Hudson Taylor on Leadership

In his book Spiritual Leadership, Oswald Sanders records a letter that the missionary Hudson Taylor sent to his secretary while serving in China. In the letter, Taylor outlined 6 areas he felt needed improvement within China Inland Mission, the organization he founded. The 6 points are pretty insightful for pastors, leaders at all levels within the church, and really for leaders anywhere.

I have listed them here in Taylor's words, followed by a brief description of each offered by Sanders.

Improve the character of the work
The leader must discover which departments are functioning below standards and remedy the defect.

Deepen the piety, devotion, and success of the workers
The spiritual health of the leadership group should be the top concern among higher echelon leadership.

Remove stones of stumbling, if possible
Friction among a team should be minimized. When problems are neglected, morale drops and performance decreases. If the problem has a remedy, it should be put into place at once.

Oil the wheels where they stick
Warm relationships among team members are vital. Some workers prefer to administer; others want to love people. Only the latter are leaders.

Amend whatever is defective
Creating problems is easy; solving them is difficult. The leader must face the problem realistically, and follow through until the solution is reached.

Supplement, as far as may be, what is lacking
Criticizing plans is easier than creating them. The leader must see the goal clearly, plan imaginatively, and employ tactics that lead to success. In this department there is always a short supply of people ready and qualified to perform.

In these points I see both my own weaknesses, strengths, and the weaknesses and strengths of the teams with which I work.