PastorHacks

wisdom...

"...people tend to project idealized expectations onto leaders- expectations that are often unspoken and held subconsciously- and then become angry when the leader does not meet those expectations.

But Moses refused to take on the weight of the Israelites' expectations. He would not allow them to treat him as if he were God, nor behave as though he were responsible for something he was not."

Ruth Haley Barton- Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

Best of 2008: the Spiritual Formation of Leadership Choices

I've been thinking through issues of spiritual formation recently... mainly in terms of how we do whatever it is we do as a community, and the forming impact it has on us. Whatever we do is spiritually forming, isn't it? The choices we make, the activities we pursue or neglect, the words we say and how we say them- all of it goes into making us the persons we are becoming and the community we will be...

So my question (which honestly, I've been thinking about on and off throughout the last four years, thanks in part to both Doug Pagitt and his formerly titled Re-Imagining Spiritual Formation and Brian McLaren who was the first person to to tell me that the way we as a community worshiped was just as spiritually forming as the fact that we did worship) has been: "how do our choices as a community impact the community we are becoming?" And I've started with thinking through our worship gathering, simply because that's the easiest piece to consider and make changes- how does our use (or lack thereof) of silence form us? How does the amount we pray together and what we pray form us? What about the interaction we do and how we do it? Does the way we do "sermons" form us just as much as the content of the discussions themselves?

But this post isn't really about that...

On a personal level I've been dealing with two things. The first is a certain amount of satisfaction and pleasure that the vision I had more than a year ago, was able to transfer to our elders and then to our community of our need to move towards multiple gatherings in multiple spaces is coming to fruition.
The second is a certain amount of trepidation and insecurity about the same thing.

And man, doesn't insecurity work itself out in silly ways?

Yesterday, I found myself thinking about editing the titles under our bios on the evergreen webpage. Right now, we're all listed as "elder." That's it.

So there I am thinking about the fact that our Hawthorne worship gathering starts this week, and with it comes an era where people who come to evergreen might only see "Pastor Bob" on occasion. To them, it'll be Dustin and Chip and Tina...

The words "Bob thinks..." won't carry a ton of weight with these future evergreeners. 
Scary.

So, I'm mulling this over and the idea pops into my head to edit those titles. 
After all, I'm the "Lead Pastor," right? 
People should know that, yeah?

Sigh...

Whether or not people should know that, I knew (after a few minutes, anyway) where that was coming from and what it was motivated by. Even now, I'm tempted to delete this entry and go make the changes my ego wants me to make...

But the truth is, I fear what giving those impulses free reign in my heart will do to me and form in me more than I do whatever potential future confusion might arise among Evergreeners as to my pastoral role in their lives.

To me, the choice to either find a location where we can fit more and more people into a room to hear me teach, ormove to Video Venues (for the same reason) or to allow other people in our community to exercise their teaching gifts on a level of exposure equal to myself is a choice which impacts not just the spiritual formation of our community, but my own as well.

The question isn't just what kind of community will we be, but what kind of leader...  no, scratch that... what kind of Christ-follower will I be?

Maybe for others that feels like a false choice. Maybe they can move their teaching onto  countless video screens with no detrimental impact to their souls.... and I say that honestly. They have their own walk with Jesus and I'm not judging their hearts in the directions they are taking their communities (okay- I'm trying not to).

But for me? 
The choice to allow parts of our community to move to a different space, to sit primarily under the pastoral care and teaching of different elders, not to remind them in real and tangible ways constantly of my role in the community... 
It feels like something that Jesus is working out in me.

And in amongst the insecurity and anxiety I realize that again, as when we planted Evergreen four years ago, this is is a step of faith (I generally avoid that phrase, as abused as it has been in evangelicalism)- a move into something that we feel God pushing us towards, something whose end we can't see, something that God probably intends to use in ways we can only guess at.

And as someone who feels like it's been about four years since he had to take any real significant leaps of faith, as I watch what this move is forming in our community and as I see what it's forming in me... 
I'm thankful to Jesus. 
Thankful that He's still forming me. 
Thankful that He's giving me opportunities to form myself through the choices I make in pastoral ministry and in life.

I've been thinking through issues of spiritual formation recently... mainly in terms of how we do whatever it is we do as a community, and the forming impact it has on us. Whatever we do is spiritually forming, isn't it? The choices we make, the activities we pursue or neglect, the words we say and how we say them- all of it goes into making us the persons we are becoming and the community we will be...

