I work in the world of volunteers. In my organization, there are 400 volunteers actively engaged in serving on a weekly basis.
I don’t pay these volunteers and I can’t talk to them every week. Yet they serve. Being a leaper, I’m in limbo with my ideas unless others follow. An idea without help accomplishes nothing.
I practice five rules …
1. I follow a dream that is bigger than me.
2. I’m totally sold out to this dream.
3. I talk about my vision and my passion to everyone that I can.
4. I want others to follow the vision, not me.
5. I will do anything to help them succeed.
With goals, your vision, or your mission. There is a time when it catches fire. People believe in what you do or your vision more than they believe in you. In a sense, you aren’t even needed anymore and you can go do something else.
Exciting!
I was teaching in Cuba on leadership. It was a few years back and entering Cuba was a trial. After a day of teaching, my associate commented on the material that we were teaching. This was material that I had written. He said, “I believe that my purpose in life is to teach this material. It changes lives.”
Others following –key to leading!
Grant is the Senior Pastor of Fellowship Church of Springfield, Ohio. In January 1972 Grant, the founding pastor of Fellowship, was a 19 year old hippie and a new follower of Jesus. After a year of hitchhiking and drug abuse, Grant made his way back to Springfield, Ohio, where he shared his testimony with over 16 of his teenage friends and saw many of them commit their lives to Jesus. Left with a group of newly converted, scraggly, nonconformists, Grant and others established a new youth ministry called "The One Way House," a ministry that would later become Fellowship. Grant went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Master of Arts in Biblical Studies from Cincinnati Christian College. Grant is also the founder of First Steps, a discipleship ministry that trains church leaders and members in foundational discipleship. First Steps is being used in numerous churches across the US along with churches in Russia, the Philippines, and other countries. Grant has been married to his wife, Barbara since 1977 and they have three grown children, three adorable grandsons, and a granddaughter. Grant is the author of several books: Swimming Lessons, a book about Discipleship, Passing the Baton, a children's book on discipleship, First Steps, a discipleship manual, and his latest; Leaper, Spanner, Paver-Three words that transform leadership and build teams that succeed.
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