Billy Graham: Inspired Leadership

The following was copied from the workbook that was handed out at the "Getting Motivated" business seminar held in Raleigh, NC.

Inspired Leadership

Billy Graham reveals the four essential characteristics of inspired leaders. The first quality is Integrity, a moral value which means that a person is the same on the inside as he claims to be on the outside. A man of integrity can be trusted, and has confidence in the face of uncertainty. One of the greatest gifts that God gives a person is the ability to lie down at night satisfied with who he is and what he has done that day because he has acted with integrity.

The second quality is Personal Security. I'm referring to emotional security, which comes from knowing and accepting who you are, why you are here and where you are going. I do not believe that kind of security comes from your career alone.

A proper emphasis on the spiritual aspect of life is extremely important. You are not just a body or a mind. God created you with a spiritual nature. That is one reason I believe the only real source of lasting personal security is in God Himself. As you come to know God in a real and personal way, you become truly secure. Personal security includes a sense of inner peace with God and peace with yourself.

The third quality for leadership is a Sense of Priority. This is the ability to separate the important from the unimportant; the critical from the trivial; the vital from the insignificant; the eternal from the temporary. Until a person gets his priorities in life straight, everything else is going to be out of order.

When Jesus was asked to state life's greatest priority, He said, " You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength." He also said, "Seek God's Kingdom first and His righteousness, and all these other things will be added unto you." Once that priority has been established, then the rest of life can be seen and lived in proper perspective.

The last quality I would mention is Vision. I have in mind here something greater than just a vision for your job, your business or even your family. As a Christian, I believe the highest vision we can have is a determination to do God's will--what He wants us to do. Each of us needs to come to the realization of our own spiritual inadequacy and our own spiritual weakness, which the Bible calls "sin". The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.

The only way that we can have our sins forgiven is to turn to God by repenting of our sins and believing in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for us and was raised again. This could be your experience as you commit yourself to Christ and determine with His help to give fresh leadership to a troubled world.

I challenge you today to be a leader of Integrity, who has Personal Security, a Sense of Priority and Vision. But most of all, I challenge you to be an individual who is committed to Jesus Christ in your own heart and in your own life. As you yield yourself to His desires for your life, walk day-by-day in personal relationship with Him and follow His Word (the Bible); only then can you discover the quality and strength of leadership you need to conquer the challenges of your world and leave a legacy of hope that will follow you in the future.

God Bless You.