On Monday, I had the chance to spend an hour with our President’s Leadership Fellows here at Southwest Baptist University. These students (about 20 of them) are awarded a presidential scholarship as freshmen and have the chance to spend time with our President, Dr. Rick Melson, and other leaders at SBU. They take one class on leadership from Dr. Melson, which includes guest lectures from others (like me), as well as participate in other curated leadership experiences.

Here are ten quick bullet points I shared with them on Monday evening.

1. Be Hard to Offend and Easy to Please—good leaders have the steadiness of soul that makes them hard to offend. They are prone to letting criticism roll off (though, taking all feedback as a chance to learn), while being quick to appreciate the efforts of those around them.
2. Temperature Setters—a good leader can walk into a room and set the appropriate temperature. If the room is heated, with tensions filling the air, they can bring it down. If there is apathy in the room, they can raise the level of excitement.
3. Soberminded—taking a page out of Joe Rigney’s thoughts on leadership (see this book and this book), good leaders are (a) clear thinkers, (b) stable in their souls (they know who they belong to!), (c) ready to act (they lead!).
4. Servant-Leaders—a quality leader will want to serve the people around them and move the mission forward. However, they don’t let the “servant” part of the phrase mute the leader part. They are ready to step up, command action, and make a decision. In short, they lead (for a critique of the way evangelicals have used the phrase “servant-leadership,” see Aaron Renn here).
5. Clarity of Communication—simply put, they say what they mean and mean what they say. They do so in direct and gracious ways. I wrote a short article on why clear and direct communication is important for Christians here.
6. Purpose Driven—a good leader keeps their eye on the ball. They know what the mission is and move in that direction.
7. Life-Long Learners—I’ve heard it said that “leaders are readers.” That’s true, but reading isn’t the only way to learn. When you find a good leader, you are likely to find someone who is constantly growing. John Piper provides six habits that are key to lifelong learning.
8. Friends—too many leaders have fallen because they didn’t have people around them that could hold them accountable, encourage them along the way, and provide them with wisdom/insight. You need people around you who aren’t impressed by you, want to see you succeed, and can speak truth into your life.
9. Integrity—we all, particularly leaders, should be “what you see is what you get” types of people. Who we are in private is who we are in public. When no one is watching, good leaders still do the right thing.
10. Jesus—everyone fails. We all stumble. Even our best leaders are weak and sinful. It’s been said, “our best men are men at best,” and “we all have clay feet.” When we fall, we need a place to land. We don’t fall into despair, but into the arms of a crucified, living, reigning, and comforting King Jesus.

What might you add to the list?