My “it” factor in leadership

There are certain things in life that you can say there is an “it” factor. The “it” factor in Basketball is Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Melo. The “it” factor in baseball is the Boston Red Sox, The Phillies, the Yankees missing the playoffs(well that is just my hope). There is an “it” factor in business money, advertising, the right hire, intentional hard work.

There is an “it” factor for almost everything in life. Is that true however of leadership?

Leadership in general seems to be different no matter who you look at. There are tyrant leaders, bad leaders, team leaders, self-empowering leaders. Leaders of all shapes and sizes, some are respected, some are not, some are made fun of and some are praised.

But is there a common “it” factor in any leader? (except for maybe a bad leader)

In my mind, there is one “it” factor that any good leader has to be able to accomplish. Bill Hybels really puts it plain and simple and I like his version, but I really think there is one common “it” factor.

The IT factor of leadership:

As a leader, the IT factor comes down to you being able to move what ever you are leading from the start to the next the check point.

Maybe I am late to the game about understanding this, but as a leader I have a conviction in my heart to lead the student ministry I work with from where they are to wherever the next check point is. I feel the need to lead students from where they are, to wherever the next checkpoint is in their lives. As a husband, I feel a conviction to lead my marriage to the next checkpoint in our lives.

The hard part however is selling this “it” factor to the people you are trying to lead. It is somewhat easy to think up a dream and think up a vision for where you want to be. But getting there you have to have a much smaller focus and a timeline that will help you get from where you are, to where you want to be over time.

What do you think about the “it” factor in leadership?

Has there ever been a time where there isn’t an “it” factor?