How do I lead others without letting pride take over? This is Lead in 10. I'm Chris Moore, and let's be honest, there's something about leadership that quietly feeds our egos, the title, the authority, maybe the success, or just having people. Listen to us. Even when it starts with the right heart, pride has a sneaky way of slipping in. Right in the side door comes first and foremost. We start thinking they need me. Uh, this won't work without me. Look at what I had built. And before we know it, we're leading from the mirror instead of the mission. So the question is, how do we lead boldly without becoming prideful? How do we stay confident? But grounded. Let's go back to the word Philippians, chapter two, verses three through five. Paul says this, let nothing be done through strife or vein glory, but in lowness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That phrase, lowness of mind that isn't weakness. It's the humility of Christ. We see the same things coming in this devotion. Day after day, week after week, that same Christ who washed our feet, who sat with sinners, who rode into Jerusalem, not on a war horse, but on a donkey. That's the humility of Christ. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 18 gives us a warning, pride, goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. I bet we've seen that in hindsight. I know we've seen it in other people. If pride goes unchecked, it doesn't just cost our influence. It can take down your whole leadership platform, your business, your life. Finally in one Peter chapter five, verses five through six says this, God resisted the proud and giveth grace to the humble, humble yourselves. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you and do time. If you want to keep leading well, you've got to stay low. How many books have we seen over the past 10 years about people talking about staying hungry, about staying? Really at the bottom of the rung, we see people talk about, I need to stay poor in this so that I can keep fighting forward. Well, that's actually a biblical thought. We need to stay humble. We need to stay below this exalting of ourself. So there's four practical ways that we can lead with confidence. The confidence that we need to lead effectively, but without feeding our pride. Let gratitude be your guard. Step one, let gratitude be your guardrail. The quickest way to kill pride is to stay grateful, grateful for your team, grateful for the opportunity. Grateful that God used flawed people like us to do anything of value, to realize who we really are. Pride says, I earned this. Gratitude says, I've been entrusted with this every morning. Take a minute, 60 seconds. Thank God for the role he has given you and the people he's given you to serve. It'll help keep your heart soft and your ego in check, especially if we will take that position of service. And that leads us to step two. Make much of others. Philippian says to esteem others better than yourself. When was the last time you celebrated someone else's win more than your own? Pride makes us wanna hoard the credit. Humility shares it freely. As a leader, you have a choice. Will you be the ceiling? Will you be the platform for somebody else? When you elevate others, you reflect the heart of Jesus. When a team member shines, say, so, when someone solves a problem, recognize that when a peer gets promoted, celebrate it. Don't fall into that comparison trap. Stay. Step three, stay curious and coachable. Pride thinks it knows everything. Humility keeps learning. The moment you stop receiving feedback, you've started a slow decline. Invite feedback regularly. Ask your team, what's one thing I could do better? As a leader, you might be surprised by what they say and how much trust it builds. You don't have to pretend to have it all together. People don't follow perfection. They follow authenticity. Stay open, stay teachable, and always remember if you think that you are up here and someone that is below you, you cannot learn from. You've already failed the mission of this devotion. I've seen it time and time again. Your position. In an organization or in life where God has put you, does not mean that the people below you cannot give you insight, guidance, and things that you've never thought of. Step number four, keep Jesus not results at the center again. How many times have we seen this change in someone who we've respected? Listen, results matter. Metrics matter, growth matters. But when your identity starts to hinge on the numbers, pride is not far behind. First, Peter reminds us, humble yourselves, that he may exalt you in due time. You don't have to prove your worth. You don't have to build up your name. You just have to be faithful and let God handle the rest. If the spotlight shows up, great, but remember to stay grounded. If the praise comes, try to redirect it if possible to someone else. And please don't make it the, I wanna thank the big man upstairs. The offhand remarks, those don't matter. Let Jesus stay center stage where he needs to. Let me give you two traps. Two traps to avoid trap. Number one, mistaking boldness for arrogance. Just because you lead with conviction, doesn't mean you are prideful. You can be bold and humble, but check your motive. Are you leading with clarity because you love the mission or because you want to be seen as the hero? Messaging matters. The message that we give matters. Boldness with the right heart, builds trust, but boldness without humility builds up walls to those around us. There's a second trap. We surround ourselves with silence. Pride grows fastest when no one challenges you. If your inner circle always agrees with you, that is not loyalty, that's danger. Build relationships with people who will tell you the truth. People who aren't impressed by you just invested in you. We need to give others permission to check our hearts. That kind of accountability, it's golden to us as leaders. Let's wrap up with a reflection challenge. Where is pride creeping into my leadership and what will humility look like in that area? Ask yourself that. Where, where might this be happening? Ask someone close to you. This simple question, do you see any areas where I come across as prideful? Even when I don't mean to? Then listen, don't defend yourself. Just receive it, and then at the end, thank them for telling you the truth. This single act could grow your leadership more than anything else you can do. You can lead with strength and humility. You can pursue excellence without feeding your ego. You can carry influence without losing your soul, but just like everything else, we have to be intentional. We have to be careful, and we have to follow what God would have for us to do. This is Leading 10. I'm Chris Moore. Thanks for spending time with me again today. Hopefully this has challenged you and encouraged you. Uh. We've got more coming. I can't wait to walk through it with you and I'll see you next time.