So my question (which honestly, I've been thinking about on and off throughout the last four years, thanks in part to both Doug Pagitt and his formerly titled Re-Imagining Spiritual Formation and Brian McLaren who was the first person to to tell me that the way we as a community worshiped was just as spiritually forming as the fact that we did worship) has been: "how do our choices as a community impact the community we are becoming?" And I've started with thinking through our worship gathering, simply because that's the easiest piece to consider and make changes- how does our use (or lack thereof) of silence form us? How does the amount we pray together and what we pray form us? What about the interaction we do and how we do it? Does the way we do "sermons" form us just as much as the content of the discussions themselves?

But this post isn't really about that...

On a personal level I've been dealing with two things. The first is a certain amount of satisfaction and pleasure that the vision I had more than a year ago, was able to transfer to our elders and then to our community of our need to move towards multiple gatherings in multiple spaces is coming to fruition.
The second is a certain amount of trepidation and insecurity about the same thing.

And man, doesn't insecurity work itself out in silly ways?

Yesterday, I found myself thinking about editing the titles under our bios on the evergreen webpage. Right now, we're all listed as "elder." That's it.

So there I am thinking about the fact that our Hawthorne worship gathering starts this week, and with it comes an era where people who come to evergreen might only see "Pastor Bob" on occasion. To them, it'll be Dustin and Chip and Tina...

The words "Bob thinks..." won't carry a ton of weight with these future evergreeners. 
Scary.

So, I'm mulling this over and the idea pops into my head to edit those titles. 
After all, I'm the "Lead Pastor," right? 
People should know that, yeah?

Sigh...

Whether or not people should know that, I knew (after a few minutes, anyway) where that was coming from and what it was motivated by. Even now, I'm tempted to delete this entry and go make the changes my ego wants me to make...

But the truth is, I fear what giving those impulses free reign in my heart will do to me and form in me more than I do whatever potential future confusion might arise among Evergreeners as to my pastoral role in their lives.

To me, the choice to either find a location where we can fit more and more people into a room to hear me teach, ormove to Video Venues (for the same reason) or to allow other people in our community to exercise their teaching gifts on a level of exposure equal to myself is a choice which impacts not just the spiritual formation of our community, but my own as well.

The question isn't just what kind of community will we be, but what kind of leader...  no, scratch that... what kind of Christ-follower will I be?

Maybe for others that feels like a false choice. Maybe they can move their teaching onto  countless video screens with no detrimental impact to their souls.... and I say that honestly. They have their own walk with Jesus and I'm not judging their hearts in the directions they are taking their communities (okay- I'm trying not to).

But for me? 
The choice to allow parts of our community to move to a different space, to sit primarily under the pastoral care and teaching of different elders, not to remind them in real and tangible ways constantly of my role in the community... 
It feels like something that Jesus is working out in me.

And in amongst the insecurity and anxiety I realize that again, as when we planted Evergreen four years ago, this is is a step of faith (I generally avoid that phrase, as abused as it has been in evangelicalism)- a move into something that we feel God pushing us towards, something whose end we can't see, something that God probably intends to use in ways we can only guess at.

And as someone who feels like it's been about four years since he had to take any real significant leaps of faith, as I watch what this move is forming in our community and as I see what it's forming in me... 
I'm thankful to Jesus. 
Thankful that He's still forming me. 
Thankful that He's giving me opportunities to form myself through the choices I make in pastoral ministry and in life.

Sanders' Test of Leadership

Rich Kirkpatrick posted these great questions:

"J. Oswald Sanders in his classic Spiritual Leadership book quotes five questions to help figure out if you really should be leading or not (page 37).  You may think you really are leading, until you truly ask questions of self-discovery like these:

• Do other people’s failures annoy or challenge you?
• Do you “use” people, or cultivate people?
• Do you direct people, or develop people?
• Do you criticize, or encourage?
• Do you shun or seek out the person with a special need or problem?"

Church Metrics System- FREE

I have tons of concerns about LifeChurch.tv... Video Venues, internet "churches"... I think there's room to question whether those are really "best" for the long-term health of Christians and those we are reaching. 

However...

One thing I wont quibble with AT ALL and want to publicly praise LifeChurch for is giving away resources.

