Bill George is a professor at Harvard Business School, former CEO at MEDTRONIC and the Author of Authentic Leadership and True North.

Bill begins by saying that we’ve been in a leadership crisis for the past 10 years.

Gallup polls reveal the following:

  • Only 1 in 5 trust leaders in business
  • Only 12% trust leaders in Congress
  • 48% trust leaders in church

As Christian leaders we were born to manifest the glory of God. It’s not for just some of us, but for all of us.

We’ve been choosing the wrong leaders. Charisma, zeal, style… these are not the basis for effective leadership. Why do we wonder when they fall due to poor character?

Peter Drucker said, “Leadership is not money, fame or power, it’s responsibility.”

With 21st century leadership, we need to align, empower, serve and collaborate!

  • Align: Align people around a mission or a vision.
  • Empower: Don’t get people to follow you, but empower them to lead.
  • Serve: We exist to serve those we lead.
  • Collaborate: When it comes to the big problems, no single organization can fix it. We have to work together.

Six things about leadership:

  • Understand the purpose of your leadership.
  • Become self aware. Get feedback on how you are leading.
  • Values – What happens when everything you’ve been building hangs in the balance?
  • Follow your motivations and capabilities. Intrinsic motivations need to match external motivations.
  • Build a support team around you. Have people around you that you can be open and honest with.
  • Lead and integrated life. You’ll never live a balanced life, but you can be the same person in every area of your life.

Follow you compass, not your clock.

Now is the time to build your support team.

Leadership is not about having power over people, but empowering other people.

Leaders who failed did not fail to lead others, but failed to lead themselves. They weren’t grounded or being themselves.