What Every Leader Should Know About Inspiring Others, Plus, Four Things to Know Thjs Week, December 11, 2025

A Word to the Wise: What Every Leader Should Know About Inspiring Others by Dan Reiland
 
The ability to inspire others is not a gift reserved for a few, it’s a skill all leaders must learn.
 
Inspiration is not a stand-alone skill. It requires other supporting skills underneath including the ability to:

• Connect at a heart level – showing you care.
• Appreciate others for who they are – expressing respect for each person as a human being.
• Encourage people to build them up – believing in each one so they may reach farther, dig deeper, and hold longer than previously believed possible.

Without these three skills, inspiring others will be difficult for you as a leader.
 
The beauty of inspiration is that that the Holy Spirit first inspires us with calling, passion and vision. We are then able to pass it on to others.
In God’s perfect design, He created each of us to inspire others in different ways.
I discuss this in more depth in my book Amplified Leadership, but for now, let me give you a quick list of the primary ways leaders inspire.

• Relationship – You are so good with people they are inspired because of how you love and care for them.
• Strategy – People hate chaos. Any leader who can organize the church to move forward and make progress is inspirational.
• Passion – Leaders who have personalities that “light up the room” can leverage that in strategic ways for the mission of the church.
• Competence – Think of this one like an Olympic athlete. They are so amazingly good at what they do; when you are around them you just want to get better at what you do! Competence inspires!
• Coaching – These leaders have a special skill to bring out the best in others, and they often see that gifting or talent before the person possessing it does. It is inspiring.

Which one is yours?
 
Dan Reiland, What Every Leader Should Know About Inspiring Others, 
https://danreiland.com/what-every-leader-should-know-about-inspiring/

1. 12 Things I’d Do Differently as a Pastor During the Christmas Season (Chuck Lawless)
   
2. Christmas Means Extra Giving for Churchgoers (Baptist Press/Lifeway Research)
   
3. 8 Indicators That a Pastor of a Declining Church May Have Stayed Too Long (Chuck Lawless)
   
4. Pastoral Wellness at the Associational Level (Kentucky Today)

 
 
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
 
To the praise of His glory,       
  
Ray
 
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.