"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it si serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." Romans 12:7-8
For someone to talk about leadership lessons that they have learned in their life, I would have a natural expectation that they are older than 38. Fair enough. That's why I want to outline just a few leadership fundamentals that I have learned so far in my life (understanding that there are many more to come). As an aside, these are not just principles or thoughts that are simply philosophical - they are things I have learned in principle and by experience (though I won't outline each experience).
1. Leading Alone is not Good for Anyone - If you want a place to reference in the Bible for this principle, just check out the life of King Saul in 1 Samuel. He is a great case study for why you should not lead alone. Never mind that it was never God's intent (in my opinion) for Israel to have a king - just simply look at the disaster that befell him because he had to have all the power himself. He became insecure and selfish, vindictive, and could not see his blind spots. Just imagine if the object of his wrath (a young man named David) would have been leveraged as a great leader alongside Saul - what might have happened to Israel? To Saul? The idea of leading alone is not good for the leader, and it most assuredly is not good for the people being led. As a friend of mine said, "No leader is inerrant, therefore no leader should be unilateral."
2. If a Leader is not a Life-Long Learner, He/She will not be a Life-Long Leader - I can't tell you how many "leaders" I have met (particularly in my field, which is ministry) that have simply quit learning. This doesn't mean you have to be a perpetual student in a seminary, it means that you need to continue to expand your opportunities to grow and learn. Some leaders, having arrived at a position, simply quit learning. Worse, some don't think they have anything to learn anymore. Almost always, this ends poorly, because the leader doesn't realize what he/she fails to understand - yet, the people around them (or under them in this case) don't have any trouble seeing the gaping holes.
3. Running Away From Difficulty will Teach You Nothing but Frustration - A good place to begin for this thought is in James 1:2-4. It seems that God never wastes an opportunity to teach us something, does He? Even if it is something that He clearly didn't cause, He will leverage it to shape us more into the image of Christ. To run away from trials or difficult decisions is to simply short-circuit the process of being conformed into the image of Christ. But, don't think that running away from them solves anything. You can't outrun God. So, a little later in a different location, God will allow the lesson you ran from to be recycled so that maybe you learn it this time. I've tried to grasp that learning the lesson now is much less demanding than having God continue to recycle it in my life.
4. Experience is More Important than Longevity - Some leaders rely on the fact that they have 'X' number of years of experience. And leaders who are possibly struggling to lead like to make sure you know that they have 'X' number of years of experience. Don't misunderstand what I am saying - experience is critical. But, some leaders who claim to have 30 years of experience really only have about 1 year of experience 30 times over. The issue here is that just "riding it out" or "going the distance" is not enough. The call of life is to make a demonstrable impact for the glory of God, as God lives out His life through you and I. The impact of the apostles was enormous, yet maybe only one of them (John) lived to retirement age. Many of them may have died in their 30's or 40's or 50's for the cause of Christ. Yet their impact was incomporable. I want to finish, I want to last, but I really want to finish strong - not just finish.
5. Don't Get Your Neck Caught in the Sin of Absalom - As you may (or may not) be aware, Absalom was the son of David. He was a stud according to the Bible, but his heart led him to some very disturbing places that leaders could be in danger of going (see 2 Samuel 15:1-6 to see it play out). This passage is fraught with bad choices, but the one that disturbs me the most has to do with Absalom "stealing the hearts of the people of Israel." This is a danger that any leader can face......especially those in ministry. Most got into ministry to help people - that is noble and right and honorable. But that can, if unchecked, turn into a Messiah complex that thinks that the minister can be the answer to people's problems and issues. Then, the role of the minister can become self-seeking because they are fueled by being the answer man/woman in people's lives. Fundamentally, they can contribute to stealing the hearts of the people away from Jesus Christ if they are not careful.
6. If You Only Drink from Other People's Wells, You Eventually Forget the Taste of Living Water - Jesus flipped a lady's understanding on its ear when he was getting water from a well one day (see John 4:7-14). She could not believe that there could be better water than was from Jacob's well, yet Jesus told her that she could keep drinking it but she would still be thirsty. Jesus wanted to do something fresh in her life, but if she kept relying on Jacob (so to speak) she would not be able to experience it. I think the same is true in the ministry culture of today. There are so many resources available today for other churches/ministries (other wells) that many in ministry don't even remember what it is like for God to speak freshly to them anymore (and help them drink from living water). So as not to be misunderstood, I am a fan of learning from others - in fact, I think it is arrogant for any of us to think we should not keep learning (note point 2 above). But the danger is that we drink so much and so long from other people's wells, that we miss the living water that Jesus wants to provide for us in our ministry context. God didn't design us to be a copy of someone else - He wants us to be who we are, yielded to Him, drinking from His living water. Usually when we try to copy or rely on everyone else's resources, we end up being a parody of that which we are trying to emulate.
Well, I have many more lessons to learn for sure. But, for now, here's a few that I have learned/am learning. Hope some of them may be of help/challenge/encouragement to you in your leadership journey as well.
