Encouragement is 51% of Leadership

Encouragement provides the emotional fuel that enables people to hold longer, reach farther and dig deeper than previously believed possible.

John Maxwell says that encouragement is 51% of leadership. That is so true.

As a leader, a great part of your role is to give people hope, to build them up and help them believe in themselves in a greater measure than they have before. In short, to live a better life – through Christ.

Do others see you as an encourager?

Encouragement isn’t something that you do from a checklist of “things to do today.” It’s a way of life for a leader. Encouragement is not a soft expression from a weak leader.

Good leaders, who are strong leaders, understand that encouragement is a core element to sustained influence.

Essentially, sincere encouragement comes from a deep love and belief in people, and a desire to see them experience life in a better way.

Encouragers naturally draw people to them.

Let me raise the bar on the definition of encouragement. As a leader in a local church, if you are an encourager, people will naturally move toward you. When they see you, they smile and instinctively will be drawn toward you. They want to be around you.

Note: People being drawn to you is not the goal; it’s the result. People want to be around you because of your positive contribution to their life.

This is not about a charismatic personality. It doesn’t matter if five people seek you out or fifty-five people seek you out. The point is that people will literally move toward you, whether they see you in the church lobby, a park, a restaurant or Walmart because you cause their life to be a little brighter.

I’m not referring to people who want permission for something, an extension cord or keys to the storage area, but people who want to be around you!

Let’s be honest, life is wonderful, but the pressures of life will weigh people down, so anyone who consistently and sincerely lifts people up gains the ability to influence—meaning to lead!

Life is wonderful, but the pressures of life will press people down, so anyone who consistently and sincerely lifts people up gains the ability to influence—meaning to lead! 

If you are a leader in a local church and people don’t seem to seek you out, or be drawn to you, there is a reason. You need to discover what it is. Ask someone you trust, who loves you, and will tell the truth. For now, start encouraging others. Do it sincerely and often.

Encouragers communicate with a positive bias.

John Maxwell is the most consistently positive person I know. He has high faith in people and sees life for its potential over its problems. He’s not unrealistic. John knows that life can be difficult. He simply refuses to get stuck there. You just never hear John complain. That’s the way it is with an encouraging leader, they communicate with a positive bias.

Don’t be the leader who complains about how much work they have, how tired they are and all the problems they face. No one wants to follow that person.

As Christian leaders, it’s important that we encourage those we lead spiritually. (See Acts 11:22-26)

Continue to point people toward God, challenge their faith, and help them see that their trust in God is the best way to receive true, deep soul-level encouragement. Even though as leaders we must encourage, this helps people learn to find encouragement in God on their own.

Encouragers invest generously in others.

I love telling this story about one of my mentors and encouragers – Keith Drury, (now with Jesus where he is encouraged for eternity.) Keith was a professor in the Ministry Department at Indiana Wesleyan University. They called him Coach D! Keith demonstrated such generosity that marked my life for good.

I was young and clueless in ministry, and Keith was pouring leadership into a group of us young guys. I didn’t have any money, and he knew there was a great leadership conference I needed to attend. After our meeting, he handed me a book to read and stuffed it in my bag. When I later opened it, I found two $100 bills stapled inside with a note that said, essentially, “I believe in you, and see you at the conference!!”

I was blown away, that’s a lot of money, but back then it was a ton of money! More than the money was Keith’s investment of time and encouragement in me. The investment has Kingdom dividends even to this day!

Encouragement through generosity is not just money we invest; it’s our time, love, guidance, belief and care.

Encouragers are grateful for what they have.

Gratitude is an essential attribute of leaders who are encouragers. By being genuinely grateful for what you have your general disposition is brighter and it’s in your nature to be able to encourage.

If you focus on what you don’t have, people pick that up. That makes it difficult for you to encourage others toward who they are to become.

If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you can’t pour your energy into what others need because those people become part of the solution for you to get what you want.

When you are grateful for what you have, you are more naturally motivated to encourage others.

Bottom line, you can’t encourage if you are not an encouraged person yourself.

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Take all this in knowing that leaders, even the best of the encouragers, occasionally have a bad day or a rough season. That’s normal.

But a good and resilient leader will do whatever it takes to get through it, over it, and get back in the game.

That’s my encouragement to you. You will have an occasional difficult day, but it’s all worth it. Get some counsel from a friend, shake it off, remember your calling and continue to encourage those around you.