Think Like A Leader

Think Like A Leader & Lead Like A Thinker

2 Cor. 10:3-6; Rom. 12:1-2; Prov. 21:5

(Exploring The Power Of Creative Thinking)

Man is a spirit; he has a soul and lives in a physical body - 1 Thess. 5:23.

Man’s successful existence on earth is tied to creative thinking.

Hence, he became a living soul - Gen. 2:7ff.

His first assignment was to name all other animals - Gen. 2:19.

This requires a lot of thinking.

Success in life is a mark or the result of creative thinking - Jos. 1:8; Prov. 21:5; Is. 26:3.

No one can succeed as a leader without the concept of creative thinking.

Good leaders are always good thinkers.

Great leaders are great thinkers - Gen. 1:1-2; Is. 40:12ff.

As a leader you cannot think like the masses / crowd.

You must think: Differently - Num. 13.

Better - 1 Sam. 17.

More - that’s why you are described as "the head"

Never forget that the masses / crowd are always led.

Man’s separation from God was only "functionally evil" when his thinking became different from God’s - Gen. 6:5; Is. 55:8ff; 2 Cor. 10:3-6.

Other Facts About Thinking

In every field of endeavour those who lead are the ones who have the responsibility to think more.

People are paid more simply to think; "Tightening the bolt" proverb - $100 = $10 to tighten the bolt and $90 to know which bolt to tighten.

The quality of business and activity is dependent on the quality of our thinking;

* The idea of working smarter not just harder.

Thinking is primarily designed for us to believe in new ways not necessarily to know new things.

Thinking helps us separate the mundane from the magnificent in our lives:

To separate sense from non-sense;

To separate fact from fiction;

To separate what is practical from the theoretical;

To separate boys from men / girls from women.

Nothing can consistently be done well that hasn’t been well thought out;

Emergencies are exceptions;

An "Extempo" calypso champ will never be given better prize money than the Calypso champ who has a well crafted and thought out song.

It is the pursuit of reality.

It is the pursuit of possibilities.

Hence it lays a solid foundation for faith.

Adult learning is characterized by an ability to think.

It is the key to "continual brain growth".

It stimulates your brain to function and fulfil its purpose.

Good thinking helps us abandon inaccurate thoughts „_ It is not the things we don’t know that hurt us, but the wrong things we hold on to.

Why People Don’t Think

We live in an age marked by attention deficit:

Too many distractions;

Too many competing demands;

The "I don’t have enough time" myth.

Confusing activity with accomplishment;

Some see thinking as a boring exercise

Resigning our life to fate;

We are to walk by faith not accept our fate - 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 1:17.

Believing that others would do it for you.

Thinking is done to produce change;

Change is quicker when owned by the individual

Thoughts are generally subjective; no one can optimally¡ think for you.

The How TO?

1. Make time to think:

To build a great house one must sit down and count the cost;

This involves thinking.

2. Find a place to think - Alone / loneliness - Neh. 2:15; Is. 51:1ff.

A purposeful place enhances the thinking mode;

When we go to a specific spot to do our thinking, the mind becomes conditioned to do just that;

Find a place that invigorates your thinking and go there frequently.

3. Focus your thinking

a) You cannot afford your mind to wonder:

Focus on a problem to be solved or an obstacle to overcome;

Focus on an opportunity to be exploited or an improvement to be made.

b) Framing should be practiced - Heb. 11:3.

Avoid the survival mode - Matt. 6:24-33.

Embrace the success mode - Prov. 21:5.

c) Consider how you learn and what you know

What do I believe?

How did I reach this conclusion?

The learning paradox is to answer your questions and then question your answers. This helps us to tie all loose ends.

d) Explore the facts

Patiently survey your circumstances / condition so you don’t make assumptions - Neh. 2:12-20.

Good always overcomes evil - Rom. 12:21.

Remember that man was created for good - Gen. 1:29.

e) Think don¡¦t worry

The exercise of focusing your thinking is to prevent you from worrying - Phil. 4:6-8.

Worry compounds problems but thinking impounds them.

4. Record your thoughts

Ideas tend to move/run across quickly, so they must be captured

The problem is lack of recall¡ not lack of ideas

Outline clearly an action plan

5. Take action

Action always solidifies our thoughts

Our conditions will never change unless we take certain actions