On Leading Well

Tag: Leadership

  • You Don’t Have To Be The Hero

    Almost every good story features a hero that overcomes a challenge. Sometimes this hero discovers that he or she is the “chosen one,” like Neo in The Matrix, Katniss in The Hunger Games, Diana as Wonder Woman, Frodo, or Harry Potter. Each became a hero of their own story.

    In leadership I often feel subtle pressure to be “the hero.”  I’m tempted to feel I need to solve every problem. Have all the answers. Be perfectly prepared for every meeting or circumstance. Always say the right word. Answer every email. Ensure our team hits every faith goal. Save the day.

    Do you feel the pressure to be the hero? If (and when) you do, I have really good news for you. You don’t have to be the hero. There is only one true hero. The apostle Paul emphasized this truth when he wrote to people in Colossae who struggled with worldly standards to be right and righteous – to be their own heroes. Paul, who by our standards could be considered a hero in his own right, explained how powerful and great and amazing Jesus is:

    He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

    Colossians 1:15-20

    Paul then compels us not to become “our best selves,” but to journey in faith with the one true hero: “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6).

    The pressure is off. My heart is at rest. As simply as I received him — by faith — I take the next step in Him. This is gospel personalization, to be known by and moving with the one true Hero of God’s larger story.

    Relax, hero.

  • Why Your Leadership Must Change (free download)

    The world has changed dramatically in the past decade. You know this. You’ve felt it. You live with the stress of it every day.

    Your leadership needs to change with it.

    The human race is rapidly becoming a more tightly knit global community. A dip in one country’s economy can prompt falls across world markets before the next day’s trading cycle. A technological explosion of mobile devices, social networking, and cloud computing has made the world seem smaller.

    These shifts have changed the way we live, work, think, learn, and relate to family and friends. And our expectations have changed. Increasingly, we believe that information and people should be available on demand. A global economy with shrinking boundaries allows buyers and sellers to conduct business non-stop, 24/7/365.

    Companies, institutions, nonprofits, churches, and mission agencies are all struggling to keep up with this pace of change. Many are rightly questioning whether the practices that made yesterday’s leaders successful will still be helpful tomorrow….

    Want more? Download this free chapter of my book CLOSE: Leading Well Across Distance and Cultures.

    Get the whole book on Amazon.com.

  • Leading In The Moment

    Yesterday our Digital Strategies team met for our monthly Strategy Day.

    Strategy days allow us to devote longer sessions of up to two to three hours on a single issue or cluster of problems. We seek to dive deep and pray for wisdom to make one or two decisive calls that ensure we stay on track. We mine for conflict: opposing points of view, subsurface issues that tend to fester, places where someone hasn’t truly bought in at the heart level.

    Yesterday while mining we struck gold.

    How did I know? Emotions began to rise along with a few people’s tone of voice. While this could have derailed a typical meeting, two team members noticed the escalation and invited us to pause, pray, and take a few moments to dig even deeper. Once we ensured that relationships were ok and forgiveness was asked for where needed, we moved on the even more fruitful discovery and decision-making.

    It took courage and Spirit-filled self-awareness for my two teammates to lead in the moment. I’m thankful they did. Their actions saved a meeting and allowed us to commit to a game-changing decision that will radically affect the way we operate in the next 12-36 months.

    Where have you led (or failed to lead) in the moment?