This is part two of my Eight Pillars of Leadership series.

In last week’s blog, I introduced the vision behind what I am sharing.

I also introduced the first two pillars:

1. Inspiring and leading ourselves
2. Transformational beliefs

This week, I am sharing the next two pillars: intentionality and healthy relationships. 

The first pillar I want to go over today is: Intentionality

Intentionality is an attitude of being purposeful with a commitment to deliberate action. It is proactive, not reactive. It is illustrated by how we plan to get from one location to another. We don’t just start driving and hope we get there, but we develop and execute a plan. 

Intentional people:

• Start with the end in mind.

We need to know where we want to end up first. When we get in our car, we don’t say, “Well, I want to end up in San Francisco. I’m not sure how I want to get there, but I’ll just start driving.” Instead, we plug in the destination to our GPS to have an intentional plan to get there. The first step in intentionality is to determine your destination (what you want it to look like) in your relationships, personal life, ministry, etc. 

• Determine priorities (both metron and season)

Romans 12:3 says, “To each has been given a measure of faith.” The word “measure” is the Greek word “metron” (which means your sphere of influence). We each have certain callings and giftings that are unique to us. Intentional people know what they are called to and what they are not called to. There are also different seasons in our lives that will affect the priorities we have.

• Determine forward movement steps

Once we understand our priorities, we then determine the most important steps to take to accomplish the goal we have. One of my favorite declarations is this: my forward movement in life causes Red Seas to part. Consistent small steps are often the key to our dreams being realized. 

• Develop systems to achieve

I focus more on systems in my life than goals. A system is an organized framework or method to get something done. Goals without systems are ineffective. Examples of systems are proactivity in calendar planning, reminders set on your phone, regular meetings with catalytic people, or having a hope preacher on your radio when you start your car. 

• Relentlessly evaluate

I am relentless in my personal growth. Am I primarily responding to seemingly urgent things, or am I primarily investing in the important things that will make a long-term difference to my life, relationships, finances, and influence?  I have accountability set up to help me make sure I am making forward movement in the systems I have set up. I’m not perfect, but I am continually making steady progress and sustainably achieving goals.

The Next Leadership Pillar is Healthy Relationships

1 Corinthians 13 tells us that if we try to do great things but treat people poorly, it equals a big zero. Great leaders create healthy relationships around them. They don’t just use people to accomplish goals, but they, more importantly, build and empower people. This cannot be done apart from prioritizing healthy relationships. 

Relationships often expose weaknesses and unresolved issues in our lives. There are times when we need to seek healing and counseling for wounds and dysfunctions in us. As we are intentional in creating strong relational environments around us, we will naturally pursue the skills and any healing we might need. 

A great question to ask yourself is this: What are my relational priorities?

It starts first in our homes and in our closest relationships. When I was a young leader, I remember walking into my home and hearing the Lord say, “Steve, this is where your real ministry starts. If your family respects you, then you are the real deal.” 



After our family, we then commit ourselves to bring relational health in every environment we are a part of. We strive to be the first one to bring unity in our churches, neighborhoods, workplace, cities, and beyond.  We seek to live a life where the people around us feel loved, respected, heard, encouraged, and empowered.

These two pillars are pivotal in our lives and I look forward to continuing this series next week. If you are interested in joining my Mentorship program in September where we dig deeper into these, you can find out more here.