Beyond Success: Why Faith Driven Leadership Matters

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As a faith driven leader, you have a unique purpose. Only you can fulfill it. We could say that maybe I, maybe Tim could step in and take my place. Maybe someone else that's a great leader can. No, I actually believe that you, we, myself, we were created for a specific purpose.

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Only we can fulfill it. And the world desperately needs you to step up and step into that role of being a faith driven leader.

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Hello there. Tim Winders here host of seek. Go. Create. Welcome back.

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This is episode two of our the Faith Driven Leader series that we're doing, and this episode is titled Beyond Success why Faith Driven Leadership Matters. Why is it important for you? Why would you even want to consider being a faith driven leader? I think there's a lot of reasons for that. Number one, you'll probably just feel the tug or the urge, but we're going to talk about some other things as we get into this episode.

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I appreciate you being here. Let's do a real quick recap. Let's talk about what episode one was all about. If you haven't listened to episode one, make sure you circle back and listen to that one. That was unleashing.

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The power of faith driven leadership. It basically is what it is. We define some things like what is faith driven leadership? What is faith, what does driven mean? And what does it mean to be a leader?

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We define that and talked about some details there. We also went over the biblical story, which is, I think, one of the megastars of leadership of the faith driven leader in the Bible, which is Moses. We talked about that in episode one. Today we're going to be going through more of why it is important to be a faith driven leader. And I actually have two biblical stories that we're going to do as we wrap up.

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Going to talk about the life of Joseph and the life of Esther as it relates to some of our items here. I do want to mention a few things, though, after this episode. We've got three more. There's five total in this season, so make sure you're keeping an eye out for those. We're talking about mastering faith.

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This will be episode three. Mastering Faith Driven Leadership. Proven tips and strategies. It's more of the how. How are you going to go about being a faith driven leader?

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And then overcoming challenges is a big one. Everyone should know that as leaders, we're going to face challenges. And so we're going to be talking about that. We're going to talk about the grit and grace of faith driven leadership. And we're going to be looking at the story of David in that episode.

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And then finally, our fifth installment or episode in this series in this season is Purpose Driven Leadership, how faith can transform your leadership and what it means for leading others and being a leader of others. Before I get into what we're doing today, though, I want to remind you that we've put together some resources to help you become a faith driven leader, to help you go along this journey. One of the things we said early on in our first episode was, this is not a destination. We're not trying to get to a place where we could all sit back or gather together and say, we are now faith driven leaders. Congratulations.

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Here's a certificate or here's a diploma. No, this is a journey. And part of the journey is we're hitting these episodes, trying to hit them concise and clear and some good teaching points and some stories that help us with it. And then we've got resources outside of that you can go access. And one of the ones that I'm going to encourage you to go do is to take the Faith Driven Leader quiz.

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It's 20 questions that we've put together that just allow you to assess how you're doing. And it's not really meant to be punitive at all. And you're assessing yourself. There's not anyone that's going to be hovering over you to say, oh, you're horrible, or you're great. I think that actually goes against what we're talking about here, being a faith driven leader.

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But go take the quiz. We just created a short and simple assessment as just a starting point to get a checkpoint along our journey. And it's something you can go back to. We'll make it available to where you can go back to it and take it easily. You could find that@Timwinders.com Timwinders.com.

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That's my personal website, Timwinders.com Faithdrivenquiz. And again, it's just 20 questions. You rank yourself one through five, you come up with a score, and it just lets you know how you're doing. Just go do that. Pretty simple, pretty easy.

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And I think that'll help you with the topic that we're talking about. So again today, let's look at the topic of beyond success. Why faith driven leadership matters. As a faith driven leader, you have a unique purpose. Only you can fulfill it.

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We could say that maybe Tim could step in and take my place. Maybe someone else that's a great leader can. No, I actually believe that you, we, myself, we were created for a specific purpose. Only we can fulfill it. And the world desperately needs you to step up and step into that role of being a faith driven leader.

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So I do believe that there is a uniqueness to you and to us, those that are called into this role that we're calling a faith driven leader. It's also important to know that it doesn't matter whether you're young or old, it's never too early or never too late to start leading with faith. There are many people maybe that are in my age bracket. I'm almost 60 years old. I'll be 60 years old this year that think, you know what?

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They've lived their life. I need to lead in a way that allows younger people to just take over. And that may be the case, but I believe that many people the example we used in the last episode, Moses, he was, as best we could tell, 80 years old when he stepped into what most of us know as his calling and purpose to lead God's people out of Egypt, out of bondage, out of slavery. I don't think it matters what the age is. Moses was older, joseph, we're going to talk about him.

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He showed incredible leadership potential at a young age. I think that if you're a young leader right now and maybe you're going through the thought process of, I need more experience, I need more life under my belt before I can step up and lead in certain roles, that may be correct, but I can tell you, you may need to step up right now. The world needs you to step into certain roles. It needs your energy, it needs your zeal, it needs your abilities and your talents. And then also, if you might be a more mature person, my age or beyond, and there's some things that you're feeling as if you're supposed to do, then you know what?

