8 Qualities of a Great Leader

I’m always looking for common denominators when I get around great leaders. What do they have in common? What habits do they have in their life? Here are 8 qualities that I have observed all great leaders have in common:

1. THEY LIVE A MISSION > ME LIFESTYLE

Great leaders are mission-driven, not me-driven!

They never give their life to a WHAT, they always give their life to a WHY. See how this changes when you define your true motives in life!

Take some time this week with a pen and paper and write down your why. Write down why you exist, why you have your gifting and talents, and why you have a grace for a particular area of your life.

2. FAILURE DOES NOT DEFINE THEM

Great leaders understand that they might have MADE a mistake, but they are not a mistake. They know that they are defined by their relationships, their mission, and by the fact that they can keep on going.

Failure is a part of leadership. We should see failure as an opportunity to learn and improve. The only true failure is not getting back up and trying again.

Choose to be a leader that doesn’t let a season or decision define you. It might have been a bump in the road, but make the choice to move on!

3. THEY ARE LIFELONG LEARNERS

Great leaders don’t flex their muscles, their knowledge, or their success. They are always leaning into others with the mindset, “Teach me something I don’t know.”

We should constantly be evolving and changing because we’re constantly LEARNING. Are you amazed by how little you don’t know? I get excited about the future because I’m so excited to learn!

Be a leader that isn’t living off of past revelation of things you’ve learned, invest in learning NEW things. You can’t apply what you don’t know!

4. EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM IS BIG

When I get around great leaders, I'm amazed at their big spirit, big faith for the future, and big perspective. When you’re around leaders that are not great, you’ll notice the shallowness of their soul, their worldview, and their perspective.

Become secure in your soul so that you can expand who you are!

5. THEY ARE AN EXPERT AT WHAT THEY DO

Great leaders invest into their craft, knowing that they will be an echo before they are a megaphone.

We refer to this as the 10K Hour Rule. Malcolm Gladwell references this in relation to The Beatles. By the time The Beatles became a hit, they had been playing and working and writing together for so long, that they had become masters at their craft.

Put in the work of becoming an expert at what you do. It takes a lot of time, energy, sacrifice, and a lot of no's - but we ought to make the decision to become experts at what we’ve been called to do!

6. THEIR WORK ETHIC IS UNMATCHED

Great leaders work unbelievably hard. They don’t just show up and turn on the gift. They work hard and put in the time, energy, and focus.

Anybody that doesn’t have a great work ethic will not be great.

Choose to outwork everyone else. Work hard, because the gift is not the result - your work is.

7. THEY ARE NOT AFRAID OF CHANGE

Great leaders evolve and can change with the times.

What’s important is that you’re open to change. Always remember to hold things with an open hand.

Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely!

8. THEY KNOW WHY THEY’RE HERE

Great leaders know why they’re here and why they do what they do.

Discover your WHY and the rest will take care of itself.

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Egg Drop In The News

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12th annual Easter egg drop sees 30,000 eggs dropped over Kochville Township

KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) - 30,000 Easter eggs rained down from a helicopter over Kochville Township Saturday.

It was all part of a massive Easter egg drop held by Life Church on Tittabawassee Road.

The event, now in its 12th year, is free and attracts families from across the area. It saw eggs dropped from a helicopter at the Saginaw church at different times for various age groups.

"We love to be able to bless the community, bring people out to Life Church and make some memories," said Dr. Jonathan Herron, a pastor at Life Church.

He estimates that each drop attracted around 4,000 people.

The Easter Bunny also made an appearance.

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Start With A Yes

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“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” (Robert Jarvik)

Today I want you to think like a comedian and grab the microphone. The most basic rule and premise of creating comedy (which makes for strong leadership skills) is agreement. Radical agreement.

When you're improvising on the fly, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created and thrown out there. Always agree with a Yes.

When two performers agree in the moment, the scene moves forward. To create a Holy Shift, your default must be to start with a Yes.

When you start with a Yes, you will generate ideas faster and more efficiently. Yes-thinking helps you pivot out of tight and uncomfortable spaces at church by creating agreement and a shared path forward.

“No” grinds invention, innovation, and forward-movement to a screeching halt. Pressing into the Yes reminds you to respect what your partner has created and to start from an open-minded place. The fun is found on the other side of Yes.

I am the founding pastor of Life Church Michigan which serves the Great Lakes Bay Region of the High Five State. Launched on St. Patrick’s Day in 2013, we are one church in two locations growing faster than water on mogwai. I get asked all the time why our church is growing so fast when we started with absolutely no people and no money. The answer is simple: I believe deep down in my core that Christ followers are given the mission by God to reach the lost at any cost.

Because of that passion, I am willing to do whatever it takes to reach people who normally will not darken a church door. As goes the leader, so goes the church. If you want your people to be fired up about reaching out and making heaven crowded, look in the mirror, because it starts with you!

Midland Comic-Con Craze

Comic Con Craze: Midland Mall hosts largest Comic Con yet, drawing an estimated 9,000 to 10,000

5th annual event took place March 7-9

By Max Milne,Community News Editor

Parking lots surrounding Midland Mall were packed over the weekend as cosplayers, creators, and collectors from all walks of life gathered for the fifth annual Midland Mall Comic Con, held March 7-9.

