Four Essential Qualities of a Good Leader - FAST

FAST is an acronym for F - Faithful
                                      A - Available
                                      S - Submissive
                                      T - Teachable

 Faithful:
Today I read in I Corinthians 4 : 1 - 2 about Paul's attitude of being faithful in doing God's work. This is also applicable for doing the works of the world.

 "This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."                                                                  I Corinthians 4 : 1 - 2

 Being Faithful is one of the key qualities of a good Leader whom his followers can trust. Nobody will  dare to follow a person who is not reliable. Trust is the foundation of all relationships. Starting from God - Human Being through personal relationships such as Husband - Wife, Father - Son  right down to formal relationships such as Leader - Disciple, everything depends on being faithful and mutually accountable.

Available or Accessible:

A good leader must always be available to his followers. The Leader showcases himself or herself to his or her team. The commitment of a good leader lies in making himself available or rather, I would prefer to put it this way, always be accessible to his team mates in spite of his busy schedule. This quality of Availability or Accessibility requires proper planning and time management. Do not procrastinate, but prioritize by learning to discipline your time. Beware of time stealers. Be time conscious by organizing activities in time slots and, as far as possible, adhere to the timings.

Submissive:

A good leader must have a servant mind to serve his team mates and work in coordination with them, first by showing an example himself as a submissive person. Listening (exhibiting patience by carefully listening to others), Empathy (placing oneself in the other person's situation and realizing the issues from his perspective), Persuasion (seeking to convince others rather than coerce compliance), Stewardship (holding something
in trust for another) and Commitment to the growth of people are some of the key qualities of a  Leaders with servant mind.

"The great leader is first experienced  as a servant to others."

Teachable:

A great leader must always keep himself fully equipped by periodically updating his knowledge and skills, which results in growth in the quality phase. 

"A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher".

                                                                                                 Luke 6 : 40

According to this verse, if the student has to be like his teacher, how much more the teacher needs to be trained in order to be an excellent example or model for his student to follow! Then how important it is for a great leader to be always ready to learn and keep on learning, ready to undergo any training that will contribute to his growth phase! A person who is not teachable (willingness to learn) has stopped growing. 

Consider this verse:

  "Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.^"     

                                                                                                               ^{I Corinthians 8 : 2 - 3}