A lot of big churches create things in house, whether systems to manage their organization, video/graphic resources or even sermons. Many of those big churches then turn around and sell them to other churches. 

I think that's absolutely shameful (*ahem*).

LifeChurch pays their pastors/staff to create for their own worship gatherings. Then they bless the rest of the Church with that creativity. For free. Awesome.

Now, they are upping the ante. Seems like they have created a system to measure church metrics that they are getting ready to share with you. Now, I'll say this: I'm not sure this is the right way to "measure" things or that this will be a healthy thing to get kneck-deep in for a pastor (the numbers game, that is)... but I have a feeling most of us play that game anyway- so here's a better, and FREE way to do it. 

Introducing ChurchMetrics from ChurchMetrics on Vimeo.

Start a Kiva Group for your Church Community

Right now our government is contemplating a $700 billion bail out for Wall Street. Meanwhile, it's been estimated that with $5 billion, we could save the lives of 6 million of the poorest children in the world. 

Which do you think we'll do? 

Clearly, government isn't the solution. But maybe you and I can be a part. 

Today, I started a Kiva group to encourage our Community (Evergreen) to help be part of the solution. Many Evergreeners already loan through Kiva- this allows us to do it "together", as a group and be encouraged by how much of a difference even a little amount (as little as $25) can make and how much our individual "littles" can really add up to. 

The beauty is that the low-interest loans get paid back, and you can loanthe same money again. Add a little in each month, and over time, the impact you'll be making is significant. 

I want to encourage you: Start a group for your church. Invite your community to take part. Don't wait for someone else to make the difference.

Leadership Styles- Older and Younger

Robby Mac posts on working at St.Arbucks again, and what he's learning there about leadership...

One of the youngest shift supervisors (all of 19 years of age) is typical of the younger baristas in charge of closing duties: she makes a list of all the necessary jobs that have to be done, and the staff working with her gather around, volunteer for the various duties, and collectively take responsibility for getting everything done. There is a real camaraderie and sense of ownership among the staff working with her, and the list quickly gets dealt with by a team.

One of the older supervisors doesn't give out lists. He expects each person to come to him, and he will then give them their next task. Once you have finished the task, you must come to him for your next task. Initiative is not encouraged -- it's more important that you follow the chain of command.

The obvious is that one approach leads to a friendly atmosphere, while the other actually breeds resentment. Resentment because people feel belittled, un-valued, and chafe at the blatant power play by the older supervisor. He is obviously all about controlling the work environment and controlling who does what around the shop.

Or is that just a harshly judgmental, knee-jerk assumption?

Read the rest here

the Co-Dependent Pastor...

Two basic types of pastoral disfunction- the narcissist and the co-dependent. We all lean one way or the other on that continuum- some so little it's not really an issue, others, well...

The need to succeed or the need to please and avoid conflict. 

The narcissist, with his or her need to succeed really doesn't care what others think. When these people leave ministry, it's because they are driven out. Their self-centeredness and inability to empathize/think of others often looks for all the world like a person with vision and leadership charisma- someone who knows what needs to be done and does it. Unfortunately, when the truth becomes known, it's usually after people begin to see the long, long trail of metaphorical bodies that get left in the wake of these people- years of stepping on and over people may get you up the ladder, but sooner or later the toll becomes obvious and either the narcissist leaves or everyone else begins to. 

On the other side is the co-dependent. Helping professions are ripe soil for people who need others to help them establish a sense of identity... and the pastorate is no exception. It's a job where I can be fully and completely co-dependent and get rewarded for it. In fact, the more sold out the pastor is to you and your needs, the more he or she is (often) praised. The narcissist doesn't mind conflict- in fact, they kind of enjoy it. Another chance to focus attention on them and their leadership skills, but the co-dependent is motivated by the need for others' approval and will avoid even necessary conflict whenever possible. 

The narcissist needs empathy and what they do must begin to be motivated more and more by the needs of others, not just their own. In other words, they need to care more about what other people think.  

So, is the corollary true? Does that mean the co-dependent needs to care less about what other people think?

Continue reading "the Co-Dependent Pastor..." »

Friday, August 15, 2008 in attitude hacks, general, health, leadership, people, the art of pastoring | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Do you allow multi-tasking at staff meetings?

WHY???

I'm seriously considering a no-multitasking rule at staff meetings. And if I have to make staff meetings pen and paper only to do it, I just may.

