Self and Leadership
Gain an understanding of self:
A. Describe your style of leadership: personality, communication and leadership style and spiritual gifts.
I have taken a lot of different personality tests over the last three years. I typically place in similar categories throughout all the different types of personality tests. Usually I end up as an introvert and a thinker. In the Myers Briggs I am an IXXJ. I have tested as a Rational, Guardian, and Idealist. In other tests I have been a Melancholy-Choleric, Steady/Conscientious, Beaver, and Process/Product.
I tend to be concrete in thinking. I don’t do well with abstract ideas or concepts, especially in class. I want to know the practical, hands-on, how do I do it. Similarly, I don’t naturally think in analogies. It is difficult for me to come up with them, and I don’t relate to them super well. Over time I have come to appreciate people who can think abstractly, but it still remains a foreign concept to me.
I prefer to work within lots of structure. I work best when I can watch someone do something so that I am able to copy what they did exactly. If someone gives me the big picture or idea, I don’t know how to proceed. I need more instruction that is broken down into concrete steps. I can follow detailed outlines really well, but when only given a couple large points, I am not able to make sense of it very easily.
In addition, I concentrate on the process in order to get a quality product. This is more important to me than the idea or the people involved. When invited to a game, I tend to go play always concentrated on winning. I don’t usually care as much about whether people are having fun, including me, but I want the end product to be good. When I have a goal, that is the most important thing to me. This plays into my greatest spiritual gift, which is craftsmanship. I want to do the best I can, and love to do it to the glory of God.
Other spiritual gifts I have are Helping and Giving, as well as Pastoral and Administration. I have always been keen to give to the Lord’s work. When a missionary comes to visit my church, I typically feel as if I should give. Yet, it isn’t out of compulsion, but rather conviction. I usually enjoy giving to support people in ministry.
B. Outline the Biblical values you hold as a leader that you would use to build a healthy team.
Reflection is a major value of mine. In high school, I was assigned to write a paper about a quote from Socrates, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Ever since I wrote that paper, I have placed a high value on reflecting over life in order to rightly process what is happening. This value has only been made more articulated through my years in Explore. As a leader, I think that it is imperative to a healthy team to incorporate reflection. I would use my position to structure times for reflection, both individually and also as a group. This would give the team a tool to use for processing and ultimately growth.
Another value I have is integrity, which comes from the lives of older men I was able to watch while growing up. I observed several men live out their lives with such strong integrity that the value became ingrained in me. The idea of integrity, to do what you will say you will do, is very much Biblical. As a leader, I would hope to be living my life in such a way as to be a good example. Also, I would encourage my team to also live lives of integrity, both in word and deed. I would do a combination of subtle hints and also outright encouragement on the behalf of integrity, because it is something that I value so much.
C. Explain how you see yourself serving your team as their leader.
The position of leadership I am in currently lends itself with many opportunities to serve my team. I serve by giving them my time, by preparing impact group meetings, by praying for them, by leading them through skills, by offering general college assistance, and many other things. But the action of doing these things isn’t where the heart of serving is. The heart of serving is what is in the heart of the man. I must examine my heart and motivation behind doing these things in order to be a true servant leader.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul speaks about love. He says that if someone doesn’t have love, then it doesn’t really matter what they do. I could spend 15 hours planning a 2 hour group meeting, but without love, it is essentially worthless. Unless my motivation is completely pure and selfless, my actions as a leader are in vain, and certainly not effective. My team could easily see through me if I were to have a selfish attitude about leadership, and that is not going to give me a good witness.
When I do have the right motivation behind my actions, then I can truly start serving my team. My motivation will shine through eventually in my actions. Thus, when I operate out of selflessness, the time I spend with individuals becomes a blessing to them. That time will build trust instead of destroying whatever trust they might have had in me. This will in turn, allow time spent to be a service rather than a disservice.
Furthermore, when as a team we go through skills, my leadership won’t be about what I can get out of the skill for myself. I will be there for my team, to do whatever is best for them, regardless of what I might think would be the most fun for me. I see this playing out during winter skills, because I know some members of my team are not as physically able as I am. Therefore, we will not get as far in distance, and may not be able to get to some places that I would like to. But if I am really committed to serving my team, it won’t matter, because it isn’t about me.
Life, Prairie | Garrett Boon October 23, 2009 | 
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