This devotional series is from intriguing new books you’ll want to read. Today’s is by John Maxwell.

I don’t know whether you have the people-pleasing tendencies I once had. The heart of my people-pleasing problem was a desire to do what made me feel good. That included an unwillingness to deal with difficult issues. To fix this I had to change the way I thought about leadership and the way I interacted with others. I had to stop seeking affirmation. I had to stop trying to be everyone’s buddy.

Clarify Your Motives
I had to put doing what’s right for my people and organization ahead of what feels right for me. By learning to ask myself these three questions in this order, I was able to clarify my motives for leadership decisions.

• What’s best for the organization?
• What’s best for other people within the organization?
• What’s best for me?

Stop Waiting for Consensus
Eventually I began to desire what was best for the people I led more than what made me feel good about myself. As the pull for approval lessened, I felt released to do the right thing as a leader. I shared the vision, raised the bar, challenged others, helped people reach their God-given potential, and stopped waiting for consensus. Those who didn’t want to go with me, I allowed to go their own way without expending all my energy trying to win them back.

Ask for Commitment
The first question I asked would no longer be, “Are we all okay?” Instead, I began to consistently ask, “Are we committed?” One of the greatest lessons I learned in this season was that you never know if people are really with you until you ask them for commitment. When you ask others for commitment, you lose the uncommitted people and you gain the committed ones. When you don’t ask for commitment, you keep the uncommitted and lose the committed.

People respect leaders who make the hard decisions, who lead by example in tough times instead of just giving orders, who put others first, and who value people enough to ask them to rise up to the greatness that is within them.