Last week, I discovered more Catalyst notes on my computer, so you get one more Catalyst munchy to snack on.
Charles Swindoll received this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award at Catalyst. Last year, Franklin Graham received this award and because of my disagreements with his theology, I had to leave the main floor during his speech. That’s another post for another day, but it is safe to say that I was pleasantly surprised when Swindoll began to speak. I had judged him based on what very little I knew about him, when in reality, his words were quite wise and very good food for thought.
Swindoll gave us his “Top Ten” things to remember about leadership. Here they are, with a few of my own thoughts after them.
It’s lonely to lead. This is so true. I have experienced this so often lately. Sometimes, leading means you feel like you’re out on a limb all by yourself with everyone watching you from below. They want to see you succeed, but they don’t really want to take the risk with you. I guess that’s what singles out leaders – leaders are the ones willing to take the risks, and have faith that God will take care of them no matter what the consequences of that risk.
It’s dangerous to succeed. Especially when you’re young! I think Swindoll’s point here was that success of us youngin’s threatens those who are older than is. If we’re more successful than they are, then they are threatened with the possibility of being pushed out. They risk the possibility of losing their own leadership position that they worked so hard to get to. I know I’ve heard this a lot – in many different realms – that it takes years to become a good leader. If we are good, successful leaders at 25 and 30, then what does that mean to people who are in their 50′s and 60′s and haven’t yet found success, or – worse, have seen their success come and go? As successful young leaders we have to be sensitive and respectful to those who have come before us.
It’s hardest at home. Oh man is this ever true. Leadership means conflict – and the worst conflict exists in the home. It’s so hard to be a leader at home and feel like you are respected. Plus, home is the one place where we want to be able to cut loose and be free. Our true colors come out at home – the good leadership skills that we have out in the world seem to disappear the minute we walk in the door at home. Especially the skills of listening and respecting other ideas.
It’s essential to be real. How can you be a leader if you can’t be real? Part of being a leader, especially in today’s world, is the way you live your life. You can’t be a leader in the workplace or in your congregation if you’re not the same person there as you are when you leave the place. That’s called authenticity. If you don’t have it, there’s no way you can lead people. They’ll call you hypocritical and you’ll never gain their trust or respect.
It’s painful to obey. I hate when God asks me to do something that is uncomfortable. I hate even more when God asks me to do something that hurts – especially when it means I hurt financially. But, the reality is those things that make me uncomfortable and those things that somehow hurt always end up with the best result in the end. I am more thankful, more gracious, and more aware of God’s love, power, and grace when I obey whatever it is God’s asked me to do. The reality is not obeying hurts even worse – just in a very different way.
Brokenness and failure are necessary. This could be a whole post in and of itself. And will – as a response to Rob Bell’s Drops Like Stars tour. You can’t grow without brokenness and failure. If we never failed, we’d never learn our limitations. We’d never know how much we need to trust God to move forward. It is in our brokenness that God meets us and fills us up the most. In order to lead, we have to be willing to take risks. Sometimes those risks will produce great results. Other times, we’ll fall and break because of the risk. But … it’s better to break and fall than to never try. The more risks we take, the more our faith grows, and the more people are willing to follow us.
My attitude is more important than my actions. I don’t care how smart or capable you are. If you’re rude or mean or just downright nasty, I’m not going to follow you. Period. Be nice to people. It will pay off.
Integrity eclipses image. This goes back to the whole authenticity thing. Your image doesn’t make a hillabeans of difference if you lie about who you are in order to create that image. Guard your integrity. There will be people that don’t like you. That’s okay. Your integrity is more important than how they see you. Eventually, your integrity becomes your image. Remember that.
God’s way is better than my way. This is tough to say sometimes, but come on – God knows way more than we ever could. Trust his way. You’ll be a better leader because of it.
Christ-likeness begins and ends with humility. As I see it, there are two parts to humility. First, you are not God. You don’t know everything. None of us do. Start your leadership there – with admitting that you do not have all of the answers. I’m teaching this to my confirmation kids right now – that it’s okay to not know the answers sometimes. It’s okay to live in the unknown. Second, you are not God. You are not perfect. You will make mistakes – it is inevitable. Be honest about those mistakes. Live up to them. Apologize for them, and instead of focusing on the mess that might have happened because of the mistake, focus on what you can do to move forward from the mistake. But most of all, don’t blame someone else for your mistakes. That’s arrogance, and people don’t like it.
As You Continue Leading, Don’t Forget:
Whatever you do, do more with others and less alone. We learn best in groups. We love best in groups. Find your group, and do stuff with them. You’ll appreciate people more and lead better.
Whenever you do it, emphasize quality not quantity. It doesn’t matter if 2 people show up or if 1000 people show up – God’s there. Make it a good experience, no matter how many people or things are there.
Wherever you go, do it the same as if you were among those who know you best. Swindoll said if you do this, it’ll keep you from exaggerating. Those who know you best know your strengths AND your weaknesses. They’ll call you out on it. Expect that everyone will.
Whoever may respond, keep a level head. This is SO hard. When you get that nasty phone call or email that tears your heart to pieces, your initial gut response is to scream and yell and make them feel terrible for all the things they said to you. That’s the worst thing you can do! Take a breath. Go for a walk. Remember that they are God’s child too, and respond to them the way Jesus would have responded to them.
However long you lead, keep on dripping with gratitude and grace. We will, one day, be those people in their 50′s, 60′s, 70′s, and 80′s who are remembering “our glory days” of our 20′s and 30′s. Let’s not forget how we got where we got and who got us where we are. More importantly, let’s not forget why we do what we do and that none of the glory is ours alone, but belongs to God.
Related posts:
- Life Interrupted I think Priscilla Shirer was my second favorite speaker at...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
