The ability to lead is a gift from God to be used to God's glory and to bring others to a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is a gift that reflects God and God's will for his people. You may already be a leader in your congregation, in your community, or in your work. You have probably already demonstrated leadership skills and abilities. As a lay speaker, you will need to find leadership characteristics from the Scriptures and relate these to leadership in the present.
Christian leaders demonstrate loyalty. Leaders are faithfully loyal to the people they are called to lead. In some cases, being loyal to a cause or goal is almost easier than being loyal to a group of people. Loyalty overrides personal agendas and enables you to follow God by leading his people as He has directed. Another quality of good leadership is energy. This is not the high activity, cheerleader type of energy, but more a fortitude to focus on the business at hand. Along with energy comes enthusiasm. There are significant differences between energy and enthusiasm. Energy is what the leader possesses to do the task: enthusiasm is what the leader conveys to the people to engage them in the vision. Availability is also crucial. You have been in the situations where God has called you for a task you did not really want to do, but you made yourself available to God. And because you did, God has used you and will use you in more significant ways in the near future.
When you are dedicated to the call and vision of God, you can lead people in the right direction, not just any direction. The price we pay in responding to God's call to lead is called risk. The biblical leaders took great risks to their reputations as well as to their lives, but no one suffered greater risk than the Lord Jesus Christ. The worst possible scenario of that risk was lived out in the arrest, trial, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Lay speakers are also called to ministries where you allow another to lead. Sometimes you need to encourage and support rather than be the center of attention. Learning to become a leader who does not need personal glory is a necessary step. Find achievement in reaching a group goal or objective. Whether you are the designated leader or you are called upon to assist, the nature of your response must be the same: to serve. The is what the Lord Jesus Christ did.