Why?

This is from Tim Ferris' blog. Josh Waitzkin (the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer) is describing a trip back to hear the last lecture of a favorite college professor...

"A few weeks ago, I returned to the classroom of Dennis Dalton, the most important college professor of my life. From the back of an amphitheater seating several hundred students, I realized how much things had evolved at Columbia and Barnard. The lecture hall was now equipped with a wireless sound system, webcams, video projectors, wireless internet. Students were using computers to record the lecture and to take notes. Heads were buried in screens, the tap tap of hundreds of keyboards like rain on the roof.

On this afternoon, April 16, 2008, Dalton was describing the satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi, building the discussion around the Amritsar massacre in 1919, when British colonial soldiers opened fire on 10,000 unarmed Indian men, women and children trapped in Jallianwala Bagh Garden. For 39 years, Professor Dalton has been inspiring Columbia and Barnard students with his two semester political theory series that introduces undergrads to the ideas of Gandhi, Thoreau, Mill, Malcolm X, King, Plato, Lao Tzu. His lectures are about themes, connections between disparate minds, the powerful role of the individual in shaping our world.

Dalton is a life changer, and this was one of his last lectures before retirement.

Over the course of a riveting 75-minute discussion of the birth of Gandhian non-violent activism, I found myself becoming increasingly distressed as I watched students cruising Facebook, checking out the NY Times, editing photo collections, texting, reading People Magazine, shopping for jeans, dresses, sweaters, and shoes on Ebay, Urban Outfitters and J. Crew, reorganizing their social calendars, emailing on Gmail and AOL, playing solitaire, doing homework for other classes, chatting on AIM, and buying tickets on Expedia (I made a list because of my disbelief). From my perspective in the back of the room, while Dalton vividly described desperate Indian mothers throwing their children into a deep well to escape the barrage of bullets, I noticed that a girl in front of me was putting her credit card information into Urban Outfitters.com. She had finally found her shoes!"

If you think people couldn't possibly listen and learn to a college professor under those circumstances, why would your staff meeting be any different?

Wednesday, May 28, 2008 in attitude hacks, leadership, staffing, the art of pastoring, you and your computer | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

the Spiritual Formation of Leadership Choices...

I've been thinking through issues of spiritual formation recently... mainly in terms of how we do whatever it is we do as a community, and the forming impact it has on us. Whatever we do is spiritually forming, isn't it? The choices we make, the activities we pursue or neglect, the words we say and how we say them- all of it goes into making us the persons we are becoming and the community we will be...

So my question (which honestly, I've been thinking about on and off throughout the last four years, thanks in part to both Doug Pagitt and his formerly titled Re-Imagining Spiritual Formation and Brian McLaren who was the first person to to tell me that the way we as a community worshiped was just as spiritually forming as the fact that we did worship) has been: "how do our choices as a community impact the community we are becoming?" And I've started with thinking through our worship gathering, simply because that's the easiest piece to consider and make changes- how does our use (or lack thereof) of silence form us? How does the amount we pray together and what we pray form us? What about the interaction we do and how we do it? Does the way we do "sermons" form us just as much as the content of the discussions themselves?

But this post isn't really about that...

Continue reading "the Spiritual Formation of Leadership Choices..." »

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in leadership, preaching, the art of pastoring | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Leadership is...

"Leadership is about bringing out and mobilizing the best in the people around you. It’s about helping a group of people work together towards a shared goal or set of goals. When leadership works, it creates leaders, not followers."

What do leaders do?

• Leaders listen.
• Leaders empower those around them.
• Leaders recognize others’ strengths.
• Leaders are trustworthy.
• Leaders are confident.
• Leaders make decisions.
• Leaders recognize the value in other perspectives.
• Leaders commit to action.
• Leaders demand commitment from others.
• Leaders share ownership. As I said, leadership is about making those around us into leaders; ultimately leaders get out of the way. The best person for the job of creating change may not be the best person for the job of maintaining the new order (consider what usually happens when military leaders install themselves as political leaders after overthrowing a corrupt regime). Good leadership lies in creating in others the sense that the goals they are working towards are their own — as are the rewards. By giving up control and sharing ownership of their goals and passions, good leaders help to insure that the changes they envision — whether it is a successful product launch or a radical social transformation — will endure beyond their own active participation.

