Category: Uncategorized

Involved in Leading Others…

Why do people avoid getting involved in the lives of others?

Fear: Apart from the unknown and uncertain, we fear rejection, disappointment, and someone taking advantage of us.

Time: Our time is premium, and our tightly oriented schedules of daily activities leave little room for anyone else.

Money: We are cautious about our money. Worse still is the idea that we are so overextended, we have no money.

Uncomfortable: When something, or someone, makes us feel uncomfortable we easily become standoffish.

Private: We may initially get involved, but the challenge is allowing others into our lives. We do not want others to know us.

Testing Leadership Character…

In the words of John Holt, Jr., “The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.”

Leaders need the qualities of patience, understanding, thoughtful reflection, the exercise of caution, and more.

Decisions can be made rashly and without a proper foundation. The result often brings serious consequences.

Seeking the counsel of others who have walked the same paths opens leaders to greater wisdom, new alternatives, and angles of consideration.

When leaders find themselves not knowing what to do, the best option is to pray!

Listen, Think, Speak…

Solomon wrote that a word spoken in the right circumstances was “like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Few principles carry more weight in leadership than this one.

The challenge is how to develop this ability. 

1) Actively listen. A key attribute for learning what to say at the right time is to listen. There are times silence speaks more to the need than words.

2) Think before speaking. The tendency is to speak as soon as the thought crosses our mind. Relationships are often destroyed when we speak too quickly.

These two suggestions provide a foundation to speak the right words in the right circumstance.

Eliminating Distractions…

A Forbes article presents several questions every leader should ask. One that demands thought is, “What should you stop doing?”

When a leader understands what is essential, there are certain elements to be eliminated.

These elements are distracting time stealers, robbing leaders of their focus on essential matters.

Through the process of eliminating areas of lesser importance (what we should stop doing), leaders can focus time and energy on the essential side of their “to-do” list. 

Spiritual leaders realize the need to prioritize life and work by recognizing the proper balance between what is urgent versus important.

The Substance of Leadership…

Substance involves a quality of being important, valid, or significant. Simply stated, substance is the stuff that makes up leadership.

What makes up the substance of our leadership? Integrity? Work ethic? Core values?

What stands out that gives credibility to the substance of our leadership?

Only you and I can answer these questions. The substance of spiritual leadership must not be self-centered, but others-centered. The quality that validates the importance of leadership is not built upon “I,” but “you.” The substance of good leadership uses “we.”

As important and needed as leadership is today, it is worth our time to focus on the substance.

Leadership and Technology…

Advances in technology have changed the way we communicate and carry out leadership.

Leaders must learn how best to use technology to assist in their leadership.

First, do not deny, reject, or excuse the technology that exists. Technology is here to stay. Embrace it.
Second, be open to and take time to learn. Seek help.
Third, use areas of technology where followers are engaged. If they use Facebook, then get on Facebook.
Fourth, always approach and use technology as a tool for building up others.

If we use technology appropriately, it can be a tool of great influence for the kingdom.

Team Leadership…

A narcissistic leader creates destruction. When leaders constantly use ‘I’ in reference to their own abilities, achievements, or plans, influence is lost.

Peter F. Drucker claims, “The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I’. And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I’. They don’t think ‘I’. They think ‘we’; they think ‘team’. They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the credit…. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.”

Nothing could be more powerful for spiritual leaders than learning to live by this thought.

Leading with Renewal…

Various phrases within the Psalms provide depth in their meaning for the life of leaders.

David seeks God’s forgiveness for his sin and pleads with God to create a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit.

During difficult seasons, where and how do leaders receive this renewal?

1) Going to the source of renewal is a good place to start. Plead with God.
2) Spend time listening to what God says. 
3) Reflect on what has been done by God through our leadership.
4) Seek counsel with others who have experienced similar trials.

May God always renew a steadfast spirit in the times when needed most.

Essential Questions…

Voltaire was noted for saying, “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”

The Forbes website provides information about several areas concerning leadership. An article in June focused on “Four Questions Great Leaders Ask.” Leaders must first ask, “Is this urgent or essential?”

Every leader wrestles with determining the difference between urgent and essential matters. Often times the urgent matters distract leaders from what is essential and the stakes increase related to spiritual matters.

Spiritual leaders are needed who recognize what is essential and lead with an urgency to help others discover the way to what is essential for their lives.

Strategic Leadership…

Director of Strategic Leadership at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Kate Atchley, requires each student to answer the following questions.

Where are you as a leader?
What kind of leader do you want to be?
What is the gap between these two points?
What kind of plan needs to be developed to bridge the gap?

This type of self-evaluation is essential for advancing a strategic plan in leadership development. While the assessment is part of a business leadership model, the spiritual application has powerful implications.

We need to ask, “Are we bridging the gap between where we are and where we want (or perhaps need) to be?”