Studying Daniel to Become a Better Leader
I have started to read another book by brothers Jason and David Benham entitled, Living Among Lions: How to Thrive like Daniel in Today’s Babylon. The book is written to empower Christians to stand strong in their faith while loving and serving the people around them. The authors use the story of Daniel from the Bible – and his distinct characteristics of conviction, commitment, and courage – as the background for all of the lessons shared. Daniel is one of my personal favorites to read about in the Bible, so I am, of course, really enjoying this read. I have also found myself empowered to apply these lessons to leadership in business.
The Importance of Identity
The Benham brothers remind readers of the importance of identity and, more importantly, how you create your identity. Your identity must be more than just what you do for a living; it is your values, your foundation, your faith and who you are – and then you take all of that with you into your place of business to lead others and be productive. Imagine yourself as a physical house – and your identity as the foundation. What “materials” make up your foundation? How intentional were you about creating that foundation? The intentionality of your identity is absolutely integral to your success as a leader. Personally, my identity is a follower of Christ. That is who I am, and my values are built upon that foundation. I bring that to my work every day and allow it to fuel me to be more productive and lead effectively.
Values of the Heart
Behavior is driven by your thinking. And your thoughts are driven by the values in your heart. So, if you want to behave differently, you have to re-evaluate what’s in your heart. What you value most will guide your thinking and ultimately guide – or change – your behaviors. Consider this for the people you lead in business, too. If you want your people to change their behaviors, you have to change their thinking. Generally speaking, there are only two ways to do that: (1) train them to think differently and thus become more productive, or (2) literally change their values. Both of those are hard to do. That’s why we spend a lot of time and emphasis on the hiring process to ensure we hire the person with the competencies and values that align with the role and our team.
Lead With Love
This book reminds me of the foremost type of leader I want to be for my people: a loving leader. Leading with love means that you attack issues only, not people, when problems arise. A loving leader is a person of action, who moves swiftly to solve problems or take advantage of opportunities. A feared leader is one quick to blame, attack, and belittle others. It is critical to lead with love.
I hope these three things are good reminders to you as they have been to me. I am looking forward to learning more about becoming a better leader by Daniel’s example as I read more of this book.
Written by Schuyler Williamson
REALTOR. Leader. Veteran. Business Owner. Investor.
Weekly Email List: https://www.schuylerwilliamson.com/weekly-leader-note
God Bless!
~ Schuyler Williamson