Meeting needs is better than having titles.

Recently I noticed I was doing something odd: I found myself often checking my Aeroplan status to see if I reach Diamond level. Currently, I am 72% of the way to Diamond status in the Aeroplan reward program.

Guess what happens at the Diamond level? Almost nothing. It doesn't get me more free travel. There is no meaningful advantage to me achieving that status. It's a useless accomplishment, except I would be able to say I have Diamond status. 

Diamond status. Imagine. It's strange considering, I don’t even pay attention to something as useless as likes on an Instagram post or as helpful as the "g" in lasagna.

I have a friend who usually chooses indirect flights. He takes multi-stop trips to increase his qualifying segments just so that he can bump up his status by doing more flight legs. What does he get from climbing to the next level? A luggage tag. Yes, that's right: he can display his status, on a tag, on his carry-on luggage.

Most of us are attracted to status. 

There's a difference between wanting a leadership role and wanting to make something better. If I want a leadership title, but there's nothing I want to solve, I'm only trying to feed my ego. 

If we want the leader label but don't want to affect a problem, it's not the leadership we want. We want popularity. Our ego is driving us, and our motive is off. 

If I say I want to be a leader, but I don't know what I want to lead, my motive is fame, not service. 

All of us can be tempted to be more concerned with recognition than results.

Making our mark is not as important as meeting a need. 

Jesus doesn't ask people to fill positions. He asks them to change lives. Sometimes he does that by giving people positions and roles. 

Now, to be clear, sometimes we know Jesus is calling us to lead something unknown. Sometimes we are not sure what he wants us to lead, and that's okay. It's merely something we pray into. We ask God for revelation. Where people often go wrong is they desire the notoriety but not the responsibility. They are chasing prominence, not obedience.

One day Jesus called the crowd and his disciples closer to him. He wanted them to understand something profound. He told them that if anyone wanted to be his disciple, they must grab a cross (metaphorically, and perhaps physically), deny themselves, and follow him. He told them that if anyone wanted to save their life, they would lose it, but anyone willing to lose their life, for him and the gospel, will find it. He went on to say that if someone wants to be great, they must first become a slave to all. You can't be a servant if you're trying to be king.

Obedience is the attitude, faithfulness is the goal, and mission is the result. Jesus is the reason.

Do you want to be great, or do you want to be famous? Not everyone can become famous, but everyone can be great. Everything we do can be, in some way, remarkable.

One of the worse things that can happen to a young leader is to become highly successful at something highly irrelevant. It is more honourable to be a leader with substance instead of a leader with status.

Forget about the position. What's your purpose? What's the problem you're going to help solve? 

Leading without purpose is just management. It's not leadership at all. It is like eating a rice cake: a lot of activity with little benefit.