In the Footsteps of Jesus—Lead as Jesus Led

Walter Wright suggests in his book Relational Leadership that whenever one person influences another, they are expressing leadership at some level.
Take giving directions as a simple example. When someone stops their car and asks you how to get "there" from "here", they are asking for your leadership. Or when someone asks you how to complete a task, again it's the guidance of leadership, it's influence that they are looking for. Now they might not say that, but essentially it is what is required.
To lead as Jesus led is all about transformed influence.
Wright expresses this pattern in five principles:
Principle #1: Influence and service
Servant leadership... is community-directed. It uses its power for the growth of those who are being led and the accomplishment of the shared mission of the community.
Principle #2: Vision and hope
Leadership articulates a compelling vision for tomorrow that captures the imagination of the follow and energizes their attitudes and actions in the present.
Servant leadership offers hope, it offers vision and it delivers on its promise.
Principle #3 Character and trust
Leadership is grounded in the faith, beliefs, commitments and values of the leader.
Leadership that produces fruit is rooted in the character of the leader.
The three things people want from leaders are: direction, trust and hope.
Principle #4 Relationships and power
Power is the potential for influence. It denotes the character or resources that others see in you that cause them to accept your influence.
... power exists only when someone sees in you a reason to accept your influence.
Power needs to leashed to a purpose.
Principle #5 Dependency and accountability
Leadership is about people. It is about relationship. Leadership is a relationship of influence with a purpose; the achievement of the shared mission and the nurture of the community.
Leaders are dependent upon the people.
How did Jesus Lead?
Jesus led by example. He said that his purpose was to serve rather than to be served (Mark 10:45), he chose willingly to give up his life for us (John 10:15ff), he even washed the feet of his disciples to show them the pattern of leadership which they were to follow.
Jesus was the ultimate example of a true servant-leader.
One writer defines a servant leader this way:
Servant leadership is not a particular style of leadership, but rather relates to the motivation behind a leader's thoughts, words and actions.
They go on to say:
Servant leaders are not leaders on the basis of their position or leadership role, but rather lead according to their calling, vision and principles. One of the challenges for servant leaders is to ensure that their vision and principles are in line with others in their organisation, and therefore it is highly important for them to engage with others to develop a common vision and shared values.
If we aspire to lead as Jesus led, if we aspire to be people of influence, then we must seek to commit to developing the pattern of servant-leadership we see in the ministry of Jesus.
What might this mean for us?
Followers first, leaders second.
Perhaps the most important principle is the rearranging of our priorities. First and foremost we are followers of Jesus Christ. If we don't get this relationship right then we will fall into patterns of leadership that seek to have power over others, to control and manage more than to serve.
Secure in Christ.
If we are "in Christ" then we have all that we need. We don't need power, we don't need position, we have everything already. In other words, if we have security in Christ we are free to serve him and others in his name because we have nothing to prove and nothing to protect and nothing to gain.
Christ-like character.
All through this series we have seen that in the end it all comes down to character. The Bible is a book about character. To lead like Jesus demands that we develop character like Jesus.
Three questions then remain: Who are you like? Where is your security? Who are you following?