Communication And Competence Series

I. We have talked about Character and Commitment being important qualities in a leader, Now lets look at Communication.

A. It is important that leaders communicate with people. And in saying that I am not saying that to be a leader you have to be a preacher, and stand in front of a large group and speak.

B. The most important thing is, that leaders are able to talk to people, get involved in their lives and let them know that they care about them.

C. It is the job of a leader to make the people that follow them feel at ease. Ronald Reagan was one of the best at that, that we have seen in politics in country in a long time.

D. After he had been shot in an assassination attempt when he was being wheeled to the operating room he looked at the surgeon’s and said, "please assure me that you are all Republicans."

E. If we are going to be the leaders that God needs to make a difference in this community we have to be able to communicate to people that God loves them and that He wants a relationship with them so much that he was willing to have His Son die to make it possible.

F. But even more importantly than that the success of your marriage, job, your being a parent, and all your personal relationships depends on your ability to communicate with other people.

G. You don’t have to be a great speaker, you just have to believe in what you are doing enough to help others believe in it to, and know that you care about them and about what is going on in their lives.

H. Your spouse and your children need to hear from you that you love them and care about what is going on in their lives. They need to know that you want what is best for them, that they are important to you and that you are on their team, before they can feel at ease with following your leadership.

I. People will not follow you if they don’t know where you are going.

J. The same thing is true with the people that God wants you to impact in this community. They need to know that you care about them as a person before they will be willing to listen to what you have to say about the difference that God can make in their lives.

K. It is really hard for people to believe that a God that they can’t see cares about them, if they don’t see caring in the people that say the represent Him, and communication is the key to seeing that happen.

L. God lets us know that our communication is important.

(Prov 16:24 NIV) Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

(Col 4:6 NIV) Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

(1 Th 5:11 NIV) Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

(Eph 4:29 NIV) Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

M. I want you to notice what that last one says, "but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs."

N. We are to build each other up, but we do that by learning to communicate, so that we can say the things that build others up, and we do that by listening as well as speaking so that we know what their needs are. Communication is getting involved in the lives of other people, and speaking to them in ways that build them up.

O. We are all leaders to someone and to be good leaders we have to build up others and we do that by learning what their needs are.

P. We learn what their needs are by listening, and getting involved in their lives, and we improve their lives, by what we say, and the direction that we lead.

II. The next thing that we need to work at to be good leaders is competence.

A. Benjamin Franklin always thought of himself as ordinary. He was one of seventeen children, and the son of a candlemaker who was a long way from rich.

B. He went to school for only two years, and at twelve years old he became an apprentice to his brother as a printer.

C. At age twenty he started his own printing business. If he had been content to just get by and work his trade and go home, we wouldn’t know who he was, but he never stooped trying to do better and he never gave less than his best.