Tag: Spiritual

Testing our Leadership…

Based on experience, most students prefer to skip tests.

However, tests are biblical and spiritual leaders will face them throughout their leadership.

Abraham is an example. God tested Abraham by commanding him to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering.

The New Testament letter from James speaks about the testing of our faith. The result produces endurance which leads to completeness.

With this in mind, how should leaders respond when tested?

Pray for God’s wisdom and guidance.
Read God’s word and focus on the purpose.
Seek counsel from leaders who have passed tests.
Trust God’s use of tests to make us into His leaders.

A Spiritual Guide…

Where do followers go when they meet with difficult challenges?

Where would leaders have them go when needs outweigh the balances of monetary ability?

Spiritual leaders will always face questions from those who follow. 

Jesus once asked the apostles if they were going to walk away, to which Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68).

When followers turn to leaders, will they receive words of eternal life? Will they learn how to get through life and gain eternity?

Where else can they go if not to spiritual leaders who desire to guide them to know God and a home in heaven?

Observant Leaders…

Consider the power of observation.

Alert: When leaders are alert they quickly notice anything unusual or potentially dangerous. The spiritual battle requires alert leaders.

Watchful: Followers need leaders who are carefully watch over the lives entrusted to their care. Observant leaders are watchful. 

Aware: Leaders demonstrate awareness when they possess knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.

Attentive: Leaders must observe every detail.

Other ideas could be used, but the basis for success is found in being observant. Observant leadership is not easy. It requires diligence, time, patience, and great love.

Following the Right Leader…

When we question our leadership, consideration should be given to the followers. Have we really considered where others end up when they follow our leadership?

The choices are limited.

1) Closer to or further away from God…
2) More spiritually or more worldly focused…
3) Stronger or weaker in faith…
4) Growing or declining in knowledge of God’s word…

There may be more possibilities, but the point is the same. Our leadership should be important enough to consider the destination reached by following our leadership.

Blaze a trail that when others follow they end up following the right leader.

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.

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?”

Thirsting for God…

A thought expressed throughout the Psalms is thirsting for God. One of the most common analogies is the song, “As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for You, O God.”

The various qualities, principles, axioms, and requirements for good leadership all carry a significant weight in leadership development.

In the spiritual arena, the key to true leadership is based on thirsting for God.

The idea of thirsting involves a need, want, craving, an insatiable desire. Do we understand this thought when considering a spiritual application?

When a relationship with God is characterized by thirsting, leaders strengthen their leadership.

Taking Risks…

Risks involve the possibility of danger or harm. Directing the outcome of risks in leadership means learning how to overcome fear and manage the risk.

Information about risk management abounds, especially in application to leadership.

Spiritually, consider two questions.

1) What are the risks if we decide not to lead others to Christ? 
2) What are the risks of waiting, or procrastinating, to lead them?

When we look at how risks play out from a spiritual perspective, we find the possibility of danger or harm that occurs when we are unwilling to take the risk.