The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
John Maxwell
Chapter Ten
The Law of Connection
This law teaches me that as a leader I have to find a point where I can connect with someone. There is always at least one point where we can see eye to eye. Sometimes that connect point is obvious and sometimes it isn’t. However if we continue to probe we can find the common ground. That is one reason that I like to project to those that I meet that I am approachable. I feel that people need to know that you really do care about them. That I just don’t sit in an office or on the front row on Sunday mornings apart from everyone else. I am who I say that I am, a real person with desires, problems and sins just like they are.
As I was leading the Odyssey group on Sunday mornings I could see that men were connecting with me, They could see that I was not just a staff pastor but that I was someone really concerned about them, their families and their walk with Christ. As time went on bonds strengthened so that relationships were forged to the point where we could talk about anything. The interesting thing about getting to that point is that I believe that they knew that I was not judging them. I would never condone sin but that I would actually love them just as they were.
In closing here are the six keys to connection as I see them.
➢ Be real. People will always smell out a fake. Be who you are. Use the personality that God gave you for His Glory.
➢ Invest some time with others. Build a relationship but don’t go crazy and stalk them.
➢ Be approachable. Don’t think you are something when you are not. (First key!!)
➢ Have respect for where they are. They will respond in kind. If it is a closed handed issue show them love and the Word. If it’s an open handed issue love them.
➢ Believe in them. Faith is a powerful force. People will know if you have faith invested in them.
➢ Don’t be superficial. Really give people a reason to see why you have faith in them.
Show people you care about them as individuals not as a person in a seat and the end result will be individuals who will charge hell with a squirt gun along side of you.
That’s all for now.
Caio
