Leader Identity (Part 1): Defining Your Leadership Source

Welcome to Equipped for Purpose. I'm your host, Vincent Reign, and this is the podcast

where discipleship meets impactful leadership. Whether you're new to faith or a seasoned

follower of Christ, this podcast is designed to help you deepen your relationship with

Jesus, grow as a leader, and make a difference in every area of your life. Together we'll

explore practical tools, biblical insights, and real-life strategies to equip you for

the purpose God has called you to. Let's dive in.

Welcome back for another episode of Equipped for Purpose. Today we are looking at leader identity.

This is the first section underneath the heading of discovering distinctiveness. In episode 83,

we broke down what discovering distinctiveness is and where we are going with the leadership

portion of this podcast over the coming year. If you missed that, you can go back and check that

out. In this episode, we are going to hone in on one, who or what defines you. That's defining

your source. Two, how do you define your leadership identity? Three, how does your

leadership identity shape your actions? Those are the three focus areas that we'll be getting into

as we look at understanding and defining leader identity. This is going to be broken up into two

parts. In part one, we're just going to focus on that first one, defining your source. In part two,

we'll get into the second and third portion of leader identity. Understanding leader identity

is significant because it serves as the foundation for effective, consistent, and

authentic leadership. Here are some key reasons why this is crucial. The first one is it provides

clarity and direction. A well-defined leader identity gives clarity about who you are and

what you stand for as a leader. It acts as a compass guiding decisions and actions and strategies,

especially in complex or high-pressure situations. Leaders with a strong sense of identity are less

likely to be swayed by external opinions or trends. Number two, it builds credibility and

trust. Authenticity is a hallmark of great leadership. When leaders understand their

identity and act in alignment with it, they inspire trust and respect from their teams.

Consistency in values and actions makes leaders reliable and trustworthy, and it fosters stronger

relationships. And the third significance in understanding leader identity is it empowers

purposeful leadership. Leadership isn't just about tasks, it's about influence. A leader's

identity shapes their purpose and the impact they aim to have. For disciples and disciple makers,

understanding identity in Christ adds a layer of purpose rooted in eternal significance,

aligning their leadership with God's mission. Number four, it enables resilience in challenges.

A strong leader identity helps leaders stay grounded during adversity. It reminds them

of their values and vision, providing strength and resilience. Leaders who know who they are

can navigate criticism. They can navigate failure and uncertainty without losing their sense of

purpose. And number five, it guides internal interactions. Leader identity influences how

leaders communicate, resolve conflicts, and foster collaboration. Knowing who you are allows you to

lead others with empathy, integrity, and intentionality. It also helps leaders model behaviors and

values they want to instill in their teams. And number six, it unleashes creativity and innovation.

Leaders who embrace their distinctiveness are more willing to take risks and innovate because they

aren't trying to fit into someone else's mold. They bring a unique perspective that can inspire

teams to think outside the box and tackle challenges in creative ways. So those are the

reasons why I think understanding leader identity is significant. I find it fascinating that leaders

don't take the time to understand themselves and what it is they bring to the table. Knowing what

your strengths and weaknesses are in a true and honest sense is a blessing that allows you to show

up in fullness and to empower others to bring their full potential to bear. But that means you'll

have to leave your ego and pride out of the equation. If you can't do that, there is more work

to be done in understanding yourself. I can't stress this enough. Ego and pride have to be ejected

when you are evaluating yourself to understand your leader identity and ultimately your strengths

and weaknesses. We have to get as close to an objective evaluation as possible

and be able to understand identity. Here's the tricky part. There is a tendency to be overly

critical. I spent 20 years in the army and during that time I had the privilege of being what is

called an observer coach trainer or OCT. In that capacity, I facilitated a large number of after

action reviews. The trend I noticed during these after action reviews was to really focus on what

was done poorly and held room for improvement. That was the main focus. This was to the total

disregard for what was done well and the lessons that could be learned there. In almost all of

those situations where the emphasis was on poor decisions, there was no understanding or acknowledgement

that the leader had made many missteps leading up to the event being evaluated and that if they had

better understood themselves and their identity as a leader, some mistakes could have been avoided.

