Authentic leaders have to be approachable and real. Over the years at Catalyst, we’ve tried to be authentic as an organization and as a leadership movement. We strive to be available, answering e-mails quickly, and even posting our e-mails on our website. We’ve maintained a concierge service since we started Catalyst that made following up with folks and connecting personally a priority. It’s incredibly important to us that we are authentic, humble, and personable. No matter how big our organization gets, we want to maintain this essential trait.
I try my best to be personable, even as Catalyst continues to grow. When you are in a hurry or think someone isn’t worth your time, remember that you were once in that position. One piece of advice I tell leaders all the time is when you’re small, act big. And when you’re big, act small.
Author and friend Bob Goff values authenticity and approachability. He even put his cell phone number in his recent book Love Does. He wants folks to connect with him and feel the ability to talk with him. Accessibility is so important in today’s culture. With social media and technology, the game has changed. People expect to be able to always connect with you.
Here are some best practices I’ve found helpful to cultivate the essential leadership trait of authenticity:
Practice self-awareness. Before you can release your true self you have to recognize your true self. Too many people refuse to accept and even name their weaknesses, struggles, and pitfalls. As a result, they accept a version of themselves they believe others will like better. Understand who you really are.
Question yourself. I encourage leaders to evaluate their self-acceptance with honest questions: Whose attention do you crave? Are you chasing the approval of friends, colleagues, and customers? What is it you don’t like about yourself, and how can that shortcoming also be a strength? Self-diagnosis can lead to self-discovery, which is the only path to authenticity.
Move from self-promotion to storytelling. I can appreciate the effort made by individuals in the public eye to shape their personal brands. But I also worry about the effects this can have on living an authentic life. If you want to be a change maker, begin to see public outlets as places for sharing your personal story.
Resist the urge to create a digital alter ego. Refuse to hide behind a website or Facebook page. Instead, adopt the mind-set of Claire Diaz Ortiz, social innovation director for Twitter: “Social media is not just about being connected. It’s about being transparent, intimate, and honest.”3
Learn to laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Instead, grow comfortable enough with who you are to laugh and laugh often. When you are able to accept and even chuckle at your blunders and mess-ups, others will too. And this common experience will help you bond with them.
Build a support network. Beware of the temptation to surround yourself with flatterers who only tell you what you want to hear. Keep honest people in your life that can help you stay grounded and keep from thinking you’ve arrived.
Be interested over interesting. Be more concerned with listening instead of talking. Focus on others, not yourself.
Constantly turn over the rocks in your life and leadership. Uncover areas that need to be made clean. Big things are at stake. It’s exhausting to keep up a fake persona. Learn to be honest. It’s easier to impress people from a distance, so many leaders keep others at arm’s length. For example, we often prefer digital interaction to life-on-life exchanges. This insulates us and prevents others from uncovering our weaknesses and flaws. But it also reduces our ability to influence others.
This is why I think it is a good idea to invite a direct report you trust to do a 360-degree review of you every now and then. It’s uncomfortable but also helpful. As Rick Warren says, “You can’t love people and influence them unless you are close to them. Up close means you can see my warts. You can impress people from a distance, but you can only influence them up close.”
This means being willing to hear things you don’t like without getting defensive. Tough conversations will lead to deeper intimacy and trust, and they will help you embrace your true self. If you’re like me, the thought of this rattles your cage and makes you sweat. Being ourselves is more uncomfortable and difficult than we’d like to admit. But the result of authenticity is freedom from fear, and this is a liberty that every leader needs to truly reach their potential.
Be strong in grace. Your grace, your gift, your ability, who God’s called you to be, just be yourself. . . . Don’t be anybody else, don’t compare yourself, just be you. If “you” is not everybody’s cup of tea, then don’t worry about it.Judah Smith, senior pastor of The City Church
Be who you are. When we attempt to be someone else, we allow fear to control our lives. Fear that others won’t like us. Fear that others won’t follow us. Fear that we won’t be good enough. Unfortunately, the real you has to surface at some point. So inauthentic leaders often end up living a fractured life where their true selves are unleashed in private or only with certain individuals. And as we’ve seen too often in modern times, living a secret life is fraught with many dangers. In the new economy of leadership, authenticity rises to the top. You must unleash the real you.
One of the challenges in organizations today is creating space for leaders to admit and share their challenges. We need to create community where people can talk about the things they are dealing with without getting arrows in the back. Be willing to share your struggles.
To me, the pastor or leader who is viewed as a normal person has an extreme advantage over the one who is viewed as the perfect spiritual leader. To demystify your pastoral role, you’ll have to take some self-revealing risks.Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv
At a recent Catalyst event, we filled hundreds of balloons with helium and offered them to attendees outside of the venue. When someone took a balloon, they were handed a marker and challenged to write their greatest fears on the balloon’s face. Some scribbled “insecurity” while others wrote “failure” or “lack of acceptance.” Participants then released the balloons and watched them float away. The lesson: you have to admit your fears in order to accept who you are and grow into the leader you want to become.