Read the rest, along with each of these points' explanation here

Continue reading "Leadership is..." »

Thursday, April 24, 2008 in leadership | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

WHY???

I'm seriously considering a no-multitasking rule at staff meetings. And if I have to make staff meetings pen and paper only to do it, I just may.

Why?

This is from Tim Ferris' blog. Josh Waitzkin (the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer) is describing a trip back to hear the last lecture of a favorite college professor...

"A few weeks ago, I returned to the classroom of Dennis Dalton, the most important college professor of my life. From the back of an amphitheater seating several hundred students, I realized how much things had evolved at Columbia and Barnard. The lecture hall was now equipped with a wireless sound system, webcams, video projectors, wireless internet. Students were using computers to record the lecture and to take notes. Heads were buried in screens, the tap tap of hundreds of keyboards like rain on the roof.

On this afternoon, April 16, 2008, Dalton was describing the satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi, building the discussion around the Amritsar massacre in 1919, when British colonial soldiers opened fire on 10,000 unarmed Indian men, women and children trapped in Jallianwala Bagh Garden. For 39 years, Professor Dalton has been inspiring Columbia and Barnard students with his two semester political theory series that introduces undergrads to the ideas of Gandhi, Thoreau, Mill, Malcolm X, King, Plato, Lao Tzu. His lectures are about themes, connections between disparate minds, the powerful role of the individual in shaping our world.

Dalton is a life changer, and this was one of his last lectures before retirement.

Over the course of a riveting 75-minute discussion of the birth of Gandhian non-violent activism, I found myself becoming increasingly distressed as I watched students cruising Facebook, checking out the NY Times, editing photo collections, texting, reading People Magazine, shopping for jeans, dresses, sweaters, and shoes on Ebay, Urban Outfitters and J. Crew, reorganizing their social calendars, emailing on Gmail and AOL, playing solitaire, doing homework for other classes, chatting on AIM, and buying tickets on Expedia (I made a list because of my disbelief). From my perspective in the back of the room, while Dalton vividly described desperate Indian mothers throwing their children into a deep well to escape the barrage of bullets, I noticed that a girl in front of me was putting her credit card information into Urban Outfitters.com. She had finally found her shoes!"

If you think people couldn't possibly listen and learn to a college professor under those circumstances, why would your staff meeting be any different?

I've been thinking through issues of spiritual formation recently... mainly in terms of how we do whatever it is we do as a community, and the forming impact it has on us. Whatever we do is spiritually forming, isn't it? The choices we make, the activities we pursue or neglect, the words we say and how we say them- all of it goes into making us the persons we are becoming and the community we will be...

So my question (which honestly, I've been thinking about on and off throughout the last four years, thanks in part to both Doug Pagitt and his formerly titled Re-Imagining Spiritual Formation and Brian McLaren who was the first person to to tell me that the way we as a community worshiped was just as spiritually forming as the fact that we did worship) has been: "how do our choices as a community impact the community we are becoming?" And I've started with thinking through our worship gathering, simply because that's the easiest piece to consider and make changes- how does our use (or lack thereof) of silence form us? How does the amount we pray together and what we pray form us? What about the interaction we do and how we do it? Does the way we do "sermons" form us just as much as the content of the discussions themselves?

But this post isn't really about that...

"Leadership is about bringing out and mobilizing the best in the people around you. It’s about helping a group of people work together towards a shared goal or set of goals. When leadership works, it creates leaders, not followers."

What do leaders do?

• Leaders listen.
• Leaders empower those around them.
• Leaders recognize others’ strengths.
• Leaders are trustworthy.
• Leaders are confident.
• Leaders make decisions.
• Leaders recognize the value in other perspectives.
• Leaders commit to action.
• Leaders demand commitment from others.
• Leaders share ownership. As I said, leadership is about making those around us into leaders; ultimately leaders get out of the way. The best person for the job of creating change may not be the best person for the job of maintaining the new order (consider what usually happens when military leaders install themselves as political leaders after overthrowing a corrupt regime). Good leadership lies in creating in others the sense that the goals they are working towards are their own — as are the rewards. By giving up control and sharing ownership of their goals and passions, good leaders help to insure that the changes they envision — whether it is a successful product launch or a radical social transformation — will endure beyond their own active participation.

