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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission.
All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked esv are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by
Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Cover by Koechel Peterson & Associates, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Cover photos © Ljupco Smokovski, Jeanette Dietl / Shutterstock
Published in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates.
9 KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL LEADERSHIP
Copyright © 2002, 2008, 2011 by James Merritt
Previously published as How to Impact and Influence Others
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Merritt, James Gregory
[How to impact and influence others.]
9 keys to successful leadership / James Merritt.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-7369-6564-4 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-6565-1 (eBook)
1. Leadership. 2. Influence (Psychology) I. Title. II. Title: Nine keys to successful leadership.
HD57.7.M47 2016
658.4'092—dc23
2015028549
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy,
recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
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To my mentor and hero in the faith,
Dr. Adrian Rogers
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Contents
Acknowledgments
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
The Heart of a Leader
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Chapter One: The Key That Always Fits
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Chapter Two: The Key to a Happy Team
Chapter Three: The Key to Team Unity
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Chapter Four: The Key to Finishing Well
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Chapter Five: The Key to Magnetic Leadership
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Chapter Six: The Key to a Winning Organization
Chapter Seven: The Key to Maximum Productivity
Chapter Eight: The Key of the Velvet Glove
Chapter Nine: The Key of the Even Keel
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| | | | | | | | | | | |
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Chapter Ten: Living Under the Influence of Jesus
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Acknowledgments
There are so many people to thank when one writes a book. Even though there may
be only one author, good books are collaborative efforts with great teams standing
with the author. I want to acknowledge that team.
First of all, I thank my agents, Robert and Eric Wolgemuth at Wolgemuth and Associates, for believing in me enough to represent me. I love that you are not only professionals, but also men of integrity and great character. It has been an honor to work
with you, and I look forward to more collaboration.
I thank my editor, Rod Morris. You have a gentle yet firm way of telling me when
things are bad—and I gave you many opportunities to tell me that! Thank you so
much for working with me and being honest. It was a pleasure.
I thank Harvest House Publishers for allowing me to become a part of your family.
Everyone has been a pleasure and joy to work with. You do things right. I am honored to entrust this project to the Harvest House team.
I am grateful for the church I pastor, Cross Pointe, and the staff I serve with. Ministering alongside great men and women of God has sharpened the virtues I describe
in this book. I am grateful to the Lord to be both your pastor and fellow-worker
with God.
This book would not even have come to pass had it not been for the urging and
encouraging of my precious son, Jonathan. It is one thing to have ordinary people
believe in you, but when your own son believes in you to the extent that Jonathan
does, it humbles me beyond words. All three of my sons are my best friends, and I
love them all, but I especially thank Jonathan for believing in his dad, admonishing me when I got discouraged in this project, and helping me to make this book as
sharp as it could be. He is a writer far greater in ability than I ever hope to be, and
I have learned so much from him. Jonathan, with all my heart, son, I love you and
thank you for getting me to this point.
Finally, the greatest decision I ever made in my life—next to trusting Jesus Christ as
my Lord and Savior—was marrying my wife, Teresa. Humanly speaking, you are
the light of my life. I can’t imagine a minute without you. You really are the finest
person I’ve ever known. I am glad that God brought you into my life, and I will love
you now, forever, and for always!
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The Heart of a Leader
I
know before you say it: “Not another book on leadership.”
Trust me—if this were one of those books on leadership, I
would not only say the same thing but also tell you not to
buy this book, much less read it. Search “leadership” on Amazon, and you will get more than 300,000 matches. Yet as prolific business and leadership author Jeffrey Krames plaintively
asks, “Where on earth are all the leaders?”1 I think it’s safe to say
we don’t have 300,000 truly great leaders in America!
I want to ask the question a different way: “Where are all the
leaders who lead by example and inspire emulation of their character?” In many ways, one could argue that Genghis Khan, Attila
the Hun, and Adolf Hitler were very influential leaders. But do
we admire their methods or their manners and would we want
our children to grow up to be just like them?
I believe that leadership is measured not just by how much
you can accomplish through followers or how many followers
you have. I believe that the highest level of leadership is measured by the person you are and the virtues you display. Great
leadership begins with who you are, not what you do. Simply
put, the level of your leadership will never rise above the content of
your character.
7
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Think of leadership in terms of an iceberg. The 10 percent
above water represents your skill. The 90 percent below water is
your character. The vast majority of leadership books deal with
the 10 percent, but this book focuses on the 90 percent. Why?
