The Four Spirits of a Leader

You know , david , and I have said a lot that leadership is the ability to create an appetite in those who follow you . And what is the appetite ? When you look at I don't know most of the people that we're talking to are parents . They actually own businesses as well , because we're talking to faith-filled entrepreneurs .

If you look at your kids , what type of appetites are you creating in them ? That's a humbling question . I tell you that much . In your employees , what type of appetites are you creating them ? In your customers , in your vendors , in your clients , what type of appetites are you creating in them ?

One of our goals when we started our business we had several goals , obviously , but when it came down to leadership was we don't want to just do business with customers and clients , we want to actually lead them . We want to lead them to the cross .

And knowing that if you're going to lead somebody to the cross , then we have to conduct ourselves the right way , we have to do good business , and so when I think about leadership , I'm thinking about the ability to create an appetite in those who follow you , and I also think about the level five leader .

David , how does Jim Collins define the level five leader ? Yeah , so Jim Collins , who wrote the book From Good to Great , he said and that's a fantastic book he said the level five leader is the individual that has the perfect mix and the perfect balance of professional will and personal humility .

In other words , they have professional will , they will move forward , but it's also mixed with an equal balance of personal humility . Or they have incredible humility , they're super kind and generous , gracious , they're others-focused , they're very empathetic , but it's also mixed with an equal balance of professional will and determination . That's a five-liter .

I say that my son's coach at Lipscomb . His name is Lenny Johnson and he is a fantastic coach . Lenny Acuff Sorry , lenny Johnson is a different friend . I've got Lenny Acuff , yeah , and he used to tell the kids , the boys . He said I want you to stay humble and hungry . That's a level five leader .

You've got ambition , that's your hunger , but you've also got humility . We want you all to ascribe to level five leadership . And so what I wanna discuss today are the four spirits of a leader . Now , I got this from a podcast thing that I take in from a guy who's not a believer , but he was talking .

He's a great , great coach and leader and you got to understand that all things that you can learn from people , good principles they don't have to be believers for you to learn stuff Well , because wisdom is from the Lord and they actually . I've seen Tony Robbins say certain quotes that are supposedly his straight out of the book of Proverbs . That's 100% .

It's like all the science and the research . I love finding all the latest research on stuff that's 100% devoid of biblical truth , because I know that the truth that they're pulling out of that research is biblical truth . They just won't ever say that it is . So this guy is teaching something that they pulled from Native American teaching .

You know , like Indians , that they call it the four directions . So they would get a bunch of Indian leaders together and they would actually have like this little ceremony where they call in the four directions of , specifically , the winds from the four directions at the start of a gathering to give them wisdom .

Okay , and these four directions are actually four spirits and we find them all in the scripture , the four spirits of a leader , and we're going to look through all of these , but let me give you the four right out of the gate , okay the warrior spirit , the healer spirit , the teacher spirit and the visionary spirit . The teacher spirit and the visionary spirit .

So , while the native americans might not say jesus christ or whatever , in terms of when they're talking about the four directions , the four spirits they're calling in , we can say that the type of leader that the bible wants you to be are these four . They , the bible , wants you , is constantly calling you to be courageous , to foster the warrior in you .

The Bible is all about healing the healer spirit . The Bible is all about teaching , teaching people . And the Bible is all about vision . Habakkuk 2.2, . You know , write the vision , make it plain so that he who has it may run . So let's look at each of these .

Okay , here's the thing is that most of us , actually all of us , tend to gravitate toward one of the four more than the others . We all have a little bit of all four in us , and what we need to do to be a well-rounded leader is nurture our strength . So you might be more warrior than you are teacher . You need to understand that .

Nurture your strength but actually work on some of the other three . Yep , and that's interesting in the body of Christ You'll find like the warrior for the Lord and then the healer . And it's not we don't have to go by those terms , but I'm just saying the person that's bent toward the battle and the person that's bent toward the healing .

Oftentimes they will butt heads , but they have to see how they can both work together . That's why the Lord , in John , chapter 17 , he said unity . He wants us to pray for unity .

He wants us to be one as God and the Father , as Jesus and the Father are one , and so that's what's so important about this is that there's a unity amongst these leadership qualities and styles . The first thing that you need to be and this is why I love putting this one on the foundation when it comes to leadership is you need to be a warrior .

