The Greatest Don’t Tell You They Are The Greatest

When looking for great leaders, those who are truly great (or potentially great) usually don’t tell you they are great. In fact, they often don’t realize they are exceptionally gifted by God to lead.

With rare exceptions, whenever someone initially rattles off a resume of success, I find that most of the time, these “apparently” great leaders are either:

A) Very insecure.
B) Overselling themselves.

Those who are truly the best don’t seem to be driven to convince you they are the best. The most gifted do more than they talk.

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One By One

John Maxwell did a talk years ago about finding eagles. (He described an eagle as a leader who soared above the others.) Maxwell said, “Turkeys and chickens flock together, but eagles soar alone.”

Some put ads in a bulletin asking for potential leaders to contact the church office. It’s not uncommon to ask for leaders to sign up in the lobby during the church announcements.

In my experience, it’s rare to find a great leader by asking the masses and hoping one will sign up or show up.

In every case I can think of, I’ve discovered great potential in others during one-on-one conversations.

Rather than hoping to find an eagle in a crowd, we will likely have better success spotting them after a personal conversation.

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Developing a Leadership Culture

One of the most important things we can do in our ministries is develop a strong culture of leadership. Too many pastors hope to find great leaders. In most cases, great leaders are built, not found.

Rather than searching for a developed leader, I like to search for a developing one. Those with more future potential than past success are often the hungriest and most willing to learn.

Average leaders look for great leaders. Truly great leaders find and develop other great leaders. This week, we’ll talk about developing a leadership culture.

What are you learning?

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The Final 10% of a Job

Last year, I had two different men doing a project at my house. One completed the work as agreed. Although he did what I asked him to do, he left a big pile of trash, he left without asking me to view his work, and he never followed up.

The other man cleaned up his mess daily. Not only did he clean up after himself, but he even helped me haul off the other guy’s trash.

When he was finished, he asked me to look at his work to see if I was satisfied. I expressed my satisfaction, but he saw some small flaws that bothered him. Even though I said they didn’t matter, he insisted on fixing them.

One month after his job was finished, he called to ask if I was still pleased with his work.

The second man gave the final 10%. I’ve referred several other people to him. I didn’t refer anyone to the first worker.

The final 10% might not seem worth it at the time. Over the long haul, I truly believe God blesses the final 10% more than the first 90%.

Someone said it well, “If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing right.”

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Sharing the Final 10%

In my own life, sharing the first 90% of my heart is the easiest. The first 90% rarely takes any risk.

When it comes to developing intimacy, it usually happens when I share the final 10%. (The final 10% often consists of some combination of my fears, insecurities, doubts, and weaknesses.)

Most likely, like you, I’ve been burned after sharing the final 10%. Because of my hurts, for too long I kept the final 10% to myself.

Looking back, it is amazing how much this barrier limited my relationships.

Now, I’m blessed to share the final 10% with many people.  It is in final 10% I find the most healing, intimacy, and trust.

How about you?

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The Final 10% Relationally

I’ve noticed that when it comes to relationships, it is easy for me to rationalize giving 90%.

• In my marriage, I might believe that when I serve Amy with 90% of my heart, I’m still offering her more than most men do.
• In my friendships, if I’m giving 90% of my best, most would be satisfied with my commitment.
• In my ministry relationships, if I serve pastors with 90% efforts, that is probably way better than most.

Jesus taught us to go the “extra mile” or give our coat as well as a shirt. If I stop serving others when I’ve given 90%, I haven’t given my best.

I’m writing this post on a plane after being at an out of town funeral. Normally, I would have flown home on an earlier flight. Today I booked a later flight to spend a little extra time ministering to the family.

Even though I’m very tired as I type this and I miss my wife and kids dearly, I’m still thankful God gave me the chance to give my final 10% to a family in need.

How have you recently shown the final 10% relationally? How have you not?

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The Latest on YouVersion Live

As we’re working on getting YouVersion Live ready to launch this October, we hit a pretty cool milestone for YouVersion.

More than two million people have installed YouVersion on their mobile device.

It’s great to see how many people are already engaging with Scripture on their phones, and we’re excited about the ways YouVersion Live will bring them helpful content and interactivity during live events like church services and conferences.

If you want to know more about YouVersion Live and how you can use it, stop by our webinar this week.

YouVersion Live Webinar, Wednesday September 23 at 2:00-3:00 CDT. Join us at http://www.youversion.com/live.

We’ll walk you through this new addition to YouVersion and the different ways it can work for communicators and users.

Hope to see you there!

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The Final 10%

When it comes to giving, I enjoy honoring God with the first 10% (and more) of what he entrusts to my care.

But when it comes to living, I’ve noticed that God seems to bless the final 10% more than the first 90%.

I’ll explain.

In so many areas of life, I tend to give 90% of my best. Once I’ve given that much, I often rationalize that I’ve done a pretty good job. I’ve given a good solid effort. That should be good enough, right?

But giving 90% of my best isn’t “doing everything as unto the Lord.” This week I’ll write about how I’m trying to honor God with my final 10%.

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