Stop and Smell the Coffee | Episode # 150 | Encore Episode # 11

Empowered Living With Jeff Byrd.

Welcome to Empowered Living. Listen as Jeff tackles critical issues in a way that brings "Insight for business, leadership, and life!

https://www.talknetworkradio.com/hosts/EmpoweredLiving

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Hello, this is Gabriella on the scene today with Talk
Network Radio. We have a real dread for you just
around the corner, and that is Empowered Living with Jeff Bird.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Jeff is the owner of Jeffrey per Coaching and he
will be coming to you weekly to teach you more
about empowered living. Now, let's join Jeff already in the studio.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Hello and welcome. This is Jeff Bird Jeffrey Bird Coaching,
and we are on Empowered Living. The topic we're going
to discuss today is leaders building leaders. Now, maybe you've
seen statistics or reports, but what those show is that

(01:18):
most leaders stop when they finished building themselves. Maybe they've
built their corporation, maybe they've built their enterprise or whatever
it is that they've set out to do, they've built it,
they accomplished their goals, and then they stopped there. And
often you'll see an organization, a church, something where there's

(01:40):
been a very charismatic, influential leader and they've built things
up and they've got it going in the direction, and
they've fulfilled some goals. But then maybe they retire or
step down or move on to something else, and then
a little while later that the whole movement just kind
of peters out. People just kind of lose interest because
it was all built around that one leader. Because one

(02:03):
of the greatest failures of leadership is the failure to
reproduce other leaders. That's the only way that our legacy
is going to live on after we're gone. We can
do something ourselves, but given time, who remembers who won
the Olympics back in the twenties or forties. We can
do great things for ourselves, but unless we develop a

(02:26):
pattern of building up other leaders, who build up other leaders,
who build up other leaders, and then that success, that
legacy lives on after we're gone, after we step down,
after we retire. So it's learning to develop other leaders
who will develop other leaders. There's a lot of things
that stop leaders from doing this. Some of its egos,

(02:47):
some of it's just short sightedness. There's many things, but
the greatest leaders are the ones who build up the
other people around them to lead and then to develop
other people so that it's ongoing. One of my favorite
sayings is that the only way to make sure that
our hard learned lessons aren't lost is to plant them
in the heart of another leader. Because that other leader

(03:09):
is gonna going to take them and develop them, and
and they're going to grow, and then they're going to
pass them on. And so long after we're off the scene,
those same truths same, that same wisdom is living on
and is bearing fruit. Now the passage I want to
look at today. I want to give a little background too,
so you'll kind of understand what's happening here. This is
This is back in the early Church, and so this

(03:31):
is this is a long time ago, but just like today,
there were some very very poor people on the scene,
and Paul is concerned for these folks. And one of
the men on his leadership team is a man by
the name of Titus, and he's concerned for these folks
as well. Then there's a group of people in the
city of Corinth that Paul is writing to. And these

(03:52):
folks wanted to help out their poor brothers and sisters
in the other areas. So previously, of course, communication wasn't
like it is now. It took a little while, and
it took a while for people to get places to travel.
Wasn't like it is today either. But these people had
made a pledge, it made a commitment, said they really
wanted to help out these poorer brothers and sisters in
other areas. So they had said that they would put

(04:14):
together a collection and they would get it in the
skift ready. So some time had passed, and now Paul
and Titus were going to come back, and Titus again
on Paul's leadership team. He really wanted to help them
get this going and get this done. So this is
how the passage reads in tewod Corinthians eight six and
sixteen through twenty three. So we urged Titus that, as

(04:35):
he had previously made a beginning, so he would also
complete in you this gracious work as well. But thanks
be to God who puts the same earnestness on your
behalf in the heart of Titus, for he not only
accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has
gone to you of his own accord. We have sent
along with him the brother who's fame in the things

(04:56):
that the Gospel has spread through all the churches. And
not only that, but he has also been appointed by
the churches to travel with us in this gracious work
which is being administered by us for the glory of
the Lord himself, and to show our readiness taking precautions
so that no one will discredit us in our administration

(05:17):
of this generous gift, For we have regard for what
is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord,
but also in the sight of men. We have sent
with them our brother, whom we have often tested and
found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent
because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus,
he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As

(05:39):
for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a
glory to Christ. Now in this the main goal present
here is to help these people finish with their desire
to put this gift together to help out the poor
in the area. But there's some really profound leadership lessons
contained in what's going on between Paul and Titus and

