Significant Leader Step 1 of 3
How do we actually move from success to significance?
The gap between a Level 4 leader and a Level 5 Significant Leader is rarely a lack of desire. Most Christian business leaders already want to do more for the Kingdom. They feel the conviction. They sense the calling. They know God has entrusted them with influence—they’re just not sure how to use it.
The problem isn’t the heart.
The problem is the plan.
Over the next few posts, I’m going to walk you through the three shifts every leader must make to move from Level 4 to Level 5:
- Lead From Purpose
- Leverage Your Platform
- Live Your Potential
This post is the first shift: Lead From Purpose
Why purpose has to come first
For many people, work is simply a means to a paycheck—a paycheck that provides what you need, what your family needs, and maybe some of the things you want.
But work was always meant for more than the money you make. It was never meant to be centered around a paycheck. Work was designed to be connected to your purpose.
So ask yourself: Why do you work?
Leaders with a survival mentality work out of necessity. They see work as a curse—something to endure.
Leaders with a success mentality fall into another trap. They work, not out of necessity, but out of obsession. Work becomes an idol—where they find their identity, worth, and validation.
The truth is, we aren’t called to work out of necessity or obsession.
We are called to work as a form of worship.
Significant Leaders see work as part of their calling. God created you and I for work. Before sin ever entered the world, God created and called man to work. Significant Leaders understand this and lead from their purpose as they partner with God daily in a way that is worshipful.
Your purpose starts with your design
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
Two words in that passage shift everything.
First: “workmanship.”
The Greek word is poema—meaning masterpiece. You have a unique design that will never be duplicated.
There has never been, and never will be, another you.
Your story. Your personality. Your gifts. Your passions. Your network.
Second: “good works.”
God didn’t just design you one-of-a-kind—He also created you for a one-of-a-kind assignment. He prepared work in advance for you to walk in.
This unique design and direction is your God-given calling. It is knowable, nameable, and walkable—you can discover it, articulate it, and live it out daily.
And until you know who God has created you to be and what He created you to do, your leadership will drift.
Occupation vs. vocation
When a leader knows they were created for work—and knows how to lead in their work from their personal calling—they begin to lead from purpose. Their occupation becomes a vocation.
I love the way this shows up in the Gospels with Simon and Andrew. They were simply doing their job—catching fish, earning a paycheck—when Jesus stepped into their work and gave them purpose:
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Up to that moment, fishing was an occupation. A way to earn. A way to survive.
But Jesus reframed it. He gave them purpose. He shifted them beyond success and into significance.
That’s the first shift: Lead From Purpose.
See your work not as an occupation, but as a vocation. Not a place to earn a paycheck, but a place to live out your purpose.
The way you lead from purpose is by naming your calling
A simple way to start is to ask a better question than “What would Jesus do?”
Ask: “What would Jesus do—if He were me?”
If He had your story, your passions, your experiences; if He had your career, your network, your resources.
Because when you name your calling, you stop drifting—and you start leading with purpose.
Let me show you what that looks like in real life.
Austin’s story: when a calling becomes clear, everything changes
One night on my front porch, I was in Discipleship Group discussing this section of the Kingdom Circle tool with two men I was discipling. We were trying to identify the unique way they would make disciples.
We began to look at three parts of their life: their story, their passions, and their abilities.
After a few nights of discussion, they began articulating their unique purpose. One of the men in the group, Austin, was a quarry worker in the area.
When I asked him about his story, he shared how he was a fourth-generation quarry worker. When I asked him what he was passionate about, he said, “Crushing rocks.” And I’ll be honest—I had a moment where I thought, I’m not sure this exercise is going to work.
But then we started talking about his abilities. Austin shared how he’s an encourager, and how he can help people find good in bad situations.
That’s when it clicked.
Austin articulated his unique purpose as a disciple-maker with two words:
“Excavating Joy.”
He said, “Life is a lot like the quarry. You have to dig through the bad rock to get to the good rock. The unique value I can bring to others is that I can help you dig through the bad rock and help you find the good rock that is Jesus.”
And the next month, I saw everything change for Austin.
He went from a follower to a leader. He realized God could use him.
In the following weeks, he came back to Discipleship Group and shared how he “Excavated Joy” with an employee who had lost a loved one—and again with his wife after a tough day. He even said that whenever he saw an excavator on his property, he was reminded of his calling to glorify God and make disciples by excavating joy.
That’s what happens when a leader names their calling. Work stops being about a paycheck…it becomes about your purpose.
Consider how God has prepared you to invest in others.
What from your story, passions, and abilities would benefit others? What might be the unique value you bring to the people God has already placed around you?
And what would it look like to name your calling—clearly enough that it becomes a filter for how you lead, how you serve, and how you show up at work?
Your Next Step Toward Significance
If this framework resonated with you, download the FREE Significant Leader Guide to help you identify where you are and how to move forward with purpose. With this resource, I also include a video training where we dive deeper into this framework.
Or, if you’re ready for a personalized conversation, schedule a Vision Call, and we can explore together how you can become a Significant Leader.
