The heart of a leader is more than an organ located in the chest cavity responsible for pumping blood throughout the entire body.

The heart is regarded as the center of one’s thoughts and emotions, connected to mood, feelings, courage, as well as, enthusiasm.

Another area, as it relates to the heart, involves the central or innermost part of something. The idea is identified as a vital part or the essence of something.

Building on this understanding, the heart of a leader shapes a completely different picture. Consider the growth of the early church. Leadership was central, a vital part, and the essence of this growth.

Discussions often center on why the church today does not grow the way it did then. There are numerous answers and the validity of these answers is not in question.

However, if we really want the church to grow today, maybe we need to pay attention to the heart of leadership. Perhaps leaders need to take a greater role in fulfilling the God-given task of being the innermost part of the church.

When this happens, we will see a revival to the truth.

The third leadership habit builds on previous posts. Silence and reflection aid leaders in developing the third essential to successful leadership: organized planning.

The choice of these two words is intentional. Several articles speak to the need for leaders to be organized and others address the importance of planning ahead. Few, however, really look at the combination of an organized leader who uses organizational skills to plan ahead.

Peter Economy touches on this idea in an article that highlights 10 Powerful Habits of Highly Effective Leaders.

He identifies the challenges associated with the thought required in planning ahead. Consider what might happen when spiritual leaders think through the possibilities and plan in a way that brings passion alongside of thinking.

As the phrase is commonly used, leading with the head and heart is critical to leverage the habit of organized planning. Leaders who develop the habit of planning ahead with organized methodology can seize opportunities that produce successful and lasting growth.

Developing this habit requires more than a few minutes each day, but a lifetime committed to reflecting on improving organizational skills and using those skills to plan accordingly.

“You can’t have a Million Dollar DREAM with a minimum wage work ethic.” unknown

It is interesting to consider how often we want to achieve great things, but are unwilling to do what is necessary to make those dreams come true.

The same is true in every area, not just the secular.

The reality of how small we think should frighten us. Before we make excuses, shackle ourselves with our own inabilities, or blame someone or something else for our small thinking, maybe we need a reminder of who our God is.

We must not fall prey to the old 60s mentality that “if it is meant to be, it is up to me.” We need to start thinking that it can be because our God is great.

Do we remember the ten spies who brought the bad report and received the consequences for their actions? Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who knew it was God who would make it happen.

This did not eliminate the need for Israel to fight the battles, but God gave the victory. Why would it be any different today?

Only a few people never think about what happens when they let someone else down. Generally, we all have that voice inside that moves us to the core when we think that we might potentially let someone down.

Sadly, the desire to not let someone down leads us to try and please everyone, which is impossible to achieve. Even though we know this truth, we still try to achieve it.

Our challenge is we often spend time and effort to please people. Granted, nothing is harder to face than realizing our decisions, words, or actions let someone down.

How often do we consider how our decisions, words, or actions let God down? Spiritual leadership carries some of the greatest responsibility on earth and we never want to let those we are leading down. Above all, however, we never want to let our God down.

If we focus on Him and pursue His will, we may let someone else down, but our relationship with God remains secure. Putting that relationship on hold to insure we please people comes with great consequences. Let us focus our priorities on Him.

What we learn from children is amazing. Among all the qualities that set children apart is their ability to use their imagination.

They possess the ability to take a stick and a handful of rocks and become the greatest baseball player of all time.

Children can take a few boxes, cushions from the couch, along with a bed sheet and create an outdoor adventure to another land.

Somehow, when we get older our imaginations seem to lose their luster. Remember the movie Hook. Peter Banning (Peter Pan) grows up and, as an adult, he forgets his youthful spirit and imagination.

As leaders, we can get so caught up in the daily grind and routine that we fail to allow our imagination to take us to another level of thinking. We get blinded to how things have always been and often refuse to consider how things can be.

The worst part is the fact that opportunities may only come once and if we do not use a little imagination and get outside the box, we may lose the opportunity God is giving us to grow to heights beyond our imagination.