(06:01):
this other man who isn't named, who's been sent along,
but who has a good reputation of proven character. And
so I want to look at some of these aspects
of leaders building leaders today because Paul is showing us
some very profound things here. The first thing is that
Paul provides continual encouragement for others to complete the visions

(06:24):
of good things that they have. This group of people
in corinth They have a good vision of putting together
a gift to help out others who are less fortunate
than they are. Titus has a vision of helping the
Corinthians to do that, helping them get it together and
helping deliver it and making sure that this all comes
together well. And Paul is providing encouragement when he talks

(06:48):
to the people. He's not telling them, hey, y'all need
to get your act together. He's saying wow. He's commending
them for their good desire, for their good intentions, and
encouraging them to keep that same vision that they had,
keep it before him, and keep moving until it be
comes complete. He does the same thing for Tide Us. Now.
One thing I want to point out here is that
the best leaders are selective about what they get excited

(07:11):
about and follow through on. These are the best leaders.
They know what their purpose is, they know what they're
calling is. There are so many things that come to
with so many needs out there, but that doesn't mean
we're to get involved in all of them. It takes
some clear directions, some clear vision on what to get
involved in. So that's number one, because otherwise we'll just
be so scattered to the wins, we won't even be

(07:33):
able to get our own thoughts straight. Paul doesn't do that.
He knows that this is important, and he focuses in
on this, and when you read through this, he's not
scattered at all. He's very clear, and then he helps
others become clear. A scattered leader is not a leader
because they can't get anybody from point A to point B.
They can't lead anybody anywhere because they don't know where
they're going themselves, because they're going in so many directions.

(07:54):
Number two, Paul provide the best leaders, and Paul shows this,
demonstrates that divides personal support and encouragement, not just telling
people what to do. He's coming alongside the key people
who are coming alongside others. He spent a lot of
time with Titus. He's brought him on histeying, he's developing him.
Now Titus is helping develop these other friends of ours

(08:15):
that live in Corinth. Number three, the best leaders give
examples of how others have persevered and accomplished great things.
Great things don't usually happen overnight. They take a little while,
just like for these people at Corinth, it's taking them
a while to get their resources together to bring this
plan to fruition, and it helps to remind people of

(08:38):
great things that have been accomplished by others and the
process that they went through. It's very encouraging to hear
that people whom we regard as successful struggle just like
we do. Guess what, Hey, they were once where we are,
but they kept focus, they kept warning, they kept resourcing
themselves and developing themselves, and that's how they came to
a point of success. They kind of like the man

(09:00):
who said I've worked twenty years to become an overnight success.
We may see the success overnight, but the process didn't
happen overnight for anybody. So we need to keep people
encouraged in their good goals and in their good vision. Also,
the best leaders keep before others the value of the outcome.

(09:20):
They keep showing people like for these Corinthian Believers, Hey,
you're these poorer folks that we're trying to help. Look
at where they are, look at their situation, look at
how much they're going to be benefited about what you're doing.
We all want to know that we're making a difference
in somebody's life. It's so encouraging when people come back
and tell us, hey, what you said made a difference
or what you shared that really changed things for Sometimes

(09:42):
people come back and share things like that with me.
I never take that for granted. I am always surprised,
number one, pleasantly surprised and grateful that, hey, I could
be useful in being a benefit in somebody else's life.
So the best leaders keep before their teams and those
who they're leading and who they're influence, seeing, Hey, you're valuable,
You're making a difference. You're gonna make an even bigger difference.

(10:04):
Stay at it, keep encouraged, don't give up now, even
if it's difficult. Now, hey, hang in there, because you're
doing great things, and you're gonna do great things, and
you're gonna make a big difference for other people. Gandhi
is a Mahatma. Gandhi is a good example of this.
You know, he kept staging these peaceful protests, these non
compliant protests, because of the freedom he knew it would

(10:26):
bring the people in India. As a result, he didn't
do it because he wanted to get beaten by the
cops in jailed. That wasn't why I was in it.
He was willing to pay that price because he saw
the value of what was going to come for other people,
and that's why he hung in there. Alrighty. Another thing leaders,
good leaders do is that they commend other leaders to

(10:48):
those whom they serve. Paul goes to some link to
commend Titus and to commend this other unnamed person. Maybe
maybe we don't know the name because Paul was protecting
him because there was a lot of persecution, religious persecution
going on back at the time, as there is these
days in many countries. But maybe that's why he's not named.
But he goes to great links to commend him to

(11:10):
other people. It's kind of like a book endorsement. You know.
A funny story that happened to me is I was
speaking with a group of people who had heard me
a few times and I mentioned John Maxwell. John Maxwell,
I'm on his team. I'm certified with him to use
some of his works. And he's a huge leadership guru worldwide.
He's trained over six million leaders in every nation on Earth.