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Step into that. Go do it. Maybe have some people that surround you and help you in both situations. But I believe that age doesn't matter. Being a faith driven leader also means understanding that it's not about you.

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Stop that. Don't make it all about you. I think many people in leadership roles, they like to point to themselves, or they may not initially do it, but as they move up in leadership and they have people celebrate them or talk about them or give them accolades, all of a sudden it starts becoming about them. They become arrogant, cocky, and they lose humility. And we need to understand that we're merely a vessel for this higher purpose.

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By recognizing this, we'll be able to lead with humility and put the needs of our team and our communities and our organizations first. So it's not about us. Sustainable leadership is crucial for long term impact. What do I mean by that? There may be Times where we need to hustle and grind, stay up late, get up early, go.

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But then there also may be Times where we're in it for the long haul. I've mentioned Moses a few Times. It was 40 years him leading the people of Israel through the desert before they entered into the Promised Land. And he didn't enter into the Promised Land with them. And there was a period of Time along the way where he was being the person that was overseeing and ruling and leading.

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And his father in law Jethro, came to him and said, you can't keep this up. It's not sustainable. You need some help. And you know what? We need to recognize ourselves that someTimes it's not all about us.

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Like we said earlier, it's not all about us. Just doing. We may need help and we need to think long term. I would almost say that we need to think eternal as far as being a faith driven leader for our help, for our well being, for some things we talk about in a future episode, about the challenges we face. Because many of our challenges, many leaders downfalls occur when they're tired and fatigued.

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And so we need to be sustainable and we need to make sure that we can do things for the long term. It's just good for us so we can continue to serve others. And then finally, as a faith driven leader, we have the opportunity to view our work as a ministry. It's something I went to Bible school, I know some people have gone to seminary and things like that. And when you start getting into church circles and church worlds, into a spiritual world, into faith communities, there is this thought that someTimes permeates those areas, that the highest calling that anyone can have is that of a full Time minister or a missionary or pastor or preacher, teacher, something like that.

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And those are all great and I'm not saying anything against them, but the person that is a faith driven leader in the marketplace, in a company, in a business or in a corporation, or in an organization, I really put them on as high a pedestal, if I can say that, as that person that's in full Time ministry. OftenTimes they've got the opportunity to minister even more than the person that is a full Time minister because they are interacting with the public and the people that are the masses more and more. So the only reason I bring this topic up here is I often find people when we talk about faith and leadership, they will automatically check out and they'll point to, oh, that's for my pastor, or that's for a minister, or that's for someone who's gone through seminary and they're preaching and teaching. No, this is for everyone. In fact, I would argue that the faith driven leader is for everyone that has a faith about them and that they are out in their communities, their companies, their organizations, leading.

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It's not just for ministers and pastors and it's not just about achieving success for yourself, but it's using your skills and talents to make a positive difference in the world. So those are some of the main points we wanted to look at here. Now let's look at a few biblical examples that we can draw from some of these points that we made. We're going to look at Joseph and we're going to look at Esther. So in this episode we have two, not just one, but two examples of faith driven leaders in the Bible.

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Joseph. Most people are aware of this, but the story that we hear of Joseph is at the end of the Book of Genesis and he started off with something he dreamed, had a dream that all his brothers and his family were bowing down to him. And he made I don't know if it was a mistake, I don't know if God wanted to do this but he basically shared that story with his family. And so that's how his life got started off. And he was one of the most prominent characters in the Bible known for his remarkable faith and his leadership qualities.

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It's a great study in leadership to study the life of Joseph. His life is a testament to the importance of being a faith driven leader. His story teaches us that faith is not just about believing in God but it is about trusting God's plan for our lives even in the face of adversity. Because he definitely faced adversity. His journey was not an easy one.

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He was sold into slavery by his brothers after he told them in a very excited way, he was one of the youngest. He told them, by the way, I had a dream and all of y'all bowed down to me. I was the favorite and everyone bowed down to me. And of course some of the older brothers didn't like that so they got upset. He was unjustly in prison later and he faced many hardships along the way.

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The story tells that story. However, through it all he never lost his faith in God. In fact, it was his faith that allowed him to interpret Pharaoh's dreams while he was imprisoned. And ulTimately he became the second in command, maybe like a prime minister of what was then the largest and most powerful country in the world which was Egypt. This position enabled him later to be positioned to save his family and many others from famine highlighting the importance of being a leader who prioritized the needs of others.

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Now, the title of this episode is why it's Important to Be a faith driven Leader. Had somewhere along the way Joseph given up given up faith, given up his faith in God. He would not have been in the role that allowed him to save his people when famine came to the land and they basically came seeking out help. And that's when his brothers came and he basically became their savior. It's an example.

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It's a type and reflection of Jesus Christ later that Joseph was a savior for his family, his people and for God's people. His struggles were not just a test of faith. They were also a part of listen to this. This is tough for us as faith driven leaders. It was part of God's plan for him.