And what do we mean by this ? We're talking about a person of courage . Yep , and you know , courage is not the absence of fear . Courage is doing what's right in the face of it . David , what's the line you use for David and Goliath ? Yeah , david , you know , he , while Saul saw a giant too big to fight .

David saw a giant too big to miss and it's that warrior spirit that was inside of David . It's interesting Exodus , chapter 15 , was inside of David . It's interesting Exodus , chapter 15 , verse 3 , says the Lord is a warrior , the Lord is his name . Isaiah 42 , 13, . The Lord will go forth like a warrior , he will arouse his zeal like a man of war .

I mean , this is just crazy . Why would God even say that ? Because he knows there's a spiritual battle that's taking place . So , no matter what we're looking at , whether it's politically , economically , with our foreign policy , with our education , whatever , mainstream media , movies , music , whatever , it is a spiritual battle .

There's a spiritual battle that's taking place . And because that's the reality we have to understand God is a warrior and he wants us to be warriors . And how did David , before he fought Goliath ? How did he become that warrior ? How did he know that God would come through for him ? He had divine perspective .

He was faithful when the lion came to take one of the sheep . He was faithful when the bear came to take one of the sheep . He was faithful when the bear came to take one of the sheep and he saw what could happen with a guy who was trained trained with his sling who also has the spirit of God .

It's not just relying on the spirit of God , but then not sharpening yourself and getting some skills . You got to get some skills together , but that's what gave him courage was that divine perspective . So you have got to . If you want to be the leader that God's called you to be , you have got to be a person of courage .

You need to also understand courage is contagious .

When a courageous person draws the line in the sand and steps up to meet the challenge , other people want to do the same , and can you imagine nothing better than for us to be able to do that for our kids , for us to be able to do that for our employees and our contractors and our vendors , for them to see us standing with courage ?

Okay , that's number one . The number one spirit the warrior spirit . Number two spirit of a leader is the healer spirit . Okay Now , if somebody is sick , they need a doctor . If someone is captive , they need a warrior . So if someone is sick and they're captive , first you come in with a warrior . You got to free them .

You got to free them , but once you free them , you got to heal them . This is where the place of refuge you , as a leader , need to be a place of refuge , of safety , of belonging for the people that you lead . They need to know that you're a warrior . It's like Aslan he wasn't a tame lion , but he was good . Like that's where we come in .

We can't just be warrior . We've got to be healers . Like I want to set people free . Why ? So I can help heal them . That's right . Let me give you Psalm 147.3 . This is the Lord . He heals the brokenhearted , he binds up their wounds Psalm 23.3 . He restores my soul , he guides me in the paths of righteousness , for his name's sake . So he's a restorer .

That's the healer . Hosea 6.1 . Come , let us return to the Lord , for he has torn us , but he will heal us . He's wounded us , but he will bandage us . That's the God that we serve . That's the spirit of a leader . Yes , and we are healers . That's who we are , and you know what makes us a healer ?

What can turn you from a warrior into a healer is worship . Every good leader has to have those two things at the same time war and worship . Worship and warfare go hand in hand . Okay , so we need that warrior spirit , but as we're worshiping God , we'll recognize that the people that have been set free . We are healers for them .

We become a place of safety and refuge . People can come to us . They know we're good . Okay , so we need to be a healer . Third , we need to be teachers . We need to be able to teach people . This is where we become a place of learning . We become someone where someone people can go to to learn things , where they can grow in .

Become someone where people can go to to learn things , where they can grow in their knowledge , where we can explore things together . It's like as the leader hey , check out this great thing that I learned and you're teaching it to your kids , you're teaching it to your employees and you're bringing them into the learning that you have discovered .

We have to be able to teach .

Give me the scripture , because I was going to ask you what scripture you got . Psalm 25 , 12 . Who is the man who fears the Lord ? He will instruct him in the way he should choose Psalm 32 , 8 . I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go . I will counsel you with my eye upon you . And I really love Isaiah , chapter 2 .

He says this and many people will come and say Come , let us go up to the mountain of the Lord , to the house of the God of Jacob , that he may teach us concerning his ways , that we may walk in the light of his paths . There you go . That's really powerful scripture .

So we've got the warrior spirit , we've got the healer spirit , we've got the teacher spirit , and the last thing that we need is that visionary spirit . This is the place of ambition and bold horizons , and we know from Habakkuk 2.2 that it says write down the vision , inscribe it on tablets , make it plain so that he who has it may run .