(11:33):
He's one of the Amazon Hall of Fame authors. He's
I think he's number six best selling author on Amazon.
He's written over one hundred books on leadership and attitude
and growth. But it was funny because one of the
one of the attendees where I was speaking, came up
to me afterwards and he said, Hey, we all know
who Jeff Bird is, but who's this John Maxwell guy
you keep talking about? And I had to laugh at

(11:53):
that because John is so familiar to me, and he's
one of my leadership mentors, and I'm so happy to
be on his team. But it was funny that people
knew who I was, but they didn't know John. But
guess what. John's not going to be contacting me anytime
soon to write an endorsement for his books. But if
he were to write an endorsement for a book that
I published, that would be a huge thing. And that's
what Paul knows here. He understands, Hey, if I'm going

(12:15):
to send people to work with other people, I need
to let those people know who these people are, what
their track record's been, that they've been proven, they've been tested,
and now I'm endorsing them. I'm putting my enamel and
put my seal of approval on them. And commendation by
a respected leader like that motivates people to follow those leaders.
And it also you know, it doesn't just encourage the

(12:37):
people to accept the leader that's being sent to, then
it encourages the leader to live up to what's been
said about them. It's so much more motivating. Instead of
trying to berate people into doing what you want them
to do, to give them an opportunity to take responsibility
and to rise to an occasion. That's so much more

(12:57):
motivating than the other way around done. Once somebody has
passed the test, you've given them opportunities and they've showed
themselves reliable and faithful and they've got a proven character,
then hand the keys off to them publicly. Let other
people know, Hey, this is what these people have done.
This is what they've accomplished. They've been through this and
this difficulty and face this challenge, and they've come through
and they've helped other people, and hand the keys off

(13:19):
publicly head they now speak with my authority, they speak
with my name that they also have my responsibility. But
they've measured up again and again, they've risen to the occasion,
and now I'm putting my confidence in them and recommending
that you do as well. Another thing we want to
do that's pointed out in this passage is we want
to provide safeguards to present or I'm sorry, to prevent

(13:42):
being discredited. We want to have safeguards against being discredited
because you know what, it only takes one mistake and
people will remember that and associated with us all our lives.
If we made mistakes, the best thing to do is
keep short account, apologize and ask forgiveness where we can,
and then to learn from it and move on. We
don't want to let us stop us, but some mistakes

(14:03):
are never going to lead people's minds. And I heard
somebody talking about this the other day and they said
that for all the things that Bill Clinton did and
things that are very popular, on the day that he
dies and the press finds out about it within the
first three minutes of announcing that, Monica Lewinsky's name is
going to come up. Because that's just the way it is,
you know, the one failure clicks in and people never

(14:26):
forget it, no matter how many other good things you do.
So we want to go to all the links we
can to avoid being discredited and giving people negative things
about us to remember. And that's what Paul wanted to
do here. He wanted to make sure that this money
was going to be secure and was going to be
safe and that nobody would be able to accuse them
of pilfering it. So that's why he put these safeguards

(14:48):
in place. Another thing we want to do as leaders
is to emphasize motives. Emphasize motives. He says, we have
regard for what is honorable. Look at honorable motives in
people and EMPHASI size those things, call them out, call
them delight. It will encourage people and and it'll show
the people who are watching that Wow, Okay, that's what
That's what gets noticed by the leadership. It's not just

(15:09):
accomplishing goals, it's also having the right motives and like
Paul says, the regard for what is honorable, and then
keep painting the big picture. Okay, these are your motives.
This is what we're doing. Keep putting the big picture
in front of people. This is the difference that it's
going to make for other people. This is why we exist.
Like I said before, everyone needs to know they're making
a difference in someone's life, and keep showing how those

(15:31):
honorable motives and actions that follow from those motives make
a difference in other people's lives. We also need to
be aware of how our interaction is impacting other people.
Paul says, we don't just have regard for what's you know,
for what's honorable with God, but also with other people.
We want people to see that we don't just care
about God. You know, we've all probably been wounded in

