In his drive to inspire, train and encourage strong and purposeful church leadership, author and speaker, Brad Lomenick, emphasises the need for ‘authenticity’ at all levels of leadership. He lists 12 points as of vital importance in being authentic as a leader:

1. In whatever way you choose to communicate: be real. You have to remember that as a leader you’re always on view. So you need to be genuine – not a fake, even on your Facebook or a twitter account. Don’t live a secondary on-line life.

2. Constantly turn over those rocks in your life that might hide something nasty. Uncover the areas you need to make clean or were your covering something up. Always be open and honest about who you really are.

3. Don’t let success make you inaccessible. It’s not possible to be available to everyone but be wise and discerning, open to helping where you can. Try and follow the advice: “Do for one what you wish you could do for many.”

4. Don’t keep others at arms length. Overcome your fear of the face-to-face. Digital interaction will isolate you and prevent others from uncovering your weaknesses and flaws, but it reduces your ability to influence others.

5. Ask the important questions. Great solutions only come from great problems which create solutions. Great questions often reflect your most important values.

6. Invite direct reports from other and reassess yourself regualraly. It’s uncomfortable, but also helpful. “You can’t love people and influence them unless you are close to them. Up close means you can see my warts.”

7. Accept a better standard. The goal of every Christian is to become more like Christ. Don’t try to dress like, talk like, pray like, jokes like any lesser hero. You’ll deep down feeling like a cheap copy version – not authentic.

8. Be interested over interesting. Start with giving to others the attention and care you’d want them to give you.

9. Know the blind spots in your leadership. Everyone else does. Be comfortable enough in your leadership that those around you have the freedom to tell you the truth without repercussions.

10. Make more of those around you, and less of yourself. Servant leaders are willing to be less so that others can be more. Authentic leaders serve and understand the power of putting others first. And great leaders attract great people to their team.

11. Actively Build a Support Network- Beware of people who only tell you what you want to hear. Keep honest people in your life so that you can stay grounded in the reality of your experiences.

12. Be willing to share your struggles. Create environments where you can deal with things and be honest; a community where you can talk about the things you are dealing with without getting arrows in the back.

Are you a high-octane, energising leader with big ideas and the skills to back them up? Do you help shape the hearts and minds of those you lead? In short, are you a Catalyst Leader? The reality is that most of us want to be good leaders but we’re not sure how to build those elements in a way that will deliver the most impact in our leadership.

The Catalyst Leader lays out the key elements and defines what it means to be a Catalyst and reveals the path for developing these elements in your own leadership skill set.

Readers learn:
• The habits and practices that help Catalyst leaders serve and lead
• Character and competence they’ve built into their lives to fuel their ministries and businesses and keep their lives on track
• The eight key principles for leading well now and leading well over the long haul
• How to be a fundamentally different leader within a year, plus lead their teams better and risk more courageously.
You may be recognised as a leader but it doesn’t mean you are influencing and truly making a difference.

The Catalyst Leader is a valuable new resource designed to help you lead now and lead well. 288 pages