With the addition of a third day this year, Midland Mall declared 2025 the largest Comic Con it has hosted so far.

"I’m happy for the big turnout of Comic Con this year," said mall owner Jordan Dice, who estimated a total of 9,000 to 10,000 attendees over the three days. "It was a lot for the mall to take on internally, but as a team we did it, putting on the largest Comic Con event that has happened here.” 

In a social media post on Saturday, the mall said, "We NEED a bigger parking lot."

"We had people parking in the Meijer lot and walking over (on Saturday)," said Beccah Billmeier, operations manager for Midland Mall. "We estimate that we had over 7,000 people just through (Saturday)."

This year marks the first year that Midland Mall itself has organized Comic Con, after deciding to part ways with the former organizers. The mall received help from 35 volunteers through Life Church in Saginaw. Life Church Pastor and founding member of the Midland Mall Comic Con, Jonathan Herron, led the event volunteers.

"Because the event has grown so much, you need a solid team of volunteers," Herron said. "Back in 2020, when we started (Comic Con), we only needed a handful of volunteers - now we have people handling crowd control, helping with contests and activities." 

Although the mall was equipped to handle security, Billmeier stated no incidents had been reported as of Saturday night. She believes security was not an issue in part due to the event schedule the mall had in place.

"There was so much going on that people didn't have time to be bored," she said. 

In addition to more than 130 vendors, visitors could participate in or watch multiple cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, and other activities throughout the weekend. Vacant store spaces, including the BatCave and the old Men's Warehouse store, were opened to accommodate more vendors.

Stores throughout the mall, as well as food court tenants, reported record sales on Saturday. Some event vendors even sold out of products.

"I am so happy that Sarah (Thomas, Midland Mall event coordinator) invited me this year," said vendor Heidi Abbey, owner of Simple Treasures Handmade Crafts. "I've done the Midland Antique Festival for about 10 years now, but this is my first time doing Comic Con. I'm doing really well and meeting and making a lot of new friends with the other vendors and customers."

Other businesses, like Kakes the Great Popcorn Co. — another first-time vendor — were embracing the Comic Con culture.

"We're sort of new to the area and very new to (Comic Con)," said Kaylynn Martin, owner of Kakes. "It's a great treat to take pictures of the people all dressed up that walk by."

Cosplayers had plenty of photo opportunities and contests to participate in at Comic Con. There was a Kids Cosplay Contest on Friday, a Fursuit Contest on Saturday, and Individual and Group Cosplay Contests as well as Cosplay Parades on both Saturday and Sunday.

Additionally, cosplay panels were held on Saturday, including Ladies of Cosplay and The World of Competitive Cosplay.

"A lot of people said they didn't know what to expect - being that we are a mall - but that they were blown away and are already excited for next year," Billmeier said. "We didn't quite know what to expect because this year is our first year taking it over, but it has surpassed all of our expectations and then some."

The Midland Mall intends to make the Comic Con bigger and better next year, but has not yet announced the dates.

Sermon on the Beach

This past weekend I was away on a vacation with my wife in the Bahamas — it was awesome! Since I would be missing a Sunday morning at Life Church, I had already set up a guest speaker to speak in my absence. However, two days before speaking, my guest speaker had to pull out due to health problems. Suddenly I was without a speaker and Sunday was coming!

I improvised and filmed an entirely new message on the beaches of Paradise Island in the Bahamas. I was able to pull this off because of three things I had going for me:

  1. An amazing shooting location

  2. Technology for filming and uploading

  3. Knowledge of the Scriptures

LOCATION: Obviously the outdoors were working in my favor since we were in a tropical paradise. It was easy and simple to find quiet areas on the resort where we could film segments. From the ocean shore to a rocky enclave, we worked within the environment we were placed in (by “we” I mean my wife and I).

TECHNOLOGY: Thankfully I had remembered to pack my iPhone 14 to film on along with a Wireless Lavalier Microphone. My iPhone offered HD quality video recording on location. Because it had noise cancellation embedded in the mic, I was able to stand along the ocean’s edge with the shoreline roaring yet my voice being able to be heard clearly and crisply. Because it was wireless, this also allowed me to move around on-screen and not be stuck in one position. My iPhone had preloaded video-editing software so that I could re-order the filmed segments and add a few little graphics. Thanks to Dropbox, I uploaded the edited film on Saturday afternoon and a volunteer at Life Church downloaded the finished product, dropping it into ProPresenter for Sunday.

KNOWLEDGE: Being a student of Scripture paid off as I improvised 14 minutes of live teaching at several locations for the filming. We need to always get into the Word so that the Word can get into us. 1 Peter 3:15 says to always be prepared to share the hope that you have. Because we are currently working our way through the Book of Mark, I was able to dissect chapter 9 and keep up with the calendar structure.

I love inspiring and pouring into church leaders!

That's why I formed the Fearless Leadership Network.

Discover how you can go further, faster in 2025.

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