By Laurie Gauger

Articles on leadership are a dime a dozen, and I’m not going to pretend this one will offer you any penetrating insights.

In fact, I’ll tell you upfront I’ve never taken a leadership course and I’ve never been in a leadership position, except as a teacher, which hardly counts since my “followers” were high school kids.

But I have worked—in called or hired positions—for many different leaders at different synodical entities through the years, and some of those leaders have been amazing.

These are the people I would follow anywhere and do almost any job for. They were just that good—good for me, good for the whole team, and good for the work of God’s kingdom.

Here are 12 ways they made my service a joy.

1. They were humble. They didn’t have to be the smartest person in the room. They never assumed they knew more than their team did. In fact, they were quick to say, “I could be wrong about this,” because they realized their personal ideas and principles might be skewed by their own background and their own desires—including unconscious ones.
2. They were great listeners. Because they were humble, they were perfectly willing to question themselves and listen to others. Especially when they were new, they listened to everyone on the team: What do you think is working well here? What do you like best about your work here? Is there something else you’d like to contribute? Is there a concern you’d like me to deal with?
3. They weren’t afraid of change. Their first response to a new idea was more often yes than no. They trusted their team and gave us freedom to try new things.
4. They didn’t bow to the tyranny of the touchy. There’s always that one person who gets offended at the slightest thing and then is vocal about it. My favorite leaders were courageous enough to stand up to that manipulative bully—because that’s what touchy people can be.
5. They spent their energy being a leader, not trying to look like one. They didn’t go for optics, hiking up their slacks, assuming a loud, authoritative voice, and announcing banalities as though they were pure gold. Instead, they were themselves, comfortable in their own skin, quietly doing the right thing for the kingdom, for the institution, for the team.
6. They always worked harder than the rest of us. My favorite leaders didn’t delegate every single task because they read somewhere that was what good leaders did. They got busy with the rest of us—without being a martyr about it. And they didn’t just look busy. They produced.
7. They acted with integrity. They never took credit for what someone on their team did. They never blamed someone else for a mistake they made. Just the opposite: They publicly thanked team members for specific projects and successes. They kept others’ mistakes quiet, but they were quick to announce publicly when they made a mistake. They were absolutely honest and forthright, which meant I could trust them.
8. They had empathy. They could put themselves into the shoes of others—colleagues on their faculty and staff, families in their churches and schools. This sensitivity made their decisions so much wiser.
9. They refused to be a good ol’ boy. My favorite leaders didn’t have a small coterie of yes-men that got together for a “meeting before the meeting” to make the decisions and then figure out how to push their agenda through. They also refused to be yes-men themselves, people always giving in to the opinions of some powerful political faction. They treated everyone with equal courtesy, and they performed their duties before an audience of one—their Lord.
10. They cared about the use of gifts in the body of Christ. Realizing that each school, church, or institution is a microcosm of the body of Christ, they saw their team as a thing of beauty that might need fine-tuning once in a while. They asked me whether I was being challenged in my ministry or, conversely, whether I was feeling overwhelmed. They asked what gifts I had that were not yet tapped. They asked how they could help me do my job better. They did this because they cared about me, yes, but—more important—because they cared about the gospel. They wanted all workers, called and hired, operating at their optimum, fully implementing the gifts God had given them.
11. They communicated well. Occasionally, an issue arose that was sensitive, and they practiced good discretion, holding their tongue. But mostly, they communicated as much as they could with the rest of the team. We were never surprised by a sudden change in policy or direction. We never wondered how our leaders felt about a pressing issue, because they told us. Their open communication made us feel safe. We also felt they trusted us, and that helped us trust them.
12. They were courteous. Last but not least, my favorite leaders knew the most fundamental way to show the love of Christ is to practice good manners. They smiled and said hello. They asked their team about their families and their health—and then remembered the details. They didn’t interrupt people at meetings. They answered emails. Of course, they sometimes were less than attentive because they had their minds on other things. (That’s fine—don’t bother me when I’m trying to write an article either.) But their overall attitude was one of kindness and selflessness.

I truly thank God for these leaders—people who led with a servant’s heart, people who showed me Jesus in their everyday bearing, people who created environments where my own service was a joy.

Laurie Gauger is the Martin Luther College campus writer / editor.