(15:53):
various ways at times by religion, right, and so many
people in different places they say, oh, yes, we love God.
God is for us, but then they have such a
different attitude towards other people, maybe people from other backgrounds,
other countries, other racists, but everybody thinks God. So they're

(16:13):
on God's side and He's happy with them. But just
like other people. Well, somebody once said that you love
Jesus only as much as the person you love the least.
We only love God as much as the person we
love the leap because hey, there's somebody else made in
God's image. So we don't want to just have regard
for what's honorable with God. But also we want to

(16:34):
show that to the people around us. We want to
demonstrate that heart, the heart of God, that wouldn't withhold
anything from benefiting and blessing other people. We want to
respect those made in his image as much as we
respect him, not just when other people are acting the
way we want, but all the time, because then as
other people see, hey, wow, that person still values me

(16:56):
even though I'm acted up, even though I acted out,
even though I was ugly to them, That shows them
what God's heart is really like for them. Okay, Next,
we want to test leaders before we put them for
Paul indicates that a couple of times in this passage,
testing enables developing leaders to have time to build up
their strengths and to understand their needs. None of us

(17:17):
are good in every area. Nobody leads well in every
area and has all the strengths needed for any major project.
We all need other people. So as we develop our strengths,
testing the leaders gives them opportuny to go, hey, I'm
strong in this area, but I'm really bad in that area. Hey,
I need a team around me. I need somebody else
that's good in that area. So it helps us put
together that team, learn to work effectively, learn to complete

(17:40):
projects effectively, and to have not only success but joy. Also,
as we learn to work together and to share the strengths,
develop a team that has the same vision. Everybody has
the same vision and values, but they all have different
strengths to contribute to that team. We also need to
remember that, hey, leaders needing encouragement too. So often, as

(18:02):
leaders in any position, everybody just brings the problems to us.
And we need to remember no matter where we are,
they for the people leading us, they need encouragement too.
They get tired, they get exhausted, they get frustrated sometime.
And in this passage it says that this leader was
even more diligent because of their vision and their confidence.

(18:24):
And he was made even more diligent. He was encouraged
by the people when he saw their enthusiasm and their
willingness to do something good. That encouraged him. That made
him even more diligent to get involved and to do
it right. And lastly, Paul says of Titus that he
is a partner and a fellow worker. A partner and
a fellow worker. Now this isn't just a coworker, and

(18:47):
this is a fellow This is like band of brothers.
You know, they didn't just care about one in the war.
They cared about each other. They became close, they got
to know each other, and the word partner here, it
actually means a comrade and a companion. This is somebody
who you're sharing your life with. This isn't just a
co worker getting a job done that you know, just
punch the clock at the end of the day, go home,
you don't think any more of it. This is somebody

(19:08):
who means something to you. And the best leaders learn
to see the other people on their team that way.
These are people we care about. These are people we've
we've partnered with, but even more than partners, their comrades,
their companions. So in a minute, I'll be back with
some applications for today's session.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
Jeff will be back shortly to wrap up today's message.
This is Gabriela still on the scene today with Top
Network Radio. If you're just tuning in, you're listening to
Empowered Living with Jeff Burn. If you've missed any part
of today's message, you can hear it again online as
well as the entire archive of Empowered Living at www

(19:48):
dot Tpnetwork Radio dot com or search keyword hashtag empowered Living.
We would like to acknowledge our music partners sound ideas
for corporate to the I'm Kevin McLeod.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
For Airport lounge.

Speaker 1 (20:03):
Any scriptures rad during this broadcast are from the New
American Standard version of the Holy Bible. If you would
like to learn.

Speaker 4 (20:12):
More about Jeffreybird Coaching, visit www dot Jeffbird Coaching dot com.
That is j E F F b y r D
Coaching dot com. Do a Facebook search for at coaching rocks,
or drop.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Jeff Aline at Jeff at Jeffbird Coaching dot com. Again
j E F F B y r D Coaching dot com.
Let Jeff's coaching rocks be the building blocks of your
empowered success. Now let's go back to Jeff for the
rest of today's message.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
So now for some personal applications of what we've just
discussed on leaders building other leaders. First question is who
do you know that's attempting something meaningful that you can encourage?
And then how will you encourage them? Think of that.
Think it's somebody you know who maybe you have a
family member who's a student and they've just gotten bogged

