6 Habits of Purposeful LeadersSample

Habit #1: Wonder

What is wonder? In the simplest of terms, it is child-like faith. It is believing that God can do anything. It is being amazed at every miracle, no matter how big or small. It is seeing the fingerprints of God in the ordinary. It is believing that the impossible is possible with God and still being in awe when it happens.

As a leader, you’ve likely been in business long enough to see a lot of good ideas never make it into the world. You’ve had people work for you who are all ideas and no action. You, yourself, have had loads of good ideas that never made it into the world. You’ve also seen excellent ideas completely fail. Sometimes it seems the most practical way forward is to keep your head down and keep producing.

But is practical bringing you joy? Do you leave the office each day with a sense of purpose? Are you motivating your team to bring all they have to the table and enjoy the work before them?

Wonder is one of the most powerful tools you can have as a leader because it is contagious. It delivers hope. It breaks through barriers.

Here are three practical suggestions of what wonder can look like as a leader:

Surrender adult vision for the eyes of a child. Be amazed by what you see. No one enjoys working for a nay-sayer or someone with the philosophy of “assume you are doing well until I tell you otherwise”. When your team achieves something, don’t just assume that is what is supposed to happen. Celebrate the wins. Celebrate what is unique about each win. Get excited when you see God working through your team. Show them that victory is fun.

Embrace curiosity. Ask questions about why your team wants to approach projects a certain way. Don’t just listen for what you think will work; listen to what their response may tell you about a unique way that they view problems and solutions. This isn’t just about a work solution; you are learning how to coach and build up each team member for a purposeful work life too. When the tough conversations come (as they inevitably will do as a leader), hold people accountable to their role, but don’t think that employee merely exists for you. Think about all that God may have for them and help build them up for whatever is next.

Lead like his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Lead like it is light. Lead like your people bring you joy. Lead like the goals set before you are worthy of accomplishing and the journey of getting there together really can be fun. You’ll be amazed at how this can shift a work culture.

Create a daily or weekly habit that places you in a space of wonder. It’s okay to schedule wonder. Perhaps you schedule a daily reflection time to consider where God may be at work in your team. You may want to set a reminder to help you remember to get curious and ask your team more questions. Sometimes we all need to be reminded to celebrate.