Read the rest, along with each of these points' explanation here

Do you allow multi-tasking at staff meetings?

WHY???

I'm seriously considering a no-multitasking rule at staff meetings. And if I have to make staff meetings pen and paper only to do it, I just may.

Why?

This is from Tim Ferris' blog. Josh Waitzkin (the subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer) is describing a trip back to hear the last lecture of a favorite college professor...

"A few weeks ago, I returned to the classroom of Dennis Dalton, the most important college professor of my life. From the back of an amphitheater seating several hundred students, I realized how much things had evolved at Columbia and Barnard. The lecture hall was now equipped with a wireless sound system, webcams, video projectors, wireless internet. Students were using computers to record the lecture and to take notes. Heads were buried in screens, the tap tap of hundreds of keyboards like rain on the roof.

On this afternoon, April 16, 2008, Dalton was describing the satyagraha of Mahatma Gandhi, building the discussion around the Amritsar massacre in 1919, when British colonial soldiers opened fire on 10,000 unarmed Indian men, women and children trapped in Jallianwala Bagh Garden. For 39 years, Professor Dalton has been inspiring Columbia and Barnard students with his two semester political theory series that introduces undergrads to the ideas of Gandhi, Thoreau, Mill, Malcolm X, King, Plato, Lao Tzu. His lectures are about themes, connections between disparate minds, the powerful role of the individual in shaping our world.

Dalton is a life changer, and this was one of his last lectures before retirement.

Over the course of a riveting 75-minute discussion of the birth of Gandhian non-violent activism, I found myself becoming increasingly distressed as I watched students cruising Facebook, checking out the NY Times, editing photo collections, texting, reading People Magazine, shopping for jeans, dresses, sweaters, and shoes on Ebay, Urban Outfitters and J. Crew, reorganizing their social calendars, emailing on Gmail and AOL, playing solitaire, doing homework for other classes, chatting on AIM, and buying tickets on Expedia (I made a list because of my disbelief). From my perspective in the back of the room, while Dalton vividly described desperate Indian mothers throwing their children into a deep well to escape the barrage of bullets, I noticed that a girl in front of me was putting her credit card information into Urban Outfitters.com. She had finally found her shoes!"

If you think people couldn't possibly listen and learn to a college professor under those circumstances, why would your staff meeting be any different?

the Spiritual Formation of Leadership Choices...

I've been thinking through issues of spiritual formation recently... mainly in terms of how we do whatever it is we do as a community, and the forming impact it has on us. Whatever we do is spiritually forming, isn't it? The choices we make, the activities we pursue or neglect, the words we say and how we say them- all of it goes into making us the persons we are becoming and the community we will be...

So my question (which honestly, I've been thinking about on and off throughout the last four years, thanks in part to both Doug Pagitt and his formerly titled Re-Imagining Spiritual Formation and Brian McLaren who was the first person to to tell me that the way we as a community worshiped was just as spiritually forming as the fact that we did worship) has been: "how do our choices as a community impact the community we are becoming?" And I've started with thinking through our worship gathering, simply because that's the easiest piece to consider and make changes- how does our use (or lack thereof) of silence form us? How does the amount we pray together and what we pray form us? What about the interaction we do and how we do it? Does the way we do "sermons" form us just as much as the content of the discussions themselves?

But this post isn't really about that...

Leadership is...

"Leadership is about bringing out and mobilizing the best in the people around you. It’s about helping a group of people work together towards a shared goal or set of goals. When leadership works, it creates leaders, not followers."

What do leaders do?

• Leaders listen.
• Leaders empower those around them.
• Leaders recognize others’ strengths.
• Leaders are trustworthy.
• Leaders are confident.
• Leaders make decisions.
• Leaders recognize the value in other perspectives.
• Leaders commit to action.
• Leaders demand commitment from others.
• Leaders share ownership. As I said, leadership is about making those around us into leaders; ultimately leaders get out of the way. The best person for the job of creating change may not be the best person for the job of maintaining the new order (consider what usually happens when military leaders install themselves as political leaders after overthrowing a corrupt regime). Good leadership lies in creating in others the sense that the goals they are working towards are their own — as are the rewards. By giving up control and sharing ownership of their goals and passions, good leaders help to insure that the changes they envision — whether it is a successful product launch or a radical social transformation — will endure beyond their own active participation.

Read the rest, along with each of these points' explanation here