(21:16):
down a little bit. You know, who do you know
that is attempting something meaningful? Or maybe it's an entrepreneur
that's starting a new business that really has the potential
to really add value to people, or maybe it's somebody
on your team who has an idea that they're trying
to bring to fruition. But who do you know that's
attempting something that can be encouraged because all of us

(21:38):
we get that vision and we start out and we're
all going to get bogged down at some point along
the way. So who do you know that you can encourage?
And who similar to that number two, who do you
know that needs to be reminded of what it looked
like when they reach their goals. So often we start
out with a great vision of things, but then boy,
just the day to day routine and tediousness and the

(21:59):
problems and things just weigh us down. It's reminds me
somebody told me years ago. They said, you know, life
is not normally like being attacked by a dragon. It's
more like being pecked to death by a flock of ducks. Right.
Usually we don't know any given day, we don't have
a traumatic event, but we have lots of little annoying
things pecking at us. So it's easy sometimes to lose

(22:22):
sight of the vision of why we're doing what we're
doing because we get so bogged down in the in
the day to day routine and tasks and the tediousness
and the little problems that arise. Who do you know
that needs to be reminded of what? Hey, why did
you start this in the first place. What's it going
to look like when you fulfill that vision? What's it
going to look like for you? What's it going to
look like for other people? What's it going to look
like for your team or your family? What encouraging examples

(22:44):
can you give them? People who have been where they are,
felt bogged down, but kept on persevering and then succeeded
Number three Question three? Who who needs to know how
much difference they're making by what they're doing. I don't
think there's anything much more encouraging by knowing that what
we're doing is making a difference in somebody else's life.

(23:05):
For a lot of my life, I've worked with seniors
in different ways, and for these seniors who live in
assisted living communities and things, the ones who feel that
they're doing something that makes a difference tend to have
a much higher quality of life, even if it's caring
for a pet or a plant, not to mention caring
for another person. The ones that know they're making a
difference in something here in this world. They're not just

(23:25):
a burden to society. They do much better and for
all of us, everything we do, we need to know
that we're making a difference. I've seen numerous people just
move to tears when they were reminded, Hey, you made
a difference there. You made a difference in why that
person's life was so impacted by you. Next, if you're
in a leadership role, this question number four. If you're
in a leadership role, who is doing things well that

(23:47):
needs to be commended and recognized and developed into the
ability to take on greater roles? Who on your team?
Who's doing that? Don't just focus on getting the job done,
focus on who who's doing the jobs, and who's really
got some potential and who's hungry to be developed further.
Who can you assist? Who can you bring alongside and

(24:08):
provide resources for and create opportunities for to help develop
them into a leader that can take on greater roles.
Number five, If you're in a leadership role, how can
you let your team know how much they mean to
you and how much they encourage you. Never let a
good deed go unrecognized or a good motive or a

(24:30):
good attitude. You know, anybody in a leadership position, you know,
we can't make it without the people around us. If
we're doing anything significant at all, we need a good team.
How can you let your team know? So many teams say, well,
we only hear you know, from the CEO or from
the boss when we mess something up. We don't. We'd
like to hear more of when we do something right.
Don't ever let anybody say that of you. If you're

(24:52):
listening to this and you're leading anybody influencing them in
any way, don't ever let that be said. Make sure
that they know how much you appreciate them, how much
you need them, and how much they encourage you personally.
And lastly, the last question number six, how can you
deepen the relationships with those who work with you. It's
not just about the job, it's about the people and

(25:13):
loving them. Can you let them know, Hey, we're not
just here doing the job. You're a comrade, You're a companion.
Just like Paul said up tie to us, Hey, you're
part of the family. You matter. It's not just about
what we're doing together. It's the fact that if we
weren't doing anything together, I care for you, you matter
to me, you mean something to me, and as we
express that appreciation, that's very motivating in a family, it's

(25:35):
motivating in any organization, in a business, that's just motivating.
So let's look for ways today to let the people
around us who are encouraging us, who are helping us
get things, to let them know what they're doing and
how much that means. Thanks so much for tuning in,
and I hope that today's session will help you become
a leader who builds other leaders. Let's none of us,

(25:57):
let's commit to each other. Let's not get to the
end of the road and we just did whatever it
took to build our ladder. Let's be the people who
help others build our ladders, who help others build our ladders,
and so it goes on and on, so that we
can lead a legacy of effective leadership and significance in
the world around us. Thanks so much for tuning in.
This is jeff Bird with the Jeffreyberg Coaching and I

(26:18):
hope to see you next time.