Next Generation Leader

by Andy Stanley

I felt the need to prove myself by working harder than

everyone else around me.

But I did not wor...

my real value to our organization lay within the context of my giftedness, not the number of hours I worked.

I began looking for ways to redefine my job description according to what I was good at, rather than simply what I was willing to do.

I became more mission-driven rather than need-driven, and now I want to give you that same vision as it relates to your core competencies:

you owe it to yourself to identify the areas in which you have the highest probability for success.

areas in which you could add the most value to your organization.

This is a vision.

something you must work toward to maximize your potential as a leader.

leverage your skills to their absolute max.

That’s what your employer expected when he put you on the payroll!

leveraging yourself generates the greatest and most satisfying return on yo...

In time, a leader who is not leading from the right “zone” will create an unfavorable environment for other leaders.

Read the biographies of the achievers in any arena of life.

They were men and women of focus.

When we exert our authority in an area where we lack competence, we can derail projects and demotivate those who have the skills we lack.

you fail to distinguish between authority and competence, you will exert your influence in ways that damage projects and people.

there are things you are responsible for that you should keep your nose out of.

They demonstrated courage and competency.

Your gifts and determination may dictate your potential, but it is your character that will determine your legacy.

Honesty ranked ahead of “competency,” “intelligence,” and “is inspiring.”27

They will judge you not so much for where you led them, but how you led them.

Character is about will because it requires a willingness to make tough decisions—decisions that sometimes run contrary to emotion, intuition, economics, current trends, and in the eyes of some, common sense.

Somewhere between you and your goal as a next generation leader is a minefield.

The day will come when progress seems to call for a compromise of conviction. The

In that moment the significance of the goal will far outweigh the significance of the compromise.

As you will discover, if you haven’t already, the shortest distance between where you are and where you want to be is not the most honorable one.

But what hangs in the balance of those inevitable dilemmas is worth the delay.

Leading and being the person you want to be don’t always line up.

But it is in those moments that you discover a great deal about yourself.

You discover what you v...

the pressure to compromise in order to maintain one’s success is a constant.

Power, money, success, fame … they are all intoxicants.

For the intoxicated leader, rules are for the common man.

What was once unthinkable becomes necessary in light o...

Either way, the temptation will be there to rewrite the rules.

What if you knew you could break the rules, change the rules, or even ignore the rules and get away with it?

Virtue is not a means to an end. It is the end.

They recognize and submit to what is right as right has been defined by God in the hearts of men.

Right and wrong are not determined by economic and organizational progress.

They stand apart from both.

What hangs in the balance is your moral authority.

Every leader wears two badges: one visible, one invisible. The visible badge is your position and title.

The invisible badge is your mora...

But your moral authority will inspire them to lend you their hearts.

Moral authority is established once it becomes clear to those who are watching that progress, financial reward, and recognition are not a leader’s gods.

is the relationship other people see between what you claim to be and what you really are.

It is achieved when there is perceived alignment between conviction, action, belief, and behavior.

Leaders worth following do not pretend to live in two worlds. There is no discrepancy between their professional and private lives.