Because it’s what’s below the surface that sinks the ship.2
Like the iceberg, there is far more to leadership than meets
the eye. The greatest impact truly great leaders have comes from
the personal qualities you can’t see on the outside, not the productive qualities you can see. I am convinced that 90 percent
of our leadership comes from the values that form us and the
virtues that flow from us. In other words, character ultimately
trumps competency.
Inherently and instinctively, we know this to be true.
Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner surveyed almost 1500
managers from around the country as part of a study sponsored by the American Management Association. They asked
this opened-ended question: “What values, personal traits, or
characteristics do you look for and admire in your superiors?”
Put differently, they were asking, “What characteristics apart
from title or authority would make you want to voluntarily follow a leader?”
More than 225 values and traits were identified, which were
then grouped into 15 categories. The number one thing respondents said they wanted most from their leaders was integrity. The
categories that immediately followed were “is truthful,” “is trustworthy,” “has character,” and “has convictions.” These qualities
ranked above “competency,” “intelligence,” and “is inspiring.”3
These responses focus on the hidden 90 percent of the iceberg.
I have read and collected leadership books for years. Time
management, conflict management, staff management…my
head swims from all the advice and practical suggestions that I
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have gleaned—and yes, used successfully. These books greatly
enhance the 10 percent of the iceberg and make it shine, and
some may have a chapter or two on the 90 percent. But almost
all of these books focus on the leader’s head. Very few focus on
the leader’s heart.
Great leaders don’t just produce great results; they
portray great character and inspire others to become
better people by the way they lead their own lives.
I’m reminded of the story of a hot-air balloonist who had
drifted off course. He saw a man on the ground and yelled,
“Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?”
“Yes, you’re in a balloon,” the guy replied.
“You must work in IT,” the balloonist said.
“I do indeed! How did you know?”
“What you told me is technically correct but of no use to
anyone.”
So many leadership tomes pontificate on…
• how to move an organization forward but not how
to move people upward
• how a company can go from good to great but not
how a leader should be good in order to help his
people become great
• how to grow profits and productivity but not how
to grow people as you grow yourself
This is the big difference in this book. A great leader doesn’t
just have a great mind; he has a great soul. A brilliant brain is
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no substitute for a pure heart. To paraphrase Jesus, “What does
it profit a person to double the revenues, increase productivity,
and satisfy the stockholders while sacrificing his integrity, cutting corners, and treating people like property?” Great leaders don’t just produce great results; they portray great character
and inspire others to become better people by the way they lead
their own lives.
In the classic work Mutiny on the Bounty, Captain Christian
stood before the tribunal that would determine his fate. They
concluded, “If decency does not abide in the captain of the ship,
then it is not on board.” I have learned as a pastor that no one
sets the tone among our staff, lay leadership, or the church as a
whole like the pastor. This is also true if you are a coach, principal, manager, or CEO.
I have worked with hundreds of people over decades, and
I have learned that without exception, every person is either a
thermometer or a thermostat. Some people register and reflect
the climate around them; others set it. Some people dance to
the beat of the music; others set the beat and direct the band.
Most people—by far—are thermometers. They “go along to
get along.” They are perfect reflections of the style, dress, actions,
attitudes, and directions of those around them. They are mirrors of their culture and perfectly happy to be so.
Leaders, on the other hand, are thermostats. They set the
tone and the temperature of their culture and the people they
lead. The currency of their leadership is influence, and they
spend it wisely but liberally. The buck stops with them, and
that’s exactly where they want the buck to stop. They know the
values they live by and the virtues they exude, and they want
them to be mirrored in their followers.4
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Leaders can drive others to follow them by force and mandated authority, or they can move others to follow them by their
character and convictions. Both may get a job done, but the
impact and influence of the latter remain long after those of the
former have faded.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this in his poem “A
Psalm of Life”:
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
The leaders who have the best and most enduring impact live
that sublime life, which is the focus of this book.
The character instilled in a nation, a family,
followers of any ilk and sort will linger long after
competency has evaporated into thin air.
God warned Israel of the priority of character over competency in leadership. Did you know that Jewish kings were
required to make a copy of God’s law in their own handwriting and keep it on their person at all times? Like American
Express, they couldn’t leave home without it. Why would God
require this of the king? He knew the constant presence of the
law would force the king to internalize it, personalize it, and
use it as a portable guard around his heart.5 According to this
scriptural admonition, it would cement his legacy and multiply his influence:
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This regular reading will prevent him from becoming
proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens.