The phrase is coined often about being “present in the moment.” Not to take away from the significance of that need for every leader, but the idea behind this word takes a variety of directions.

When leaders are present, they exist now, in this very moment.

Spiritual leaders also present themselves to the Lord. The idea is based on an Old Testament reference to sacrifices. When one of God’s people brought their sacrifice, it was presented to the priest as an offering to the Lord, meaning they were surrendering all rights of ownership and any plans for future use.

Consider the idea as it relates to Paul’s instruction to Christians in Romans 12 that we present our bodies a living and holy sacrifice.

When leaders understand what they present to the Lord, the entire perspective changes concerning how they stand before God’s people to lead.

If we could all wrap our minds around the significance of this one practice, the culture of the church would change and our influence in the world would be immeasurable.

May we all present ourselves to the Lord!

Building on the need for silence as a leadership habit, this week we turn to reflection. Out of the depths of silence, we find the power of developing the habit of reflection. Reflection allows leaders to think deeply and carefully about their leadership.

Reflecting on areas of our leadership increases out ability to learn from the past, gain perspective for the present, and adjust for the future.

Every decision deserves careful reflection as to the implications and consequences of making that decision. Reflecting on the consequences of any decision brings a different level of clarity before the decision is made.

At the end of the day, a time of reflection helps give perspective to the work that was done and what was left undone. Reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of our leadership in the interrelationship with others also promotes growth.

Just to accompany our 21 days of silence, end the day with 10 minutes of reflection. Notice how the time of silence takes reflection to another level for decision making and relationship building in our leadership.

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Henry Ford

No one gets excited about failure. One of the areas listed as most feared by people is a fear of failure. Our society is one that honors and thrives on success. The difficulty with success is the subjective nature by which it is defined and by whom it is defined.

Just like the adage, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” success for one person may not be for another. Interestingly enough, failure is much the same.

Recently, a friend expressed how their employer worked to rush employees into failure. They actually wanted people to fail, but the reason is because of the benefit for each person.

Through failure people learn what does not work, thus eliminating the need to try the same path.

Failure becomes what Ford describes as an opportunity to start over with greater knowledge.

Several have modified the idea that “success is not final, failure is not fatal.” As much as failure is unpleasant, if we learn from it, greater success will be part of the future.

The use of community raises both a positive and negative response. The word “community” relates to several words we use on a daily basis: fellowship, common, public, communion, and more. Regardless of where we might stand on the idea of community, we should consider the biblical use of this concept.

Biblically, we read about the early church having all things in common; no needs existed among them.

We refer to the Lord’s Supper instituted by Christ as “communion” because we come together for the common purpose of communing with our Lord, remembering His life, death, and resurrection.

Paul referred to the church at Philippi in community with him concerning the gospel. They shared, participated, and enjoyed fellowship in the same task.

The idea of community comes from the Latin word communitas, referring to a sense of sharing and intimacy developed among people who experience a transition period that brings them together into a group characterized by prescribed forms of conduct.

When this commonality exists, leading in community takes on a new perspective and deserves research to provide strength for the community of God’s people – the church.

A common phrase to encourage perseverance is “hold on.” We learn that holding on for a few more minutes can make the difference in securing hope, gaining a measure of strength, finding the answer, or reaching the goal.

When we consider giving up, the question becomes, “hold on to what?” Success seems elusive and passion dwindles to little more than an ember. What can we hold on to?

Reflect on the past. The past holds many keys, one of which is how God has helped us overcome obstacles in the past. Reflecting on how God walked with us during those times strengthens us to look for His presence in the current circumstance.

Remember we are not alone. The Elijah syndrome is easy to develop, but looking around reminds us that others walk alongside us. Their involvement in our lives is a gift that God provides to guide our steps and strengthen our heart.

Realize faith in the vision. Great vision requires a great God and He is the One we serve. We need to realize challenges may be God’s way of helping shape our character for something greater than we can imagine.