What Makes a Great Leader Great?

If someone were to ask you what makes a great leader?  What would you say?  Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill, and Steve Jobs were all considered great leaders.  Why?  Vision, innovation, love, courage, energetic, transformational, servants?

Consider the example of the greatest leader of all time, Jesus Christ.  Philippians 2:3-8 says, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!"  A good leader is humble...like Jesus.  A good leader has courage...like Jesus.  A good leader has love...like Jesus.  A good leader prays...like Jesus.  A good leader listens...like Jesus.  A good leader is transformational...like Jesus.  A good leader means what he says and does what he means...like Jesus.

You may not consider yourself a leader, but you are.  If you are a teenager, grade schoolers are following you.  If you are a college student, high schoolers are following you.  If you are a parent, your children are following you.  If you are a co-worker, your fellow workers are following you.  If you are an employer, your employees are following you.  If there is anyone in your life looking up to you, you are a leader whether you realize it or not.

My prayer for all of us is that as we lead, we follow.  We follow Jesus who not only forgives us for our failures in leading, but also motivates us and exemplifies for us what leadership is all about.  Thank you for your humble leadership!  May God continue to give you strength to lead others closer to Him! 

I'd like to hear from you: What do you consider to be the greatest quality of a leader?