The Leadership Ladder

Leading in an organization or within a group of people has its ups and downs. There are times when it is exhilarating and fun. There are times when it is difficult. And at times, leadership can be downright daunting.

But regardless of whether you are a part of a church, business, team, or other institution there are some ways you can increase your leadership skills. There are certain behaviors, attitudes, and skills you can adopt that will help you move up the leadership ladder.

If you'd like to improve your leadership, try one of these three things:

#1: Contribute more than you criticize. Move beyond being a problem spotter, to becoming a problem solver. Leadership math is very simple - it's basically this formula: Contribute > Complain. In the end, leaders are people who contribute more than they criticize.

#2: Increase your commitment and decrease your agenda. Leaders of an organization are people who are more concerned with the mission and vision of the organization than they are with their own personal agenda. If you want to lead, it means more commitment, more time, and more sacrifice for the mission...and more death to your own agenda.

#3: Realize relational equity trumps positional equity. It's been said that people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. That statement has never been more true than when it comes to leadership in our current culture. A position doesn't necessarily make people follow you anymore. And titles certainly won't magically make you a person worth following. People who are willing to invest in others and add value to a team build relational equity that allow them to lead in ways that no title or position ever could.

Regardless of where you find yourself today within your organization, you can move up the leadership ladder. You can make a difference. You can be a person worth following.