Being an encouraging leader means being someone who encourages rather than belittles others, nurtures rather than commands fear, motivates rather than coerces, and rewards justly, while the true measure of one's success is seeing people flourish into being big spirited and big hearted individuals who in turn help their leaders soar higher.
That's according to Hillsong Church Senior Pastor Brian Houston's post on his blog in which he urges people to look at the benefits of being the kind of leader who creates opportunities for others.
For one, a good leader opens doors and as such, God rewards him by opening more doors for him. While Pastor Brian's example was in the Ministry setting, it could just as well be adopted in an organisational or other settings.
"In the same way, when entering a store if someone holds a door open for you – there's a kindness involved in that gesture that says, "Here, you go first". In other words, it's a display of humility. I think it can be so easy to believe that opening doors for others will lead to closed doors for you, but that's never the way it works with God. God promotes the lives of those who promote the lives of others," he explained.
An encouraging leader, he said, is also a platform builder: the more influence God gives a leader, the higher his voice carries and as such he has more responsibility to use this influence to promote and increase others.
An encouraging leader is also a kingmaker, one who sees skills in others and helps them realise their full potential.
But giving an opportunity to shine is not the end of the line for an encouraging leader. They must also be a ceiling lifter.
"An encouraging leader is both a room-giver and a roof-lifter when it comes to their impact on others. A wise leader senses the right time to make the space for others to grow taller, and enlarge their capacity and their influence," he said.
Aside from providing opportunities to grow, believing in others and encouraging them to use their talents and gifts through encouragement and inspiration are also important traits.
An encouraging leader is a vision enricher, which means that aside from working together to achieve a common vision, there must also be recognition of individual visions as well as the importance of their realisation for each person.
He concludes by saying that effective and encouraging leaders are potential seekers, encouragement speakers and destiny enhancers, which mean that they are attuned to possibilities that some individuals do not even see in themselves.
They encourage and lift the spirits of those around them until their anxieties are washed away and they are finally free to fulfill their destiny as God has planned.
"What a wonderful opportunity it is to know you have played a part in the life of someone who is living in their kingdom purpose and destiny. You saw what perhaps others couldn't, and now you have the joy of watching someone you influenced walk out the God-ordained life that is uniquely theirs," he said.
