“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.” Prov 29:18 The Message
Leaders receive a vision and direction only from the Lord. It is not something you or a team comes up with. It is a picture of what God is going to do. When you attempt to do things for the Lord, the results often are quite small in the end. The things of God require faith and are beyond your capacity or your resources. Leaders need to be in a posture of intimacy and humility of character in order to receive God’s vision and to cast it to others. The great danger for a leader is to be complacent and rely on your strength and ideas. When you find yourselves relying on your resources, pray and seek the Lord, allowing Him to stir you and rely upon Him and His provision.
Prayer of Sir Francis Drake, an English sea captain, famous for sailing around the world in 1580.
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves; When our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; When we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; Having fallen in love with life, we ceased to dream of eternity; And in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, Who is Jesus Christ.
As a leader whose resources are you trusting in? From whom do these resources come? Trust in Christ and His supply, and the world will never be the same.
LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS. THE WAY LEADERS and followers relate to each other is the most important factor in their performance and job satisfaction. Poor leaders can depress the performance of even talented employees, while a great leader can draw the very best from less talented individuals.
Relationships are largely a product of the leader’s heart. While great leadership requires well developed skills, these mean nothing if the leader’s heart is not right. Those of us who really know the human condition know that our hearts are powerful. The heart is the foundation of every action. The heart determines how the leader uses the skills.
If it is in a leader’s heart to exploit people and circumstances for personal gain, or to place his needs before the team’s, he will lead selfishly. Leaders who believe they are the most important part of the team cannot build strong motivated teams. They get reluctant survivors rather than enthusiastic participants.
Relationships are tested most severely when the pressure is on. I once heard it said that one can only tell the strength of a submarine’s hull by taking it down – it is pressure that reveals the cracks. This is true of leadership. Smooth sailing tells us little about the leader’s heart – we learn what the leader is all about when the pressure is on.
You’ve probably worked for a few leaders who had the wrong hearts. They are not hard to find. Sometimes they pit people against each other or they are quick to take the credit for the work others have done. They grab the spotlight whenever they can. When the team struggles they distance themselves from the responsibility. When the pressure is on they often react with anger and frustration when the team needs encouragement and support.
For a brief time, I worked closely with someone like this. More than anything, he cared about how every situation made him look. Consequently, he personalized every setback and this led him to take his frustrations out on his team in angry outbursts during which he often criticized others in front of their peers. Nothing they did was ever good enough. He thought of himself as a caring leader but under pressure, his temper always got the best of him. He ended up chastising good people for doing the best they could at the very time he should have been encouraging them. I watched skilled and dedicated people become deeply disheartened. It often took them days to get past the outbursts. Their performance plummeted. One’s best work is the all a leader should expect. You will face the truest tests of the heart when the pressure is on.
Get the heart focused in the right direction, toward the needs of the team and the mission and you will not fall into this ego trap. You’ll see pressure from the perspective of those you lead. Your heart will lead you to care for them. You will steer them through rough water with confidence, providing the support and encouragement they need to stay focused and positive. They in turn won’t want to disappoint you. They will stay focused and work hard as a part of your team.
You will learn much more about yourself and the other leaders around you during a time of pressure than you will in good times. Pressure brings out the best in great leaders and the worst in poor ones. The determining factor is the disposition of the leader’s heart. Great leaders are patient and encouraging under pressure. Rather than creating additional pressures, they shield their teams from all but the most necessary pressures when they are doing their best work. This is all you can ask. When you are receiving it, make sure your team knows you appreciate it.
Discussion Questions:
Thinking about the best and worst leaders you have worked for, what were their characteristics?
How have leaders you have known reacted to pressure and how did their reactions affect their teams?
What steps can you take to ensure you don’t fall into the ego trap when you are under pressure?
For information on a workshop or personal coaching to help you lead your team through this storm contact us for an appointment.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE LEADERSHIP VERBS IS “ENCOURAGE”. This act is among the simplest and most powerful of all leadership habits. The most effective leaders are great encouragers. Oxford defines it this way, “give courage, confidence or hope to” When you encourage others you are quite literally, building courage. No team was ever more effective with less courage.
While encouragement is always important, it is absolutely vital right now. I cannot think of another act that could be simpler and more important as we battle through an economic downturn that has many people worried and distracted. As I have said before and will repeat often, every team’s performance is a reflection of its leadership. And every leader’s actions are a product of his or her heart. This is true of the leader’s performance as an encourager. Many fail badly in this and their team’s performance always reflects it.
There are really three ways leaders respond to hard times: some act in ways that discourage others, some are more neutral (they don’t discourage but they don’t encourage either) and finally, the best are good encouragers. Click here for full article.
During difficult times often distractions, uncertainty, fear and worry can distract and reduce productivity at the very time leaders and their teams need more productivity. Here are the highlights from a “Leading by God’s Design” workshop I attended over a month ago.
Communicate far more often, daily is not too much. Communication is a key weapon in the battle against fear. Fear grows in the dark (absence of communication).
Keep a short term focus. In times of turmoil think of one hill at a time not the 26 mile marathon – the long term view can be discouraging.
Communicating your plans gives others something they can do about the problem and diminishes feelings of victimization. Do this face to face not from behind your desk.
During times of turmoil don’t overlook wins and progress – celebrating wins builds confidence and confidence is critical to performance.
Provide outlets to relieve stress. Spend time together with staff to build esprit de corps. Turmoil creates long term stress and if not relieved can wear teams down. Chicken wings and nachos can be valuable tool for your leadership.
Bring hope, be optimistic and be an encourager in your conversations. There is seldom value in a good dose of pessimism.
Be prayerful for your company and the people God has sent to you. Seek the support, encouragement and counsel from your Corpath group – they are your friendly board of advisers.
“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.” Prov 29:18 The Message