So the job of an OCT in that position or really any leader isn't just to ensure that people are

improving at their jobs. Although that is a facet of the role, it is also to make them better leaders

for the future. Let's look at some hindrances to leader identity. There are many things that

can be a hindrance to you in understanding your leader identity and then leading from the fullness

of who God has made you to be. There are two in particular that I want to highlight and these are

both ones that I have observed in my years as a leader and personally dealt with. The first is

perfectionism. This is the tendency where one is attempting to attain some sense of perfection

before taking action. There's one glaring problem here. The definition of what makes something

perfect before taking action is always shifting. If you have ever experienced this, you'll understand

this immediately. What is happening is that the mind of a perfectionist will always recognize

ways to improve something and it is because of that recognition they will not take action.

They are stuck in the cycle of improving, recognizing future improvements and repeating.

There's never any forward momentum being gained. This is a big hindrance to leader identity because

it keeps you stuck in that cycle and you're not actually leading. You end up chasing

self-improvement instead of showing up in fullness. I looked up a definition of

perfectionism online and here's what it said. Perfectionism is a mindset characterized by

striving for flawlessness and setting excessively high standards for oneself or others. It often

involves critical self-evaluation and a fear of failure or making mistakes. That sums up the cycle

I described and you can see how this will hold you back. The second hindrance I want to highlight

is imposter syndrome. Again, I looked up a definition online and here it is. Imposter syndrome

is a psychological pattern in which individuals doubt their accomplishments and fear being exposed

as a fraud, despite evidence of their competence and success. People experiencing imposter syndrome

often attribute their achievement to luck, external factors, or deception rather than their

own skills and efforts. This is one I have seen and personally dealt with the most.

Always believing that you aren't good enough to be in the position you're in

is going to keep you in hiding and therefore not leading. This mindset or thought pattern will

paralyze you from showing up in the fullness of who God has created you to be.

Yes, many other hindrances can and will expose themselves to prevent you from

uncovering and living fully in your leader identity, such as ego and pride. However,

I don't want to spend any more of our time focusing on those. Just expect them to pop up

and when they do, you'll be able to recognize them quickly, interrogate their motives,

and then take appropriate action. Let's get into defining your source. As a leader, it is of the

utmost significance that we know who or what is defining us. Like I have said previously in

discussing values and action, we can say one thing, but it is our actions that will reveal

the reality of what it is that we value. This is the same when it comes to defining identity.

How you live that out will reveal the source of your accepted identity definition.

I hope that makes sense because if you can evaluate this in a somewhat objective manner,

it will be illuminating of your past actions and decisions.

Let's look at some of the sources. The first is faith. As someone who is focused on discipleship

unto Jesus Christ and leadership as a facet of discipleship, this is the first place I will go

to uncover identity, or rather it should be the first place that I go. We're going to discuss

some of the other sources here in a minute, but this is the first and best place to go

to understand who it is God has called us to be and what he is saying about you now.

Your faith is going to be the number one identifier of who you are as a leader,

and you can see this on display every day in the actions that people choose to take or not take.

Everyone places their faith in something or someone. Who or what that is, is different

from person to person, and if you want an example of this, just get on social media and it becomes

obvious. Even if a person claims there is no creator or higher power, they still place their

faith in things and people for medical care, fixing a plumbing issue or a car issue. The point is that

faith is placed somewhere. Where is yours placed? This is the number one source of where you will

find the definition of your leader identity, and that's in faith. The second source is personal

values or internal convictions. This is the set of values that you hold for yourself. Just as

any company or organization displays a set of values that they hold true to, we all have

personal values. Think about a time you were faced with a situation that made you uncomfortable to

participate in. That uncomfortable feeling was caused because the event violated one of your

values. Personal values are something that everyone has. Just like faith, it is likely that a good

majority of us will share similar values. The difference is the point at which our sense of

one value or another is violated. For some, that is sooner than others. In highlighting this source

of definition, I'm not attempting to have you adopt a new set of personal values, expunge any

current values you have or change your sense of when your values are violated. I simply want

you to recognize what they are and where the violation trigger is.