Without vision , people perish . We've got to , as leaders , be able to pitch a vision , be able to establish a vision and say all right , guys , here's what I see in the future and here's how I see us getting there . Anxiety is all about projecting fear into the future . You know , anxiety is all about projecting fear into the future .

One of the things that we can do as a leader is when we paint a picture , a bright picture of the future for people , it helps cure anxiety . That's why vision is so incredibly important .

So it is good to be ambitious , it is good to have bold horizons and to make bold goals and to really shoot for the moon , okay , but we've got to recognize that as we're doing that , we've got to make sure that we're still a healer , we're still teaching people , we're still a warrior and we're casting that vision .

And when we have the warrior spirit , the healer , the teacher and the visionary , we're going to see some incredible things happen . Did you have another passage for vision ? Well , no , I was just . You already quoted Proverbs 29 , 18 , where there's no vision , the people perish .

But it's very encouraging , especially in these last days , when you look at the political context in which we live . You look at the wars , with Israel and now Iran getting involved , and you look at what's China going to do with Taiwan . You look at Russia and the Ukraine and you're like what ? Oh my gosh , the inflation Prices are just crazy right now .

Everything's rattling and going to fall apart , you know , and you can get really desperate , but when we have a vision that , listen , god is in control , he is so faithful and this isn't some mistake that he put you here right now , at this moment in history , and he's not surprised .

So the bigger picture is that God is going to restore all things and he wants to use you as a restorer until he returns .

So , whether a great awakening happens or , you know , a massive revival breaks out , whatever may happen , or Jesus returns , either way , let Him return to us , being faithful and with that vision that we know all things are going to be restored and that , even if we have to go through pain , god's going to give us grace to handle it .

When we're doing His work , when we're doing His business and we do it knowing , fully understanding the counsel and the wisdom of God that we are to be warriors , we are to be healers , we are to be teachers and we are to be those who have vision . Man , we can smile .

The Bible teaches us that a wise man fears not the sudden disaster that overtakes the wicked . We don't have to fear man , we can—I forgot what Scripture says . He laughs at the things that are to come the book of Job , I think we just finished that but he laughs at people freaking out . God's not concerned about this , and we shouldn't be either .

We know we should definitely be good citizens . We should work in our businesses as if our business is going to be here forever . But the Lord's probably going to return quick , I think . But if he doesn't and there's a revival and an awakening . Great If there's not , and he returns . Great , no matter what happens .

Great , so we can smile about it and that's really going to put , that's going to relieve anxiety in our children and that's going to definitely put a nice light , light step , a pep in our step . So you have all these spirits within you , but some are stronger than others depending on the moment and the context .

Okay , and you really want people in your life who bring out these different spirits . Okay , in terms of you got some people in your life that , if you're not a warrior , you need to have some warriors in your life . If you're not a healer , you need to have some healers in your life . You're not a teacher you need some teachers in your life .

If you're not a healer , you need to have some healers in your life . You're not a teacher , you need some teachers in your life . If you're not a visionary , you need some visionaries in your life , because they will help you with that .

So here's just two questions I'll leave you with which of these four do you do most naturally and which of these four do you need to work on ? Which do you do most naturally ? We know , in the Bible , peter was the warrior . He went and cut off the ear of the one dude that tried to take Jesus . He was going for the head .

Okay , so we know he was a natural warrior , but Peter had to learn to be a healer and he couldn't do it apart from the Holy Spirit . And we see Peter and Acts healing . Okay , so all of us do one naturally , and we need to work on the others . So whichever of these is burning bright and you nurture it , but know that we need all four .

So be the warrior , be the healer , be the teacher and be the visionary , and then watch the leader that you can become . Amen , that's it .

Hey , thank you to CHM , christian Healthcare Ministries . They've been amazing to us and they've been amazing to a million people , a million different families , or almost a million . That's incredible people , a million different families or almost a million . In the membership . It's growing like crazy . Expert at ownershipcom slash CHM . They've helped us tremendously .

So , all right guys , subscribe rate review . Hopefully you enjoyed this . Don't forget to reach out to us . Several of you have already reached out to us about some things we want to cover and all this other stuff . So we're always happy to hear from you and maybe even doing a podcast , and our mastermind that we are doing September 9th through the 11th is full .

Actually , I think we have a spot or maybe two left , so if you're still interested , deb at Venom Companies it's for dudes we're calling it a master's mind because we're going to help you get the master's mind on your life and business . So all right , god bless you .