Year: 2013

If you’re a leader, we need you to act.

Of course, action can assume many forms. But consistent inaction from you ultimately leads us to wonder if you’re really there; if you really care. Inaction breeds distrust. Action requires faith and builds trust. If you’re stuck, if you’re deciding, if you’re overwhelmed, just let us know. We may feel the same way. Invite us into the chaos and share the leadership load.  That’s why we’re here. Prolonged inaction kills morale, squanders resources, and places our mission at risk.

Help us see what you see. Maybe there are some really good reasons you’re choosing to wait. Waiting doesn’t necessarily equal inaction. Your choice to wait could be flowing from reflection or a nudge from the Spirit of God.  We need you to think and we need you to pray. Just let us know what’s going on inside your head and your heart.

Action can include more research, another phone call, some robust team interaction, intentional neglect or a call to fast and pray. We’ll support you. Or maybe we’ll challenge your position with the intent of getting to the best course of action. But whatever you do, please, don’t leave us hanging.

You’re a leader and we need you to act.

What regularly causes you to avoid taking action?

If you’re a leader, we need you to take time to pray.

We don’t want you to be frantic. We are counting on you to be full of faith and live out your convictions. We need you to think, then lead with a heart filled with courage.

Recently I was on a long trip that happened to come on the heels of another very full week. While skyping with my wife, I told her that I felt thin. ‘Thin’ describes the feeling I get when I realize I’m just skimming across the surface of people’s issues, not really being present or digging deeper. Compassion for people gives way to cynicism about problems. It’s a signal to me that I need to slow down, pray, and invite the Spirit of the living Christ to support the gravity of life’s daily drama.

When you are hurried and rushed, you become a frantic leader. We need you to be a prayerful leader, not just a productive leader. The truth – as you well know – is that the only way to bear fruit is to abide in Jesus. Apart from him you can do nothing.

In addition to regular daily prayer times, I try to make a habit of taking one early morning each week to rise one hour earlier. I keep a running list of the craziest problems I face and pour my heart out to God. On those weeks I don’t feel thin; rather I feel grounded, lighter, and eager to play my role in God’s story.

How do you cultivate the practice of prayerful leadership?

If you’re a leader, we need you to take time to think.

This week I’m in Helvoirt, the Netherlands, with about 60 leaders from a dozen nations across Western Europe. Last night John, the sponsor of this gathering, invited these busy folks to relax and enjoy taking three days away from the front lines. “Pull out of the whirlwind,” John exhorted as he flashed a slide of a menacing tornado up on the wall.

You no longer function in an industrial society. You live in a knowledge economy that is drowned in data daily. We need you to pull away – regularly – to make sense of it all.

Our busy, noisy world is full of reactive leaders. We need you to be a reflective leader. Godly spiritual and strategic leadership requires thoughtful reflection before execution. Please don’t be deceived into thinking otherwise.

I’ve told the teams I lead that I don’t want to see them looking busy all the time when we’re together. Yes, there are times we need to saddle up and work hard. But I also want to see the senior leaders I work with relaxed, pushed back from their desks, and mulling over an article on their iPad or capturing some ideas in a journal. I want to catch them in the act of thinking. Thinking is real work.

How do you cultivate the practice of reflective leadership?