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At this time of year leadership is forefront in my mind. As a coach, we are heading into tennis Districts soon and the hope is always that the leaders on my team step up and grab hold of the reins, leading the team in the right direction.

The same can be said as a teacher. Right now at school juniors have gone through the interview process to choose those who will take hold of some of the key leadership spots for next year. Current seniors are passing on the leadership torch, so leadership is always forefront in my mind this time of year.

Every year you see two things during this process of finding leaders to lead the right way. Some step it up and surprise, and then there are those that fall flat on their faces. Let’s face it, that is part of being a leader. There are times you are a rock star and times you are trying to put the pieces back together because you have failed.

That’s why when it comes to leadership, it is best to look at the one who has never failed. Jesus lays a fantastic blueprint out for leadership, that no matter our age, if we follow it, we will be successful as a leader.

If you understand anything about leadership and Jesus, you almost for certain know His number one trait as a leader is servanthood. Jesus modeled being a servant leader so well that He even washed His disciples’ feet. It is His distinguishing characteristic when it comes to leadership. But what else stands out? Jesus is the best leader to ever be called a leader, so there has to be more than servanthood.

First and foremost, being a leader that serves will clear up a lot of leadership problems. However, as I really put some thought into this, I believe there are three other leadership traits that rise to the top when it comes to Jesus modeling leadership, and they are certainly worth diving into.

Listening

This seems so simple. Just listen to those who are around you, those you are leading, and you’ve got this down. Well that is easy to say, but it is seldom lived out in today’s world. Two things keep leaders from truly listening.

The first thing is how busy leaders are. This is not a knock on them. Often leaders are overwhelmed and juggling several balls in the air. What this leads to is them thinking about the next thing to say or do while someone else is speaking. If you are doing this very common thing, you aren’t really listening.

Scripture is full of Jesus really listening . Bartimeus, Zaccheus, the two He encountered on the road to Emmaus, the Samaritan women at the well and so many more – Jesus listened to what they were saying. He responded either through action or asking questions; He was engaged in what they said. What would our leadership look like if we listened like this?

The other thing that keeps leaders from listening is the thought in their own head that they are above everyone they are leading and so they don’t have to listen. This is the direct opposite of what Jesus modeled. He is above everyone; He is God. Yet he never approached people this way. In fact, this was a characteristic of the Pharisees, and Jesus made it clear what kind of leaders they were.

Truth

This is actually something hard for leaders. Not because they want to lie, but because it’s hard to admit you don’t have the answer or to have a tough conversation with those you lead. Those conversations where you have to tell people they have a specific role that they may not like, or they need to be here or there earlier or later than they want to be. Those can be tough.

It also is difficult to admit to those you are leading that you don’t know something. This often leads to people making up the answer or never even answering the question. These may seem like not that big of a deal, but each time this happens, it undermines your ability to be an effective leader.

Jesus is truth. He never shied away from it, and He led through the truth. Look at the things He said to the Pharisees about being the Son of God. This even eventually led to His death, but that in itself was leadership. He told Peter that he would deny Him. He told the young ruler to sell off his belongings and that man turned away from Jesus because he was rich and this isn’t what he wanted to hear..

Jesus never minced words and always told the truth. This may be hard at times for us, but for most of us being a truthful leader isn’t going to lead to our death, just something uncomfortable for a moment.

Compassionate Accountability

When you are a leader there will come a time where you have to hold others accountable. Things happen where those you are leading don’t do what they are supposed to do, or they do something wrong. It does you no good as a leader to just ignore those things. The key is holding them accountable, but doing so in a compassionate way as Christ would.

Yelling and getting all upset doesn’t do you or those you are leading any good. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells His disciples that the standard you use to judge others is the standard you will be judged by. In other words, treat others the way you want to be treated. We all have fallen short at times and had a parent, teacher, boss, etc. “judge” us, or hold us accountable for our mistakes. What Jesus is saying is to approach this as He would, out of love.

Look at the way Jesus handled Peter after Peter denied Him. Did Peter make a mistake? A big one, a mistake most of us look at like, “Oooh, that was bad.” Yet after the resurrection Jesus makes it clear to Peter that even though a mistake (or three) was made, it was time to move past that mistake, learn from it and grow because Jesus still loved Peter and knew that even though a mistake was made, Peter was a tremendous part of the team.

Many of you know you are leaders and this resonates with you. Some of you don’t think of yourself as a leader but you absolutely are. While others aspire to be a leader. I hope all of you reflect on the ultimate model of leadership of Jesus. I know I will, and I hope you too will try and lead in His manner as well. Until next month…