I want to talk to you about qualities that lead to success. Some of the particular attributes that you will find that successful leaders possess. And if you are watching this video, you are a leader in some capacity. What is leadership? Leadership is not a title. It is not telling people what to do. It is your ability to influence the circle that has been given to you. And great leaders steward that influence well.

I want to talk about four things that will help bring success and grow your leadership capacity.

#1 You must know your WHY

Your why or purpose drives your vision for your life and the things you put your hand to.

What is my Why as a child of God, Business owner, husband, wife or parent? These are great questions to help get clarity. Knowing your WHY helps identify what success looks like.

I often discussed an exercise I have used over the years to help clarify and get to my real why and what really matters in my life. And it is called the “Rocking Chair” exercise.

And here is my “Rocking Chair” exercise; I picture myself about 85 years old, sitting on an old rocking chair on an old porch of an old house overlooking beautiful rolling hills. I also have a glass of ice tea, and I always have an old corn pipe in my mouth for whatever reason. And as I sit in that old rocking chair, I ask myself what really matters. You find what matters when you are twenty years old might not be the same as when you are eighty-five. This exercise helps with my WHY. It brings clarity to goals and vision by starting with the end in mind.

I would encourage you to sit down and have your own “Rocking Chair” exercise to help you establish and clarify your own WHY.

So Suppose you don’t have clarity on your; it is easy to coast on the path of least resistance. And that does not lead to success. If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Knowing your WHY Provides energy for everything you do. People don’t get burned out because of lots of doing; it is because, along the way, people forget WHY they are doing it.

So there are times you have to stand before God and ask WHY am I here?

So #1, You must know your Why.

#2 Successful Leaders DO

Successful people are people of action. They always ask themselves what can I DO to bring change and create success?

There is a current buzz phrase, “We are human BEINGS and not human DOINGS.”

I understand what is trying to be conveyed, and I have preached that myself. It refers to my first point of just doing without knowing your WHY. Although this is a trendy phrase these days, At the end of the day, I will be a successful husband, father, minister, businessman, and yes, child of God based on what I actually did, not by the mere title or that fact that I existed.

2 Corinthians 5: 9-10: So we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body., whether good or bad.

Guess what? Success still comes from good old fashion hard work.

Colossians 3:23-24 The Passion Translation 23 Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.

If you take this one scripture and apply it to every activity and every area of your life, I can guarantee there will be success that will show up in your life.

So #2 Successful Leaders DO

#3 Successful leaders have great teams & surround themselves with great people.

Here is the key to success, put people who are better than you around you. If you are smart, this will start with whom you choose to be your spouse!

Proverbs 13:20 NIV He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

One thing you can do is create your dream team of counsel.

I love this quote from Micahel Dell, “Try never to be the smartest person in the room. And if you are, I suggest you invite smarter people or find a different room.”

If you always tend to be the most intelligent person in the room, you will be limited in your success and impact, but your ego will stay intact.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, once said,” It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.”

In the end, you are only as good as those around you. That is why the success of others should be a primary aim of any leader.

So #3 Successful leaders have great teams & surround themselves with great people.

#4 Obedience: Leads to Ultimate Success

I genuinely believe this principle alone is what made Jesus Successful!

Philippians 2:8 He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! 9 Because of that obedience, God exalted him and multiplied his greatness! He has now been given the greatest of all names!

As I look at my life, any success I have seen has come thru obedience.

I obeyed Him when I moved away from my family to Kansas City as a 19-year-old; I obeyed him in choosing my wife, obeyed Him to stay in KC when being offered a home paid for and a good job when I had nothing. True success is obedience. Not what it looks like on the outside to you or anyone else looking at your life, but what it looks like to Him.

No matter how successful I look on my Insta account, it is what God thinks that matters.

This is why I believe the most significant asset we all have is not on home, our 401K, or even our family, but it is THE VOICE OF GOD in our lives and being able to hear and obey.

If there has been any success in my life, it has come mainly from these four things. I know my why, I strive to be a person of action, I surround myself with people that are much better than I am, and last, my aim is obedience. And any success you have as a leader will come thru similar things.