It will also prevent him from turning away from these
commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that
he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.6
Did you read that last sentence? The character instilled in
a nation, a family, followers of any ilk and sort will linger long
after competency has evaporated into thin air. This was illustrated to me in an unforgettable way in China more than a
decade ago.
I was president of the Southern Baptist Convention (a true
test of leadership if there ever was one) and was on a trip to
China to visit Christians and churches there. One morning I
was taken to the Great Wall and was fascinated by this magnificent engineering feat, constructed more than 2200 years ago
and stretching more than 13,000 miles. It was built for border
control—to protect against invasion of various nomadic tribes.
The wall was built so thick and so high the Chinese felt it
could neither be scaled nor breached. A confident air of security filled the homes of the Chinese people. Yet during the first
100 years of the wall’s existence, China was invaded three times!
How? Not once was the wall broken down. Not once did an
enemy invader climb over it. All three times a gatekeeper was
bribed and the enemy marched right through the gates. The
Chinese relied on the competency of the wall builders and the
concrete of the wall itself, but they forgot the importance of the
character of their people.
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Leadership is not vested in the position one holds in
his title but in the principles one holds in his heart.
I am reminded of the story of a train that was about to leave
a large railroad station. The conductor began to take tickets.
Looking at the ticket of the first passenger, he said, “Friend, I
think you’re on the wrong train.”
“But the ticket agent told me this was my train,” the man said.
After a little discussion, the conductor decided to check with
the ticket agent. Before long, it became clear that the conductor
was on the wrong train! When the leader is lost, how can the followers be going on the right track?
Leadership is not vested in the position one holds in his title
but in the principles one holds in his heart. Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of our greatest military leaders and finest presidents,
put it best:
In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And
to have followers, a man must have their confidence.
Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible,
no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man’s associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that
he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first
great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.
Eisenhower was dead-on. I believe that who you are, what
you believe and live by, and how you treat others is far more
important than what you accomplish, build, and produce. In
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the long run, character will accomplish far more lasting results,
both in time and eternity, than competence alone ever will.
Paul Borthwick writes this in Leading the Way:
The world needs leaders…
who cannot be bought;
whose word is their promise;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
who are larger than their vocations;
who do not hesitate to take chances;
who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
who will be honest in small things as well as in great
things;
who will make no compromise with wrong;
whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
who will not say they do it “because everybody else
does it”;
who are true to their friends through good report and
evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity;
who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and
hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning
success;
who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for the truth
when it is unpopular;
who can say no with emphasis, although the rest of
the world says yes.7
I agree, and I believe the way to become this kind of leader
is found in the greatest leadership book in the world, the Bible,
which tells us about the greatest leader who ever lived—Jesus
Christ. Tucked away in this book is a list of virtues that, if sown
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in the heart to bear fruit in the life, practically guarantee the
character needed to be the best leader one can be. The Bible
even calls these virtues “fruit.”8 Jesus was the very embodiment
of these qualities and wants to reproduce them in leaders today.
My hope is that this book will be the plow that opens the
soil of your heart so that these seeds can be planted and this
fruit can be borne.
The importance of this can be seen in the following study.
One might think that knowledge, experience, expertise, and
competence might be the greatest assets for vocational and leadership success. The Carnegie Foundation discovered that relational skills are far more important to success in leading and
managing. Their research found that only 15 percent of a person’s success is determined by job knowledge and technical
skills. The other 85 percent is determined by an individual’s
attitude and ability to relate to other people.9
If you were told that you were going to work for someone
who constantly displayed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, do you
think you might be interested? You think this person would
not only be worth following but would make you an even better person by doing so?
If you would like to meet that person and become that person, hop on board. It’s going to be a fun-filled, eye-opening, lifechanging ride.
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Chapter Ten
Living Under the Influence of Jesus
“More often than we e’er suspect,
the lives of others we do affect.”
Author unknown
T
he phrase “under the influence” carries negative connotations for many readers. It certainly does for me. One of my
close relatives is sitting in a jail cell today because he made
a tragic mistake while driving a car “under the influence.” Yet,
those three words also carry a positive meaning that is far more
powerful.
We all are who we are, what we are, and where we are because
we were “under the influence” of certain people. I have mentioned many in this book who have influenced me either through
the books they wrote or the relationships we had or the advice
they gave. I never prepare a sermon that I don’t ask, “How would
_______ approach this passage?” My parenting approach was
greatly influenced through the writings of James Dobson and
the loving guidance I was given by my parents. My problemsolving methods to this day go all the way back to my accounting
professor, Joe Master, who ingrained in his students the determination to solve even the most difficult accounting problems with
rigorous reasoning and indefatigable effort. On and on it goes.
