John Stanko

"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man
named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s
booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew
got up and followed him" - Matthew 9:9.

Jesus was a leader who influenced other people. He did not manipulate or control others, and He did not use His leadership power to force others to do His will 'or else' there would be serious consequences. He persuaded, even commanded, but the people whom He impacted were always free to do as they chose, and some followed while others walked away. Leaders today would do well to study His example and use their power more as a spice and not as a club, flavoring their relationships but not allowing it to dominate them.

LEADERSHIP STEP: You may be wielding power more often than you realize and people are following not because they want to, but because they are afraid of the consequences not to do so. Your Step today is to identify some roles where you can work on your ability to influence others. You can do that through writing (people can choose to read or not), volunteering with some civic group (youth would be perfect), or teaching something where you do not grade the students.