As those latex bulbs floated into the stratosphere that day, I felt a sense of authenticity descend upon our attendees. I hoped we’d made them better leaders through this small act that helped them become a bit less fearful and a bit more authentic. My hope was that they would live better and, as a result, lead others better.
Note: The preceding is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of The Catalyst Leader by Brad Lomenick. Used with permission from Thomas Nelson, Inc.
How Do We Wage War And Pray With The Stars?
There is a divine grace of prosperity and abundance in the season of Iyar when the stars in the constellation of Taurus, the Bull declare the glory of the King who will come soon to rule the earth as Messiah. The Israelites experienced a tremendous supply of food from God in the form of manna and quails. “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud… And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. You too can dwell in abundance in this season of economic boom.” (Exodus 16:10, 13). You too can dwell in abundance in this season of economic boom if you: 1. SUBMIT TO GOD: “Acquaint now thyself with Him…” (Job 22:21). 2. BE AT PEACE WITH HIM: “…and be at peace…” (Job 22:21). 3. OBEY GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS: “receive…the law from his mouth…” (Job 22:22). 4. KEEP HIS WORDS IN YOUR HEART: “…lay up His words in thine heart” (Job 21:22).
On Prayers at midnight: Excerpts… ” Prayer at midnight in the season of Nisan must be geared towards asking God to initiate eternal memories in the nations. It should be directed at asking Him to secure and safeguard whatever eternal memories He has already initiated…” GOD SPECIALISES IN INITIATING ETERNAL MEMORIALS AT MIDNIGHT “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed” (Acts 16:25-26) Every day dawns at midnight and God loves to use this time to initiate His divine memorials. The universal and perpetual standards for the celebration of Passover were first laid in the midnight of Nisan. It was at the dawn of the first day of the first month that “…The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be your beginning of months, it shall be the first month.” Similarly, even in the matter of executing judgment against His enemies, Exodus 11:4-5 says, “Thus says the Lord: About midnight, I will go out into the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn of the land shall die…” Prayer at midnight in the season of Nisan must be geared towards asking God to initiate eternal memories in the nations. It should be directed at asking Him to secure and safeguard whatever eternal memories He has already initiated. The essence of the Passover which is still proclaimed by the stars in the constellation of Aries has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. His death on the Cross is the supreme significance of the purpose of the Passover. Christ is our Passover Lamb slain for the redemption of all things. The first midnight of Nisan should be a time of asking God to open the eyes of individuals, families and nation to see the eternal memories that Christ’s death on the Cross established for mankind. KEY PRAYER FOCUS: 1. RAISE THE SACRIFICE OF THANKSGIVING THAT CAN RELEASE DIVINE GRACE TO YOU: “At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments” (Psalm 119:62). 2. SMITE A DEVASTATING BLOW ON THE ENEMY AND HIS FIRSTBORN: “And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle” (Exodus 12:29).
Some Testimonies: “I believe in these teachings not only that are they are in tandem with God’s revealed Word but also by reason of my past experience in occultism, astrology and various occultic phenomenon of using stargazing and projections to manipulate peoples’ destinies, nations, institutions and places in alliance with demon spirits to advance selfish and Satanic purposes. Thank God these teachings have enhanced my perspective positively to using them to wage war and advance the kingdom of God on earth. This is not an act of looking up to the sky and gaze at stars or predict as in horoscope but to look into God’s word using His promises enforcing revealed truth in the Scriptures to assess our inheritance and sustain our victory over forces of evil and Satan kingdom under God through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Dr. Lewis Akpogena). 2. “God has blessed and open my eyes through these teachings. Also yesterday, God used the rain that fell to do something powerful for us at Rumuosi. A wicked native doctor in the community was struck dead. Praise the Lord” (Steve Equzo). 3. “I am friom Yoruba but pasturing a Church in Emuoha. All the things that Prohpet Duke said concerning me are true about me and my family as well as the Ministry” (Pastor Moses E. ). 4. “I want to testify to the glory of God that Dr. Steve Ogan is a true man of God. His teachings and books has blessed my life and Ministry” (Pastor Oluremi E. ), 5. “I am happy to be here today and everything daddy Prophet Duke said concerning me and my husband are true. I believe God will perfect them” (Pastor Happiness) 6. “As l left home yesterday, l received a call from somebody that have been owing me which l have forgotten according to the word of prophecy by Prophet Duke. I give the glory to God”(Sis. Daba). 7. “l just want to thank God for the opportunity to really know these deep truth about the stars as taught by Dr. Steve Ogan in this Conference which l have been confused about before now. Praise God” (Pastor Morris). May 2013 edition of Men/Women on Assignment Empowerment Conference being organized by the Apostolic Prophetic Renaissance & Dimensions Fellowship at the instance of Apostle Ezekiel Emmanuel Duke is scheduled to hold on 27 29 May 2013 same venue by 8.00am to 12noon daily tagged: “Anointing for unusual open doors” (1 Cor. 16:8-9). Prepare to attend and experience unusual open doors.
Dr. Lewis Akpogena
08055059656
E-mail: akpogena@yahoo.com