As disciples of Jesus and as disciple makers, once we understand our values,

we can begin to dialogue with the Holy Spirit to find alignment with who God says we are,

to find alignment with his definition. The third source of identity is from external influences.

These are around you all the time and are continually attempting to exert some form of

control over your identity. But when you know who you are, these influences are understood

for what they are and what they are motivated to do. Before I even list any external influences,

I want to emphasize that I'm not saying that these are all nefarious in their motivations.

What I am saying is that you need to evaluate each influence that is seeking to define you.

Understand the motivation and goal of the influence. Determine what is intended and again,

take appropriate action. The external influences can be family, friends, mentors, culture,

or even societal norms. The point of discussing these is to make sure it is known in your mind

that your leader identity can be influenced by actors without you even being aware.

It is a significant thing to recognize these influences for what they are and that's feedback.

Quickly, I will say that when your leader identity is attempting to be redefined,

you should take that as feedback. Is there something that needs to change?

Does this influence just simply not agree with my outlook and what I want me to agree with them?

Just simple questions need to be asked in a feedback evaluation session with the Holy Spirit.

Again, seeking alignment. I've mentioned alignment several times now and I want to

take a minute to discuss the significance of alignment. What am I talking about when

I use the word alignment? I am talking about our higher purpose and or core principles.

We need to understand that we have a higher purpose as disciples and disciple makers and we

need to ensure that we are aligned with that purpose as leaders. Knowing your identity as a

leader, as a disciple, and as a disciple maker is something that comes from alignment with who it

is that God calls you to be, who it is that he says that you are. In addition to that,

there are some core principles that you have, those values that you hold or the internal

convictions that you have. Those things also help align you with your identity because the

tension that you feel when your values or internal convictions are violated, that's something that

God has instilled into you. Over time, we've allowed external influences to shape where

those triggers are to say, hey, this personal value of mine has been violated. Something's out

of whack here or something is out of alignment. Those core values that you hold are a significant

part of alignment with your personal identity. Understanding who you are and being in alignment

with your higher purpose and values is a significant matter that we all need to understand

and regularly evaluate. Okay, how do we get there? How do we get to understanding your

leader identity and who it is that God says that you are? We can look at his purpose.

We just talked about alignment and with this, you're seeing an example of the significance of

aligning with your higher purpose. The first place that we can look for his purpose is in

scripture. If we look at Matthew 28 verses 18 to 20, we can see the Great Commission.

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. We broke this down and talked about

the word commission and authority in episode 83. So again, if you haven't listed that, go back and

do that. So that's part of God's purpose for us. Jesus said it himself to make disciples of the

nations, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit and teach them what Jesus

taught. That's disciple making. As disciples, that's what we're involved in. We're listening

to somebody else who is teaching what Jesus taught. And now we are going out and doing the same thing.

And when we talk about making disciples of the nations, one thing that we need to understand is

that this isn't always missionary work going to another country. I don't want you to have

the wrong impression that because you aren't out on the mission field, you are not fulfilling the

Great Commission. That is a myth that needs dispelling. You are fulfilling the Great Commission

anytime you are out sharing the gospel, sharing your faith and making disciples.

That's making disciples of the nations. You don't know how your message of the gospel is going to

affect the one who hears it. And you don't know where they are going to then in turn go out and

share the gospel. When you are engaged in disciple making, everywhere you go, the growth of those who

have placed believing loyalty in Jesus grows exponentially. What you do in sharing the gospel

has that effect. It can significantly increase and go out even if you are just sharing the gospel

and teaching what Jesus taught with the group of people you know or interact with locally.

You don't know where that's going to take them. So God's purpose is a big place for you to start

when you start to think about how to get there. The second that we've already kind of talked about

and hinted at is scripture. We talked about God's purpose. We mentioned scripture inside of that

to find God's purpose. But scripture is another place to find how you get there, how you get to

identity because you can find purpose there. You can find who it is that God says you are as a

person. What are some of the things that scripture says about you? Well, one, it says you know you're

adopted. Ephesians 2.19 says, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow

citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Number two, it says you're

chosen. Colossians 3.12 says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate

hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Number three, scripture says you are called.