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Influence Is Inevitable
The hard truth is we are all influencers and we are all influenced. Sociologists tell us that even the shiest introvert will influence 10,000 people over a lifetime. Influence is impossible
to escape in either an active or a passive sense. It is like the
weather—always there to be reckoned with. Influence is built
into the structure of life itself.
Think about our legal system. The very nature of the legal
process guarantees that decisions made in one case affect not
only the parties directly involved in the case itself, but the rights
of others in future cases. This is because of a principle known as
stare decisis, the concept of precedent. Whenever a decision is
rendered in a court case, unless that decision is reversed or modified, other courts follow suit in similar situations. Today every
public school in America is desegregated because of one decision—Brown vs. the Board of Education—handed down over a
half-century ago.
Like a ghost, influence hovers over us wherever we go. We
can feel it, but we have to figure out how to remove obstacles
between it and us. We have to learn to tap into it. That is why as
parents you remain interested and concerned about the people
your kids hang out with even after they leave home. We instinctively know that the influence of relationships never diminishes.
You want your kids to be a positive influence on others, so you
need to protect them from the negative influences that might
prevent that.
Someone has called influence the “epicenter of leadership.”
Truer words have never been spoken. I would add that character
is the epicenter of positive influence. Again, everyone has some
influence over somebody. It’s what you do with it that determines whether it’s positive or negative.
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Recently I saw The Blind Side, one of the finest movies I have
seen in years. This touching film tells the story of Michael Oher,
a homeless African-American boy from a broken home who is
taken in and adopted by Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy, a wealthy
white couple who lovingly nurture him into eventually becoming a dean’s list student in college and a star football player. This
true story illustrates the incredible influence a power-of-one
person can have on another.
This doesn’t mean that the result of one’s influence as a leader
will always be positive. The past two years have been some of the
most painful of my career because I have had to let some people
go from our organization for a number of reasons, ranging from
economic to performance to just not being a good fit for the job
they were trying to do. Yet, if I hadn’t made some of these tough
decisions, my influence would have greatly suffered when others in the organization knew changes needed to be made.
Wear your character well and use the power
that comes with it in a way that positively
maximizes the impact you have on others.
At the same time, the greatest influence and impact you have
on others comes from who and what you are. I don’t really care
what title you have on the outside. Your character will determine if the title fits you. Wear your character well and use the
power that comes with it in a way that positively maximizes the
impact you have on others.
I have given you nine key character qualities that I am convinced if exercised and seen by others consistently will lift the
influence you have on others to its highest possible level. People
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around the world will line up to follow someone who consistently displays love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in their interactions
with others and in their responses to even the most difficult of
situations.
Yes, I know your question: How can anyone display all these
qualities consistently? Humanly speaking, you can’t. That’s the
bad news. The good news is, it is not only a possibility but a distinct reality—if you are under the influence.
Help Is on the Way
A five-year-old boy fell out of bed, waking the entire household with his cry. After his mother had safely tucked him back
under the covers, she asked, “Why did you fall out of bed?”
Between tears and sobs, he said, “Well, I guess I went to sleep
too close to where I got in.”
Too many people do just that in life—sleepwalk too close
to where they began. They fall far short of what God created
them to become. The vast majority of people never learn the
secret of how to positively and eternally influence and impact
people. I didn’t randomly pick out the nine qualities we’ve discussed. These virtues are fruit—the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The
Bible says that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control”
(Galatians 5:22-23).
Those who have God’s Holy Spirit living
in them have the supernatural ability to be
winners who can influence anybody.
These virtues are not naturally manufactured—they are
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supernaturally produced. Those who have God’s Holy Spirit living in them have the supernatural ability to be winners who
can influence anybody. All it takes is being under the Spirit’s
influence.
The Fruit Comes from the Root
Jesus revealed the secret to getting under the influence in a
talk He once gave to His disciples. “I am the true vine, and my
Father is the gardener…I am the vine; you are the branches. If a
man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing” (John 15:1,5). Keep in mind that,
horticulturally, the fruit depends on the influence of the vine.
To put it another way, a branch bears fruit only if under the
influence of the tree.
Jesus said, “I am the true vine.” Out of a vine spring forth
fragile green buds. Then comes the flower—the bloom ready to
mature. And then comes the fruit.
