How To Be More Confident – Finding Your Potential To Lead

Your personal insecurities create an invisible “glass lid” that keeps you, your congregation, and your church from growing to maximum capacity and potential. When you increase your personal confidence, you will unleash your true potential and maximize your performance. Those invisible barriers will be destroyed, launching you and your ministry to the next level—and beyond! An army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions lead by a sheep. Many leaders have associated with sheep so much that they try to lead like a sheep when they are to lead like a lion. From Senior Pastor to Baggage Carrier A few years ago, in a private leadership coaching session, I lovingly told a pastor about his insecurities and that he needed to work on building his confidence so his ministry would grow. The pastor dismissed my advice and insisted that his “personal level of confidence had nothing to do with growing his church.” Unfortunately, over the next few years, his church membership declined, along with his personal confidence. Now he works as a baggage carrier at a Florida airport. What a tragedy! Don’t let this happen to you.

My Own Lack of Confidence

Just ten years ago I was so frustrated with my own ministry that I wanted to quit and get a secular job! I went through the whole “blame game” routine. I blamed my wife, my church members, my staff, the geographical location, the devil, and even God for the lack of growth and success in my ministry. Thankfully my life and ministry changed the day I discovered what the real problem was—I lacked confidence! The greatest asset of a leader is confidence. The greatest liability of a leader is insecurity. –Dr. John Maxwell The number one cry I hear from many senior pastors is, “Nobody is committed anymore!” Confidence is contagious. People do not commit to anything unless they experience the feeling of confidence. When a leader is full of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), followers pick it up. When a leader lacks confidence, followers lack the confidence needed to take action to make the commitment to help you build your God-given dream. LQ Solution: When a leader exudes confidence, followers reward you with commitment. When you study the word “faith” in the Bible, you find three keywords associated with that word: • Belief • Action • Confidence

Let’s Look At Belieft, Action & Confidence In More Detail

Key Word 1: BELIEF Faith starts when you know God’s will and truth. The foundation of faith in anything starts with what you know and believe. The church today is full of people who know and believe a lot of Bible doctrine; yet it is possible to believe something but not actually practice or live what you believe. Your actions must be rooted in the truth of Scripture. Key Word 2: ACTION Faith without corresponding actions cannot be called faith. Faith without works is worse than no faith at all. Verbal and mental faith is insufficient. Faith must inspire action. The apostle James teaches us that it is impossible to have faith without corresponding actions (see James 1:22-25; 2:14-20,24-26). This is where the problem lies in the modern-day church. Many Christians believe a lot of different things. However, most confessing Christians do not actually follow through with what they believe. For instance: • The majority of Christians believe they should tithe, but only 5 to 12 percent actually tithe on a regular basis. • Everyone believes we should be evangelizing the lost for Jesus Christ. Sadly, only 2 percent of modern churchgoers have ever won another person to Christ. • We believe we should read the Bible. Fewer people are reading the Bible these days; only one-third do so in a typical week. • Most Christians believe they are called to do something wonderful with their lives. However, most people in our churches today are broke, busted, and disgusted. • Most Christians believe we should take care of our bodies—God’s temple. However, most believers are overweight, don’t exercise, and have some sort of health problem. • We believe that a senior pastor should lead the church by God’s vision. Less than one out of every ten senior pastors can articulate what they believe is God’s vision for the church they are leading. Hopefully you can see the gap. The gap between what Christians “believe” and what they actually “do.” What is keeping us from actually doing what we claim we believe? Key Word 3: CONFIDENCE “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Hebrews 10:35, emphasis added). Confidence bridges the gap between what you believe and what you actually do. When confidence is taken out of the faith equation, you have a group of people who are constantly learning a new truth but never experiencing the joy of applying it in their lives. Therefore, they never end up reaping the rewards and benefits of the promises found in the Word of God. Our next video is sure to teach you some more success skills. Check it out here Making An Impact Other Peoples Lives & Yours What have you learned from this Finding your potential to lead post?