Thank you Jane for this article! Too many leaders forget that, as you said, true leadership starts with the leader itself.

It involves answering three, simple to ask but hard to answer, questions:

1. Who you are?
2. Whose you are?
3. Are you the example?

One great example of a leader that changed the world is Jesus Christ. Here's how he answered those three questions.

Who you are is knowing your strengths and weaknesses, the vision of what you're trying to achieve, your mission to achieve it and the values that will guide your journey.
Too many are trying to lead other without even knowing who they are and where they're going.

Jesus know exactly who He was and what His mission was.
"Just as the Son of man came, not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his soul a ransom in exchange for many" - Mt 20:28

Whose you are is knowing who you're trying to please. What's your main audience in your life? This thought can restore you focus instantly on what matters most.

Once again, Jesus knew very clearly whose He was:
"I cannot do a single thing of my own initiative; just as I hear, I judge; and the judgment that I render is righteous, because I seek, not my own will, but the will of him that sent me." Jo 5:30

Above all, you have to be the example of what you're trying to accomplish as a leader to be effective.

Jesus leadership style was based on leading by example. How different is the leadership style of most leaders today. Jesus had a message for them:

"Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Allow me to extract the straw from your eye’; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother’s eye." Mt 7:4-5

I really hope that we can take this information, apply it in our lives and change the world!

Best regards,
Bruno Coelho