Tag: Habits

Next Generation Leaders

Tim Elmore wrote a book, Habitudes, using images, relatable stories, and experiences that are designed to help the next generation of leaders form the right habits and attitudes.

A couple of questions need to be considered within the realm of spiritual leadership.

What are we doing to make a difference in relationship to the future of the church?

How are we preparing the next generation to lead?

We need more than a conviction of the situation. We need to take legitimate steps to change the crisis we face in the current generation.

Let us lead with that in mind.

Catch 22 Leadership

Leaders often feel as if they are being shot at from both sides, in front and from behind.

How many times have leaders faced situations that no matter what decision was made they were condemned? We call this Catch 22 Leadership.

Leaders must be decisive, and they will always have to fight the enemy in front of them. However, they should not have to deal with attacks from followers behind them.

Pray with and for your leaders.
Always speak well of leaders to others.
Make it a habit to build them up publicly.
When a problem arises, speak to leaders privately.
Encourage those who are godly to lead.

Seize the Day

People often need a specific day to work on changes in their life. Some start working on better habits in life and others find ways to stop bad ones.

Recognizing the need to improve our lives is a positive step in the right direction.

Is today a new beginning to lead a…

Soul to the light of our Savior?
Straying brother or sister to the family of God?
Deeper study into the truths of God’s word?
More passionate approach to speak with God in prayer?

Whatever the need, every day is a new beginning. Let us achieve spiritual leadership for our Lord in this day.

Habit of 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 our 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.

A time of reflection helps give perspective. Reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of our leadership and interrelationship with others promotes growth.

Just to accompany our 21 days of silence, end the day with 10 minutes of reflection.

Habit of Silence

One challenging habit for leaders is spending 21 minutes every day in silence for 21 days. It’s challenging for at least two reasons.

1) Silence makes us uncomfortable. Try spending 30 seconds in silence before responding someone. Observe how uncomfortable they become waiting.

2) Our lives are filled with noise. We often cannot sleep or drive anywhere without some sort of background noise.

Our minds never rest. The idea of sitting in silence without praying, thinking about work, or a hundred other thoughts is not normal.

However, developing a habit of silence can improve our attitude toward others, situations, and our own spiritual growth.

Habits

Habits are, well, habits. We know some habits are easier and quicker to develop than others. We also recognize the incredible difficulty that comes with breaking bad habits. Interestingly enough, no one ever refers to breaking good habits.

I recently started a book by James Clear called Atomic Habits. I highly recommend it. As the subtitle indicates small changes can provide amazing results.

Leaders often display habits, both good and bad. What kind of habits will improve our leadership?
Over the next few days, I want to look at several habits that benefit leaders.

Disciplined Leaders…Part 3

Discipline takes us into an area involving the direction of a leader’s personal conduct or behavior.

As challenging as self-discipline is for each of us, one of the most significant areas addresses developing new behaviors.

In order for an activity to become a habit, the general rule of thumb is that it takes 21 days.

When discipline is truly applied, the result becomes a lifestyle of new behaviors. This idea is more than a habit or second nature. It becomes “first-nature.”

The time needed to develop a lifestyle of discipline may vary from one person to another, but when it happens, leadership expands to a new level.

Disciplined Leaders…Part 1

The concept of discipline is prevalent throughout the Bible.

The difference between the lifestyle of the world and Christianity is one of discipline.

The Christian life is built upon discipline, or as it is often identified, self-control. However, there is a difference in these two terms. While there are areas that overlap between them, discipline adds the practices and habits of life that lend to character development. Self-control is more specific to controlling self in the area of emotions and desires.

The challenge introduced here involves learning how to develop the kind of discipline that sets Christians apart from the rest of the world.

Leadership Habits…

It takes 21 days to develop a habit. Working on a specific activity or trait for 21 days straight is all we need.

When something becomes a habit, it is more like second nature, or perhaps first nature.

The amount of time necessary to reinforce the activity or trait depends on the dedication required to develop the habit.

Some habits are good and some are bad. Our greatest challenges involve breaking the bad habits. Leaders must develop the kind of habits that promote an influence toward godliness.

The Right Questions…

One of the critical concerns for leadership development is asking the right questions. In Primal Leadership, Learning To Lead With Emotional Intelligence, the authors examine five discoveries needed to make an emotionally intelligent leader. These discoveries are based on asking the right questions.

Who do we want to be as a leader?
Who are we? Strengths and weaknesses
Do we work on developing who we want to be or what someone else wants us to be?
Are we willing to form new habits of practice? 
What emphasis are we placing upon developing relationships?

Answering these five questions points us in the right direction.