This topic is is adapted from the 365 Bible YouTube channel.
Success in business can prove to be very elusive. While there is much discussion on what defines a good leader, we will look at two examples of successful leaders and glean examples from them.
[Related: Boost Your Leadership with These 6 Principles]
Achieving Lasting Success
Jeff Bezos is the founder and creator of Amazon.com, one of the most successful companies in history. Because of Amazon’s success, Bezos is considered the richest man in the world. He states in a recent Inc. Magazine article that his success comes from focusing on the things that are unchanging. Rather than chasing after the next innovation, he focuses on the constants, such as diverse product offerings and quality customer service.
[External Resource: Jeff Bezos has stuck to this simple yet powerful approach]
The World’s Most Influential Leader
Jesus is the world’s most influential leader. In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches that we are to treat other people the way we would like to be treated. Further, he states that this is the essence of all the teaching of the law and the prophets. We call this unchanging principle “the Golden Rule.”
Jesus’s Unchanging Focus
By implementing Jesus’s Golden Rule, we find that we are to place our focus on loving people as opposed to loving possessions or recognition. By placing your focus on putting people first, you follow the successful leadership model given to us by Jesus. This model demonstrates we are to focus on the unchanging constant in life he values most: others.
[External Resource: Christian Leadership vs Secular Leadership]
Written content on this topic by David Bassett.
Discussion Questions:
- Watch the video together or invite someone to summarize the topic.
- What is your initial reaction to this video? Do you disagree with any of it? What jumped out at you?
- Discuss in what ways society measures successful leadership.
- What things do you currently put your focus on to achieve success? How successful does the focus make you? Explain.
- Read Matthew 7:12. In what ways would you, as a leader, put the Golden Rule to practice?
- What percentage of your time and efforts go into achieving the focus of the Golden Rule, putting others first? How could you change or improve this?
- Write a personal action step based on this conversation.
