Select Page

“Example” as defined by dictionary.com “is a pattern or model, as of something to be imitated or avoided. In other words, by looking at a leader, we should see a model of what we are to be & conversely, what we are not to be.

Maxwell goes on to give a quote by Colin Powell:

You can issue all the memos and give all the motivational speeches you want, but if the rest of the people in your organization don’t see you putting forth your very best effort every single day, they won’t either.”

(page 136)

In a nutshell,  a good leader takes their people where they need to go. They do not just tell them where to go or the direction to go, they personally take them their – by their example.

Being an example is important because people believe what their leader is doing more than what they hear their leader saying.

Whoa, whoa! Let’s apply this to parenting……

If I truly were to apply that to parenting, it totally squashes the saying, “Do what I say & not what I do” that is so often thrown around.

But then I need to apply this to all of my daily living. Am I truly following the example that has been given to me, for surely I have been given one:

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
(Philippians 2:5-11 NLT)

Jesus leads us by example – in humility, with obedience, serving, sacrificing.

Do I live that way each & every day?
 Maxwell goes on to write, “People welcome achievers who deliver the goods – who get results.” Probably very true in any organization. But in reading that statement, I realized that there is only one welcome I want to hear. I do not want to stand before my God & one day give Him nothing but excuses. I want to hear His welcome….
“Well done, thou good & faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21 KJV).