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Through his trials, Joseph was able to develop the skills, the character traits needed to become a compassionate and effective leader. He may not have had that compassion at the beginning, but over the course of his life he developed it. His experiences allowed him to empathize with the struggles of others and lead with humility and wisdom. There's some great examples of it in that story of Joseph. His story teaches us that even though when we face difficult circumstances, we must trust in God's plan and continue to grow as leaders so that we may serve others in the future.

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That's a nice synopsis of Joseph's story. Just know that he lived a life of what we would look at as extreme struggle over the course of what may have been around eleven years. We're not exactly sure. He was struggled through eleven years and then he was elevated from a prisoner to a prime minister in a matter of what appears to be days in the example that we see in the story. And then he positioned himself or he was positioned to then be a savior for his family.

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Awesome story. Let's look at another one before we wrap up this episode. And this is the story of Esther, and she's a biblical figure who exemplifies the importance of being a faith driven leader. I want to say this is controversial in today's world. There are so many people in the faith world, and I'll say this more in maybe the church world, that are attempting to say that males have the lock or the more favored role as far as being faith driven leaders.

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And I just want to say bull, that is not the case. There are so many examples that we have in the Bible. Now, the Bible was a different Time culturally. But listen, there is ample opportunity for women to be faith driven leaders. And I just want to say that now, I will say there aren't a lot of examples that we find, but this one of Esther is a powerful one, that she was positioned very similar to Joseph to be a savior for her people.

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This was later in the story of the nation of Israel where they were basically taken captives. They were removed from their land, the Promised land, and they got after Moses got them there and they were brought into the nation that was, I guess called Persia at the Time. And Esther was the biblical figure who exemplifies the importance of being a faith driven leader. As I said earlier, her story teaches us that even in the face of adversity which she faced, it, just like Joseph, faith can provide the strength and courage to make a positive impact on the lives of others. Her faith journey also highlights the importance of obedience I want to repeat that word, obedience to God's plan, as it allowed her to be positioned in a role to save her people from destruction.

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Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Just like that story of Joseph, her life was filled with struggles and challenges. As an orphan, she faced many hardships, including being taken from her home and made to serve in the palace of the Persian king. This is something that we have to be careful not go down a path here, but she was brought into the palace to serve as a king and then when they opened up the opportunity for someone to be queen, she actually was able to step into that role. Through it all, she remained faithful.

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And listen to this, that word again obedient to God's plan. I think oftenTimes as leaders, this is where we bring ourself, our thoughts into it. We don't really want to be obedient to someone else's plan. We want it to be our plan, our strategy. And we hear in this story now, this is the second Time that it's important to be obedient to God's plan.

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As faith driven leaders, we must be obedient to his plan, to God's plan. It was her obedience that led her to being chosen as queen and placed in a position to save her people. Her obedience and faith were critical in her role as savior for people. When faced with the task of approaching the king to plead for her people's salvation, she had to, because of the protocols of the day, she had to rely on her faith and obedience to get her through that moment. She put her own life at risk, which could have happened based on the protocols, like I mentioned earlier, trusting that God would be with her.

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Her story shows that being a faith driven leader requires both faith and that word again, obedience. By following his guidance, we too can be positioned to make a positive impact on the lives of others. And I want to stress again the emphasis of this episode was to say why it is important for me, for you, for others, to be faith driven leaders and to allow ourselves to be obedient, to step into those roles because we don't know the plan that God has for the future that it could possibly save. As we saw with Joseph, as we saw with Esther, it literally saved their people, them being positioned. Now, our roles may not be as critical, as important as saving an entire nation or an entire group of people.

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It might be, but it is nonetheless important for us to operate with faith and obedience so that we can be positioned where God would have us be. If it's a position of a small leadership role that we perceive it, or it could be that you, myself, others are going to be positioned in a powerful position role we need to be and step into that role of a faith driven leader. I want to remind you of something before we wrap up here. If this has been a great I've enjoyed the stories that we've had. I want to remind you about the quiz that we've got, the short and simple assessment, the faith driven quiz.

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Just go to Timwinders.com, take that quiz, and see how you're doing as a faith driven leader. I bet you're doing well. But I know that we can always do better that's that humility and that mindset we have. So go take the quiz. I think it'll be a blessing to you and be a help for you to just find out where you are and how you're doing.

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Plus, the questions will get you thinking about things. There's only 20 questions. It's real simple, real easy. You assess yourself. Make sure you go take that quiz.

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Timwinders.com faithdrivenquiz. I do want to remind you that this is episode two of five episodes. And coming up, the next episode is mastering Faith driven leadership and almost hesitate to use the word mastering because we're always in the mastering role, but it's really proven tips and strategies. In other words, how do we become a faith driven leader? And then we've got a few more episodes after that, but make sure you tune in, subscribe or follow us if you aren't doing that already.

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If you're watching this on YouTube, go down and hit that subscribe button. And make sure you get notified if you're on some of the podcast platforms, I think it's follow now on most of them. Make sure you're following us. We have new episodes that drop every Monday. Until next Time, continue being being all of that faith driven leader that you are created to be.