Leadership is always difficult. If you are leading, you should have an understanding that difficult circumstances are either present or just around the corner. Here are a few principles for navigating these challenges.
Leadership is about the journey. I know too many people in the church who want everything “settled.” Many people have a destination perspective about life and even the Christian life. As a result, they miss the journey that God is placing before them and the growing in faith and discipleship that comes from being attentive to the journey.
In the present age, I see that the cultural milieu on expedience has led to a bumper sticker, microwave mentality where we want a few words to settle any issue—now. We live in an age of slogans rather than engagement.
The leadership journey is a marathon. If you and I are to flourish in ministry, we need to be like marathon runners who find a group of other runners and pace ourselves to run the race—together. A key African proverb that has guided me is—“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.”
Leadership is first about listening. Listening is part of a spiritual discipline and practice of being attentive to what God is doing already before you even show up.
Finally, leadership is also about giving voice to those whose voices we do not always hear. A good reminder is to "remember those who are not in this room." Leadership is about listening to people from different cultures and experiences and then helping those voices be heard. What does that mean for me?
As a white male; I need to keep before me the need (if I am going to be a good leader) to seek out the voices of others who will bring wisdom and insights that I would miss—if I am not deliberate to listen and learn from them. If we really see value in a chorus of witnesses, we need to be willing to seek those voices out to be part of that choir.
The full article is available here
