What Is the Key Element of Leadership?
John Maxwell, founder of INJOY, has identified ten important principles of leadership. They are valuable principles, but I believe one essential element is missing: intentionality.
Leaders must be more intentional than anyone else.
Intentionality means that a leader does not simply hope that something will happen. A leader deliberately moves people toward a desired destination. In this sense, intentionality is closely related to the role of an initiator or facilitator. Things do not simply happen because we wish for them. Someone must intentionally make them happen.
This is especially true in the work of the Lord. If ordinary responsibilities require diligence, how much more should leaders who guide God’s people demonstrate intentionality? A leader cannot simply say, “I hope it happens.” A leader must ask, “What must we do to make it happen?”
Look at outstanding leaders throughout history. They were intentional. They knew where they wanted to go, and they deliberately pursued that destination.
But intentionality is not always comfortable.
It can be painful. It requires us to challenge people who are not moving. It may create conflict. Sometimes a leader must confront laziness, resistance, or indecision. But this is part of the responsibility of leadership.
“I Want to Be” vs. “I Want to Do”
People usually want to be something.
A soccer player wants to become a world-class athlete. A swimmer wants to become an excellent swimmer. A wrestler, weightlifter, or fencer wants to reach the highest level.
The same is true in the church.
Church members want the church to grow. They want the church to become healthy. They want to mature spiritually. They want to see good things happen.
Wish, wish, wish.
People have many things they want to become.
But there is often a problem:
They don’t necessarily want to do what it takes to get there.
Sometimes they don’t know what action is required. Sometimes they become discouraged. Sometimes they are simply unwilling to make the necessary effort.
This is where the unique role of a leader becomes essential.
The leader takes people who “want to be” somewhere and helps them “do what is necessary” to get there.
That is intentional leadership.
The leader turns desire into action, vision into movement, and possibility into reality.
Often, people recognize the leader’s effort only after the desired result has been achieved.
The Leader Between “Want” and “Do”
People want to be something, but they do not always want to do something.
That is normal.
Therefore, the leader stands between the two:
“I want to be…”
↓
“What must I do?”
↓
“Let’s do it.”
↓
“We have arrived.”
The challenge is helping people make that journey.
For this, a leader needs certain qualities.
1. A leader must be trustworthy.
Trust includes confidentiality. People need to know that what they share with their leader will be handled responsibly. Without trust, leadership becomes control rather than influence.
2. A leader must have integrity.
Integrity may sound like a complicated word, but its meaning is simple: take responsibility for what you say.
If you say you will do something, do it.
DWYSYWD — Do What You Said You Will Do.
People follow leaders whose words and actions agree.
3. A leader must continually grow.
You cannot lead people farther than you are willing to go yourself.
If a leader stops growing, eventually the people being led will stop growing as well. Leadership requires continuous learning, development, reflection, and spiritual growth.
4. A leader must be willing to take risks.
Nothing significant happens without some risk.
A leader must sometimes step into an uncertain future, make a difficult decision, try something new, and move forward before every detail is clear.
People want to follow leaders who are growing, trustworthy, courageous, and capable of taking them toward a better future.
From “Me” to “We”
What, then, is the ultimate purpose of leadership?
Is it achieving my goal?
No.
I believe the ultimate goal of leadership is to benefit many people.
Therefore, the concept of “we” must become stronger than the concept of “me.”
When people believe that the leader’s intention is not personal success but our shared future, they become much more willing to trust the leader.
They become willing to take risks.
They become willing to sacrifice.
They become willing to move.
The leader says:
“I want to be…”
But leadership asks:
“What are we willing to do to become what we believe we can be?”
That is where intentionality becomes powerful.
We may want to be a growing church, but we must intentionally build a growing church.
We may want to become mature Christians, but we must intentionally practice spiritual disciplines.
We may want to develop leaders, but we must intentionally train, equip, mentor, and release them.
We may want to see a better future, but we must intentionally move toward it.
The Adventure of Intentional Leadership
The future will always put challenges before us.
The question is not whether challenges will come.
The question is whether we will intentionally pursue the future God has placed before us.
“I want to be…”
but
“I don’t want to do…”
That is the natural human tendency.
Leadership changes that.
A leader helps people move from desire to decision, from decision to action, and from action to transformation.
When a group of people shares a vision and intentionally pursues it together, something powerful happens.
It is no longer about me.
It becomes about we.
And perhaps this is one of the most important elements of leadership:
Leadership is the intentional pursuit of a shared vision for the benefit of others.
A leader does not merely tell people where they should go.
A leader intentionally helps them get there.