On Leading Well

Tag: Leadership

  • It’s Time to Pass The Baton

    “The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order
    what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you.” – Titus 1:5

    Throughout Scripture and throughout our lives we are constantly reminded that nothing lasts forever. From Moses to Joshua, from Elijah to Elisha, from Paul to Timothy and Titus, even from Jesus to the Twelve. No one is indispensable in his or her role. In God’s kingdom we are all interim leaders, bringing all we are in Christ to serve for our season, then (hopefully) preparing well the next generation to receive the baton of leadership. I like how Paul expressed this to Titus in the verse above, “that you might put in order what was left unfinished.” Few leaders ever fully finish what God has called them to do.

    Fourteen months ago, in the first week of March 2020, I huddled with my Digital Strategies core team in an AirBnB during a weeklong offsite retreat. In between meals and walks on the beach we prayed, assessed where we thought the ministry was, and discussed strategic future opportunities.

    One morning I shared with the team my strong sense from Jesus that it was time for me to pass the baton.

    I had contributed what I could bring to leading our global digital efforts. It was time for God to identify a new leader from among an incredible pool of spiritually mature and digitally talented people. We spent a few hours discussing what that role would need next and assessing bench strength. Then I asked each leader to email me privately the names of leaders whom they would willingly follow in the VP Digital role and the reasons why. My plan was to take those names to my boss and initiate a transition process the following week.

    But Covid. One week later travel lockdowns kicked in and our digital team rose to the challenge. We instantly began working overtime to offer free global webinars to the body of Christ on how to do online evangelism, 1-1 discipleship and large group live streaming as the pandemic waxed. Two weeks later, we were informed of Cru’s presidential transition. It was not quite time to pass my baton. The ministry needed stability and acceleration for what turned out to be another year.

    But the time has come. A few weeks ago I announced to our global digital team that after 10 years (time flies!) in this role I would be stepping aside by the end of June. My heart longs to shift more weight into the spiritual side of leadership and let the younger horses run. It is my conviction that we must constantly weave the next generation into organizational leadership. When your bench is that strong, people need to lead or they will leave.

  • How to lead now? With Courage and Care

    A quick search this morning reveals that in the past few weeks I have received nearly 300 emails about “leading in the time of Covid-19.” That number does not include articles in my newsfeed or posts on social media. My guess is that you don’t need another five bullet points on how to lead in a crisis right now. 

    Instead I’d like to offer two rock solid biblical principles that transcend any circumstance and always bear fruit: Lead with courage and care.

    Lead Them Out, Lead Them In
    We observe people leading with courage and care all through the Scriptures. I’ll highlight two examples. The first is when Moses prayed to the Lord for a successor. In Numbers 27:15-17, Moses asked God “to appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” God then instructs Moses to choose Joshua and commission him in front of everyone. God says that “at his [Joshua’s] word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in.” 

    This rhythmic action, repeated three times, demonstrates balanced leadership. We lead people out into the mission, into spiritual battle, into difficult places where there is real danger and risk. Then, we lead people back into community, into rest, into healing, into safety and care. Then back out, then back in. Depending on the level of intensity, some people may need more time and care to recover from battle fatigue. They may not be able to head back out immediately with the rest of the team. That’s ok. The mistake for a leader would be to completely stop leading out in courage because someone needs care for physical needs or emotional wounds. It’s important for you, as a leader, to take the time to personally connect with anyone on the team who is hurting, injured, or in distress. Nothing can replace that personal touch. Then, while ensuring the wounded are cared for, perhaps by another team mate or someone with needed expertise, the team is summoned with courage to press on in the mission. It’s also critical that as a leader you take regular time away from the battle for self care. 

    A second example is Jesus’ first encounter with the disciples following his resurrection. The gospel of John recounts that “on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (John 20:19-21). Major crisis. Panic. Fear. Hiding. Uncertainty about the future. What was Jesus’ first word? Peace. Then we are told “the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” A good test for me as a leader would be: When things aren’t going well is my team glad to see me show up? Do I bring words of peace? 

    Finally, verse 21 models Jesus’ perfect balance as the Chief Shepherd. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Do you see Jesus’ care, followed by the call to courage? Jesus leads them in with peace, then immediately sends them out into God’s mission. In the next verse we are told that Jesus breathed on them and commanded them to receive the Holy Spirit. Our caring God does not send us back out into battle alone!

    My prayer: O Jesus, in these challenging times, enable us to lead with courage and care, to lead your people out into mission and back into healing community. Give us your strength to do that again and again. Amen.

  • Feeling Stretched? Try this.

    If I had one word to describe 2019 so far it would be “stretching.”

    I’m a pretty high-capacity person, but the doors the Lord has opened during this season, especially new opportunities to partner and collaborate, are far more than I seem to be able to walk through. I know it is not all dependent on me, but I have felt stretched beyond my ability to find sufficient time to connect meaningfully with key people. To deepen my knowledge of our strategy. To invest in dozens of new relationships formed during our Global Digital Summit. To set aside personal desires in order to be more available to others.

    To be honest, when time is short my heart becomes impatient with those closest to me. And yet, my ability to collaborate well is directly related to having more meaningful, positive relationships. That is why I feel stretched. The stretching reveals a place my character needs to grow.

    While pouring out my heart to Him, the Lord with His great sense of humor brought this passage from 1 Peter 4:7-8 to me: “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint.” 

    “Keep fervent” means to love “fully stretched out.” The idea here is that we are all going to fall short of our own or others’ expectations. Sometimes we will make mistakes and sometimes we may sin. I take comfort in knowing that “loving fully stretched out” covers a multitude of sins and bad meetings.

    Peter continues, exhorting us to be hospitable to one another without complaint. “Be hospitable” comes from the compound word philoxenos, or “loving strangers.” Collaboration requires me to love people who see the world differently than I do.

    We know that fruitful leadership in our VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) world requires us to be more collaborative and partner-oriented than ever before. For me, that requires trusting God to love and serve others at full stretch.