Blue Collar Leadership Skills - Part 1 - Surround Yourself With The Right People

The first thing that I can relate to Jesus is that he was a blue-collar worker too. He was raised and worked as a carpenter until he was 30 years old. Therefore, I think some of his teaching and leadership may reflect his work background. Consequently, I will study the book of John, as this is when he demonstrates many of his leadership styles.

 Surround Your Self With The Right People!

In the first chapter of John, one of the first things that Jesus does is asks people to follow him. I think that there is a lesson to be learned here. As a leader, it is essential to surround yourself with the right people. Here is a Bible verse for this topic.

•  "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." Proverb 13:20.

So would this method of leadership work today? Let's look at a few successful people and see what advice they give.

• "Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out." ~Ronald Reagan.
•  "Surround yourself with people who take their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard and play hard." ~Colin Powell.
• "Surround yourself with people that are full of ideas, and people that are not going to be "yes-men." Surround yourself with smart, truthful, honest people." ~Donald Trump.

These are just a few quotes of successful people; however, the list goes go on. It is obvious that surrounding yourself with the right people is vital in life and business. While many discovered this method and gave credit to it, Jesus nailed this down many years ago. This method is nothing new. So if you are going to follow the leadership of Jesus, be sure to surround yourself with the right people in life and business.

Make It Happen!

You will also read in chapter one that Jesus goes out seeking his followers. He did not wait for them to find him. Another lesson Jesus provides is that you must go out to make things happen. You can not sit around and expect things to come to you.

I think this is an excellent lesson for us to learn in business and life. I believe it is essential to pray for things going on in our lives, but a mistake to sit back and wait for him to provide.

In the movie Facing The Giants, an example of this is given. Two farmers are praying for rain. One farmer waits for his prayers to be answered, and the other farmer plants seed, and all of the work needed for when the rain comes. Which farmer do you think received God's prayer? Of course, the one who was prepared!

Here is a bible verse that conveys to make it happen.

• "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." ~ Proverbs 14:23 (NIV

Now let's take a look at current day leaders to see if this applies in business and life.

• "Some people want it to happen; some wish it would happen; others make it happen." ~Michael Jordan.
• "Apply yourself. Get all the education you can, but then, by God, do something. Don't just stand there; make it happen." ~Lee Iacocca.
• "You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream. You've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself." ~Diana Ross.

These quotes make it clear from people from diverse backgrounds believe in the leadership style that Jesus used. It's evident in the Bible and clear from successful people that we can't sit on our butt to make things happen.

Use Authority And Be Confident 

To be a leader, you must also be firm and confident. You must know the vision and values of your purpose. I feel that Jesus demonstrates this by asking people to follow him. He did not hesitate or ask them to follow him if it fits into their schedule. He firmly said, "follow me," very directly with authority. I believe that there are times that we must use authority to be good teachers, leaders, or even parents.

Build Credibility 

Convince people to believe in you. Trusting the teacher is one of the teaching methods that I have learned as a teacher. I have also heard Zip Ziglar quote something that reminds me of this. "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." In education, I have learned if you can not get the students on your side or trust you, most of what you teach them will go in one ear and out the other. Therefore, time should be spent building credibility with the students before spilling out all of your knowledge. They also need to know why this applies to them, but that is another lesson. In John 1:47-49 Jesus convinced Nathanael that he already knew who he was and proves it by telling Nathanael what he was doing before he had ever even seen Jesus. Once Jesus convinces Nathanael, he believed that Jesus was who he said he was.

Know And Share Vision!

In the last couple of verses of chapter 1, Jesus gives them a glimpse of what will come. He tells them that they will see heaven open up and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. I believe this holds another lesson of Jesus' leadership and teaching methods. This method is to know where you're going (a vision) and share that with your students, employees, or followers. You are more likely to have your followers buy into your leadership and want to be a part of your vision (team) if you share your direction and purpose with your followers.

 Lessons Learned

1. Surround yourself with the right people. Good employees or followers can help you achieve success. The wrong employees or followers can cause you a lot of grief. This can apply in business, life, and spiritual life.

2. Make it happen. Sometimes we must go out of the way to make it happen. We cannot sit around and expect things to happen for you automatically.

3. Use authority and be confident. A leader or teacher must know when to use authority and be confident. People have a hard time following someone that is not confident in themself.

4. Build credibility. Before you teach a class or run a business, you must trust your students or employees. Therefore, please spend some time with students or employees to convey why you have the credentials to be their teacher, employer, or leader.

5. Make your followers a part of the team. Share your visions and plans with your followers. Try to find ways to encourage your followers to be a part of your team. If the followers know that you are willing to share your vision with them, they are more likely to do their best for you.

These five steps will demonstrate leadership that Jesus left for us was effective then, effective today, and will still be effective for years to come. By following these blue-collar steps, you will be more successful in business and life.