The Creator’s will plants the seeds of His image in all of us in
order that we might become fruit-bearing branches, reflecting
the character of the true vine, His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus says, “My Father is the gardener.” The only thing that
interests the gardener is fruit. He doesn’t concern himself about
the leaves or the bud, just as God is not impressed with the appearance of the foliage or the flower. He is strictly a fruit inspector.
The gardener has one job: to maximize the fruit of the branch.
To ensure that every branch reaches maximum production,
God prunes it. Jesus says, “Every branch that does bear fruit
he prunes so that it may be even more fruitful” (John 15:2).
A gardener prunes in two ways: First, he cuts away fruitless
branches that might suck sap that ought to be going to the fruitful branches. If the sap is wasted, the vine bears less fruit. Then
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he cuts away shoots from the fruitful branches so that all the sap
concentrates on enabling that branch to bear fruit.
God’s favorite pruning knife is His Word, which Hebrews
4:12 tells us is “sharper than any double-edged sword.” God
uses this knife to cut and clean the branch. As you read God’s
Word, God cuts away the bad so it doesn’t get in the way of the
good, then God cuts out the good so it doesn’t get in the way
of the best.
Trials, troubles, and tribulations may simply be pruning
shears in the hands of the divine Gardener.
This explains (at least in part) why God allows difficult times
to invade our lives. Trials, troubles, and tribulations may simply
be pruning shears in the hands of the divine Gardener—tools
He uses to cut away dead wood, fruitless branches, and sapsucking shoots so that we might bear more fruit.
I have had the privilege of spending personal time on two
different occasions with the great evangelist Billy Graham. He
has embodied the principles found in this book and has perhaps
leveraged his life to have more positive influence and impact on
others than any person in the twentieth century.
I was awed and humbled to lay hands on this mighty servant
of the Lord to pray for him just before he went to preach the
gospel to 38,000 people. I knew I was in the presence of a man
who literally radiated the qualities outlined in this book. I think
of him now because of something he once said: “Mountaintops
are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valleys.”
How true. It’s easy to love those who love us, but Jesus said to
love our enemies. It’s easy to be happy when the sun is shining,
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but difficult when the hail is falling, the thunder is rumbling,
and the lightning is crashing. Jesus said, “I have told you this
so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).
It’s one thing to be at peace and calm when life feels peaceful
and calm around us; it’s another to be at peace when life is caving in on us. But Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I
give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your
hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).
Under His Influence
How does the branch bear fruit? By trying? No. By working?
No. By straining? No. The branch bears fruit simply by abiding. Jesus said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that
bears much fruit” (John 15:5 esv). What does this mean? How
does one abide in Jesus? Let me suggest an analogy.
When we put a tea bag in a cup of hot water, something
amazing happens to the water. As the tea bag remains or abides
in that water, the tea begins to color and flavor the water until
that water begins to take on the color and the taste of the tea
bag. The longer the bag abides in the water, the stronger the
color and taste of the tea.
That is similar to what happens when we abide in Christ and
He abides in us. The longer we abide in Christ and the deeper
we go with Christ, the more His influence will pervade our lives
so that we begin to reflect His nature and His character.
The branch does not produce the fruit; it only bears the fruit.
The vine produces the fruit. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in me” (John 15:4 esv).
Without the vine, the strongest branch is as helpless as the
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weakest branch. The most beautiful branch is as useless as the ugliest branch. The best branch is as worthless as the worst branch.
That’s why Jesus went on to say, “I am the vine; you are the
branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears
much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (v. 5 esv).
The vine produces the sap that enables the branch to produce
the fruit. We cannot manufacture these nine winning character
traits outside of ourselves—the Spirit of God must supernaturally produce them inside of us. He does that when we abide in
Christ and stay under His influence.
But what, exactly, does it mean to abide in Christ? Jesus does
not leave us wondering. Jesus tells us that abiding means, first of
all, studying the Word of God. “If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you”
(John 15:7 esv). When the children of God look into the Word
of God and see the Son of God, they are changed by the Spirit of
God into the image of God by the grace of God for the glory of
God. That is what abiding is all about.
Abiding also means doing the work of God. Jesus said, “Who
abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit” (v. 5 esv).
God is in the fruit-bearing business. That is His work; that is what
He desires for us. As we stay under His influence, we will find that
our work really becomes sharing His influence with others.
Third, abiding is obeying the will of God. Jesus said, “If you
keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I
have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love”
(John 15:10 esv). When the branch rests in fellowship with the
vine, it reproduces the fruit of the vine.
