What does it take to be a leader who is well-liked? “Can I improve how I treat people and thus raise the level of my own likeability?” Here is my list of 12 ways to become more likeable as a leader.

Pastor leaders hold the anxiety of establishing and maintaining a culture of trust. Imagine with me, if you will, what you might include in a list of “must haves” when it comes to qualities that a pastor should have as we move through and come out on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis.

For many years, I have been a fierce proponent of churches using Spiritual Discernment as they navigate their future. I’ve urged countless team leaders and church leaders to ask “what do we need to put down or put to death so that what God intends for us to be about can come to life?” I’ve seen men and women genuinely wrestle with the thorny choices that emerge when we ask that question and open ourselves to the idea that we may be more married to our methods than to our mission.

All four Gospels relate the story of the Feeding of the 5000.  In these stories, when faced with the overwhelming need of feeding a large group of people, Jesus told the disciples to “go look” and discover what resources they had.  He did not want to know what they...