was on what it takes to become a good leader. As I read through the first 3 chapters of Hero's Journey, I was really inspired by the excerpts and examples that were presented. One, I will be posting on my fridge and reading to myself and my kids every time the word "can't" wanders into our vocabulary. The poem "Can't" by Edgar Guest was so wonderful.  The first chapter tells us how to get started and why we should. The second focuses on how to discover who you are, and who you eventually want to be. The third shows us the importance of establishing guardrails early in our life so we are never led astray when we go through trials and temptations. It made me grateful that we had completed that assignment early in this semester. 

In Bednar's talk A Disciple Prep Center, we learn that throughout our lives and in our careers we should exemplify Christ by learning of him, from him, and then through our following him. It will protect and magnify us in all that we do.

In a Message to Garcia from the Acton Foundation,  we read about the importance of cultivating a bias toward action. We must learn how to execute orders quickly, efficiently, and with little oversight. We can do this through developing good action oriented attitudes, habits, and instincts. 10 Steps are Introduced to help us do that. The one that made an impact on me was step 7 about under-promising and over-delivering to clients and customers. 

Then it was on too Kim B. Clark's "Leadership with a small "L"", which was not a new concept for me. I have actually read this talk several times. It includes 3 steps: 1.) Lead By Example, 2.) Lead with Vision, 3.) Lead/Energize with Love.  

We then reviewed Jim Collins "Good to Great" and what it requires to move a company from great to good. Among the things I learned, I liked hearing that most successful executives in these companies  had a balanced blend of personal humility and professional will. They were not fancy celebrity leaders, but they were humble and hard working.

Kawaski reviewed the "Aspects to Building Trust" and we were given 3 steps. 1.) Trust People (and in turn they will trust you.) 2.) Be a Baker - not an eater - so a trustworthy individual that seeks to create larger pies to share in the world. 3.) Build trust by defaulting to yes and looking at how you can help people - not be helped by people.

There were many more great things that we learned, but these were the things that stuck out the most to me in my studies. Jim Ritchie said one more thing though that I hope to try and recall as I continue to study Business and Entrepreneurial Practices. He said that we should turn our observations into oil. I want to be driven in my daily life by the things that I have learned are great, and use my other observations to avoid pitfalls and digression.   

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