Getting Under the Influence
A branch without a vine is lifeless. Because it is lifeless, it is
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fruitless. If a branch is fruitless, it is useless. God wants you connected to Him so that He can give you the supernatural power
you need to be the winner He created you to be, that you might
influence others to be winners as well.
You make this connection through a personal relationship
with His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on a cross and was raised
from the dead so that, through faith in Him, we might be grafted
as branches onto the heavenly vine and begin to bear the heavenly fruit of His Holy Spirit. That—the right connection—is
the secret to being a winner who can influence anybody.
Ask the Holy Spirit to make you into a tree that
will bear fruit of blessing on all you meet.
Are you under His influence? Are you connected with God
through the only One who can make that connection—His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you have in you the indwelling
Holy Spirit, who wants to bear the divine fruit of these winning
qualities in your life?
If so, ask the Holy Spirit to make you into a tree that will
bear fruit of blessing on all you meet. If not, I invite you to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, the true vine, who alone can
make you a winner whose influence will last for all eternity.
We all remember the little couplet by Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow:
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth I knew not where.
But most of us don’t know how the entire poem goes.
I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
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For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.
Longfellow illustrates that even an arrow randomly shot or
a song randomly sung will ultimately influence someone or
something. Our lives shoot arrows and sing songs daily that
influence others, often in ways we may not know or even see.
But influencing begins with inviting. We must invite the power
of God to fill us and help us manifest the fruit that will transform us into vanguards of influence and impact.
My prayer is that you will be under God’s influence so that
you might tap into His powerful influence. You can make an
eternal impact on others. That’s what we were all created for. I am
grateful for all those people who have so powerfully and eternally
impacted me. Forever and always, I will never forget them.
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Endnotes
Introduction
1. Jeffrey Krames, “So Many Leadership Books, So Few Leaders” (blog post), December 8,
2008, http://jeffreykrames.com/2008/12/08/so-many-leadership-books-so-few-leaders/.
2. I owe this insight to Tim Elmore, Habitudes (Atlanta: Growing Leaders, 2004), 1. Richard
Nixon’s presidency illustrates the iceberg principle. Politically, his achievements as president were in some ways remarkable. Personally, his vices eventually sank him.
3. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge (San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1987), 16-17.
4. See Habitudes for more on this insightful analogy.
5. Mark Batterson, Draw the Circle (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 169.
6. Deuteronomy 17:20 (nlt).
7. Paul Borthwick, Leading the Way (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 19-20.
8. Galatians 5:22-23.
9. Cited in Dan Rogge, “Building Better Relationships,” The Canadian Champion, January 25, 2008, http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/MPL/MPL002508662pf_0278.pdf.
Chapter One: The Key That Always Fits
1. Mark Sanborn, The Fred Factor (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2002), 108.
2. www.christianhistorytimeline.com/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps153.shtml.
3. David E. Ireland, Letters to an Unborn Child (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1974).
Chapter Two: The Key to a Happy Team
1. Victor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (Boston: Beacon Press, 2006), 86.
Chapter Eight: The Key of the Velvet Glove
1. Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense (New York: Random House, 1994).
2. John Wooden, They Call Me Coach (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004).
Chapter Nine: The Key of the Even Keel
1. James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Second American Revolution (New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994), 79.
2. Karen S. Peterson, “Why Everyone Is So Short-Tempered,” USA Today, 18 July 2000.
3. http://preachingtoday.com/illustrations/search.html?type=keyword&query=“Self-con
trol” Italics added.
4. “Interview with Rubel Shelley,” Abilene Reporter-News, 18 May 2000.
5. John Wooden, “Pyramid of Success,” www.coachwooden.com.
6. Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), viii.
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About the Author
Dr. James Merritt is a respected voice on faith and
leadership. He is the host of the international television broadcast Touching Lives (www.oneplace.com/
ministries/touching-lives) and senior pastor of Cross
Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia. Each week, Dr.
Merritt’s messages can be seen in all 50 states and in 122
countries. He has been featured in several media outlets including Hannity and Colmes, ABC World News,
60 Minutes, the New York Times, and Time.
Dr. Merritt earned a bachelor’s degree from Stetson
University and a master’s and doctor of philosophy
degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. From 2000–2002, Merritt served as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the world’s
largest Protestant denomination, with over 16 million
members.
He and his wife, Teresa, are the proud parents of three
sons and reside outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
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To learn more about Harvest House books and
to read sample chapters, visit our website:
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
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