“It doesn’t matter what happens to you. What matters is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to complain and shrink or are you going to step into your greatness?” Robert Tew

Life is filled with events. These events can be categorized as good or bad. The perspective of one person toward an event may not be the same perspective as another person facing a similar event. The difference is often affiliated with someone’s worldview.

As the thought expresses, what happens is not the issue, but what we do about it is generally defined by our worldview.

One choice is easy, complain and shrink. However, the results hinder our influence and the development of leadership character.

The option of stepping into greatness is more difficult, but it motivates us to see beyond the present and consider the power of changing lives, ours and those who follow.

When the various events of life enter our daily walk, let us consider how the choices we make impact our own leadership development and the development of others.

The movie industry is interesting. Take it or leave it, there are people who cannot imagine what the world would be like without movies. Personally, it would be interesting to see the world without the movie industry, but that is a post for another time.

A prequel refers to the stories or events preceding an existing work. The idea is fascinating and raises several thoughts connected to leadership.

The sequel involves what shows up as part two of an earlier “box office” sensation. The sequel is about what happens next.

Before we assumed the responsibilities of the work where we are presently, what events were connected to the story in our own lives prior to now? The foundational nature of these events has been instrumental in forming who we are today.

The question we may need to consider further is: what are we expecting to happen next? Have we determined the appropriate sequel to where we are now?

Wisdom is built upon remembering the past to understand the present, but vision is cast to prepare for the sequel in our leadership. What do we see?

The subject is as broad as it sounds and there are more questions to be asked than imaginable. Yet, the formation of an approach to adult leadership development is essential for the future.

One of the great downfalls currently facing the church involves the area of leadership.

Congregations are struggling with poorly equipped (at times unqualified) leaders, or no leadership at all. Sadly, too many congregations of the Lord’s people have no idea who will fill the needed leadership positions in the days ahead.

A plan needs to be developed in each congregation for the training, equipping, and developing of leaders to prepare for the spiritual warfare currently facing the church and what is to come.

God’s people need to recognize these challenges, and the current leadership of today must rise up to prepare leaders for tomorrow.

We should all be aware of the consequences of failing to plan for adult leadership development. What we need is a vision of the benefits that will be experienced for the Lord’s kingdom in the next generation. This impacts our children!

Strategy is a plan of action to achieve a desired aim or goal. General Norman Schwarzkopf claimed that, “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.”

While character is the core and must hold higher value than strategy, at the same time, strategy is needed.

Without strategy, who is going to do what, for whom, when, and why? Without strategy, there are no plans to reach a goal, regardless of the goal(s) set before us.

We use strategy in several areas of everyday life. These strategies may not be written out in detail, but they are strategically oriented nonetheless.

We use strategies in traveling, family development, job description, biblical teaching, and much more.

We would be hard pressed to find an area of life where strategy is not involved at some level, so it behooves us to benefit from using strategy in leadership.

Leaders need to establish goals and establish a strategy in how to reach those goals, leading with the future in mind. Time will not be wasted in strategic development.

This question could be answered and played out in several scenarios.

What are we doing about the present condition of leadership? What are we doing about the future of leadership? What are we doing to implement the development of biblical leaders?

We need to give consideration to all possibilities. We must, however, take the answers seriously.

Challenges face every move to improve current situations. Efforts to make a difference are often viewed with skepticism toward liberal tendencies.

Doing the right thing in leadership has been squashed under the guise of liberalism for so long, growth has been limited, if not completely eliminated.

Enthusiasm to learn and implement something new or different is sequestered off in the halls of youth and familiarity; “they will learn soon enough how things are done around here.”

What are we doing to change eternity, if the only thing we are doing is exactly what we have done for the past 50 years?

This is not implying change for the sake of change. At some point, however, we need to recognize where we are, where we are going, and what we must do to get there.

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” Walt Disney

Few people are fans of adversity. More factually, no one enjoys adversity. The exposure to health, family, financial, and hundreds of other challenges cause us to reflect on who we are, why we are here, and how we will endure.

On the one hand, reflection can lead to doubt and negativity, but on the other hand, reflection can remind us of the nature of God’s working through adversity to strengthen us and make us into the servants He desires of us.

The words of Walt Disney may seem a little more blunt, but the point is the same. There are times when the adversity, troubles, and obstacles in life are the best thing for us.

Leaders who understand this are better equipped to help others when they face adversity and ask strong reflecting questions.

A study of leaders and leadership reveals a plethora of information that presents a daunting task of determining what is right and who is the right leader to follow.

Solomon was certainly right when he said, “The writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body” (Ec. 12:12).

However, God provides us with a book that reveals information sufficient for both what is right and who is the right leader to follow.

No greater qualities for leadership are identified today than those addressed throughout the pages of the Bible.

No greater example of leadership can be found than the example left by Jesus.

Dedicating ourselves to learning the truths provided by God and studying the example of Jesus will result in a godly leader.

There is no better way to honor and glorify the God we serve than by leading with our eyes focused on Jesus and our hearts devoted to following the depths of His word.

When followers have this example in earthly leaders, they will follow the right leader.

One side of this phrase involves an indifferent mindset to the immoral direction of our world, “its just a sign of the times,” as though nothing can be done to change it.

The other side is connected to a thought expressed by Jesus regarding the religious leaders of the Jews who could read signs about the weather, but not the fulfillment of prophecies concerning Jesus as the Christ.

In application to leadership, are we able to see the signs of our times? Are we aware of the cultural changes developing almost daily?

The direction of the world where we live can be frightening and exciting at the same time. The opportunities have never been greater. The needs have never been more pressing.

We must move out of the proverbial mentality of the past.

The message never changes, but the methods we use to approach our current day needs attention. If the methods we use are outdated, the effectiveness is limited.

Can we see the signs of the times, or are we doing the same things in the same ways expecting different results? It is something to think about.

A recent study in the area of culture revealed numerous facts important to the direction of leading. Culture is a relative term. We do know that culture is a word connected to cultivating, thus a gardening term.

Culture is defined as the beliefs, customs, arts, etc. of a particular society, group of people, time and place. Culture is characterized by a way of thinking, belief, or behavior.

We can say that culture is an environment cultivated by the people who participate in that environment.

Our world is a multi-cultural place. We also find numerous cultures within cultures. There are work cultures, educational cultures, religious cultures, age and gender specific cultures, and the list is unending.

Leaders work to understand the culture, but changing the culture is far from easy, if not impossible. The idea has been presented that leaders must create new cultures to draw people into a new way of thinking, believing or behaving.

There is validity to the idea and Jesus seems to follow this approach with the 1st century culture. We are left to consider how we will lead in the 21st century culture.

The mentoring relationship is a mutual relationship designed to establish and achieve specific well-defined goals.

These goals are connected to developing the ability to know, think, and do.

The ultimate purpose and design of mentoring is to create a relationship that nurtures learning. One of the key components required to achieve this kind of relationship is responsibility.

When being mentored, a learner takes responsibility for the priorities, learning, and resources to achieve a capacity for self-direction. The idea expresses moving “from dependence to independence to interdependence” (3).

A number of elements are also essential for a learning-centered mentoring program: reciprocity, learning, relationship, partnership, collaboration, mutually defined goals, and development.

The design of each of these elements is to promote stronger relationships that motivate, inspire, and contribute to development and growth. This relationship is collaborative and channeled to achieve a support system of success. The mutuality in mentoring increases the viability of the desired purpose in the relationship.

For more information on developing mentoring relationships, read Lois Zachary’s book The Mentor’s Guide, Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.