Ephesians 4.1 says, I therefore, a prister for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of

the calling to which you have been called. And number four, it says you're a follower.

Luke 9.23 says, and he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and

take up his cross daily and follow me. Scripture speaks of all those things about us.

It is an incredible thing in my mind that we, you and I can find such things in a letter from around

2000 years ago. This tells me that there is far more there for us to discover than will be found

when we only engage with it once a week or on a surface level of reading only without thought

and contemplation. That thought leads me to the third point I want to discuss when answering how

do we get there, and that's prayer. I talked about this in episode 83, but the idea needs

to be repeated here. Prayer cannot be something that is done without intentionality. Even if

the prayer is to build friendship and relationship with our Creator, there is still a level of

intentionality. You wouldn't, while having a conversation with a friend, allow yourself to

be scrolling on your phone and not giving that person your full attention, would you?

Maybe you would, I don't know. The point is, we don't want to call prayer a habit or something

done through muscle memory. The habit is to run to prayer, and when there, intentionality takes over.

There is an engaged you talking to God, not a detached body running on autopilot.

Prayer is another source of how you get to leader identity. Combine that with God's

higher purpose and purpose for you, along with scripture, and you'll start to see

the emergence of the picture of you in fullness. Now we need to look at contrasting sources.

There is a contrast between external and internal sources. I've kind of hinted at and alluded to

this already, but let's break it out a little more, just so you know what you're seeing when

internal and external sources are attempting to define your leader identity. It needs to be

understood what's happening and what's going on, so again, you're able to recognize what's happening

and like I've said over and over again, take appropriate action.

What happens when identity is defined by an external source, when an attempt is made by others

or their opinions or your friends or some success metrics that you have established?

What happens when you allow your identity to be defined by those external factors? This could take

you in all different kinds of directions because it can take you in whatever direction that external

force is headed. It can take you in their direction, what they see identity defined as,

and who it is that they are allowing or who or what they are allowing to have their identity defined

as. Those external sources, if you allow them to be the influence that defines your leader identity

are going to take you in whatever direction they feel is best and you don't know exactly what that

is because you don't know what the motives are from their influence or what the motives were

of what or who influenced them. So it's important to understand that external factors need to be

evaluated. Okay, that's external sources. Now, what happens when identity is defined by

internal sources such as faith or your values or your personal vision? Well, this becomes held

more closely because now you have some say in this. You have had those conversations with the

Holy Spirit to understand what it is that God's saying about you, who it is that he's calling you

to be, the assignments that he's given you, and the things he wants you to do. You've had these

conversations and so you're starting to understand that. So if you allow your faith to be the first

source that is defining your identity, that's so much better for you. And along with that,

your personal values or those internal convictions that you have plays hand in hand with your faith

because again, we talked about this already, that you've had conversations with the Holy Spirit to

understand what it is that's going on with those and what it is that God has placed inside of you

as personal convictions and understand where it is that those are being triggered at to say,

oh, my personal conviction has been violated here. And along with that, the vision that you hold,

where it is that you are going. You know, if you take the time to vision, which we're going to talk

about in the future, then you know where it is that you're going. And this is going to play a

part in shaping what happens when identity is defined from an internal source. Okay, there's

still much to cover about leader identity. And I've been going on long enough. So we're going to,

like I said earlier, split this into two parts and you can expect part two in a couple weeks

in episode 87. I do want to leave you with two questions to think about and answer this week.

Number one, are you letting external validation or internal conviction shape your leadership

identity? And number two, how do scripture and faith play into defining who you are as a leader?

I challenge you to step out boldly, share your thoughts with me,

whether it's through an email or a DM on social media, I'd love to hear from you.

You'll find all the ways to reach me in the show notes. I can't wait to connect

and continue the conversation. Thank you for tuning into equipped for purpose.

I hope today's episode gave you tools and inspiration to deepen your discipleship

and strengthen your leadership. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode.

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Let's connect on social media and through my website. And remember,

you are being equipped for a purpose. Go make an impact.