There is a critical need right now for leaders who have integrity, wisdom, courage, and who empower others. God’s answer has always been a leader (Moses, Esther, Gideon, Abraham, Paul, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and many others).

God raises up unlikely people to do extraordinary things.

Great leaders have great beliefs, great priorities, and great habits. 

We are all leaders, and the most important person we lead is ourselves. As we lead ourselves well by strengthening our beliefs, priorities, and habits, our influence becomes stronger in our homes, workplaces, churches, cities, and everywhere else we go. 

I have had the privilege of influencing tens of thousands to become stronger leaders through my books, courses, travel, internships, and personal mentoring. In this hour, I am investing even more to help build great leaders. 

In September, I will be hosting a four-month online leadership mentorship program. It is designed for people who have active lives. In one to two hours a week, participants will receive my strongest leadership content through video, audio, and twice a month Zoom Q & A times. 

The foundations of mentorship are eight pillars of life and leadership I have prioritized. They are: 

• Inspiring and leading yourself
• Transformational beliefs
• Intentionality
• Healthy relationships
• Speaking life
• Faith-filled decision-making
• The culture of gladness
• Empowering others

You can find out more about this mentorship here. 

In this blog, I want to highlight the first two pillars.

1. Inspiring and Leading Yourself

I have found that the most challenging person to inspire and lead is me. Most people would probably agree that leading ourselves can be a challenge. t I have found that if I can love, like, and inspire myself, then the tools and truths I use to do so will work with others as well. Truly, we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Here are four keys to inspire yourself:

1. Feed on inspiring hope-filled, purpose-filled messages
2. Be passionate in replacing lies with truth by making faith declarations
3. Use sports teams in the locker room before a game as your example of how to bring personal fire and enthusiasm to what you do
4. Develop the habit of attaching faith to who you are and what you are doing now

2. Transformational Beliefs

Emotional and circumstantial transformation comes from renewing our minds, not from trying harder. The question of the hour is not, “Lord what do you want me to do?”, but the greater question is, “Lord what do you want me to believe in this season? What do you want me to renew my mind with about You, about me, about the people in my life, and about my circumstances?” Certainly doing the right thing is important, but if we are doing the right thing but have bad beliefs while doing it, then the chances of seeing transformation are very limited. 

“Steve, why are you trying to behave righteously, while you believe you are a sinner? Don’t you understand that the nature of faith is this: believe and then you will see?” Yes, I will seek wisdom and help concerning behavioral issues or promises to possess, but my beliefs surrounding those issues and promises is the most important factor in seeing breakthroughs. 

“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). “Re” means again. So we again and again rehearse in our thinking and words the truths about our identity and God’s nature and promises that will create transformation. It is impossible to renew our minds with these and not see transformation. 

Conclusion

Join me on the next blog for more on these eight pillars of leadership.