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Hi Everyone! With the activities of the Christmas season bearing down, and a full schedule from now until after Christmas–and then a much-needed break the week after Christmas to rest and plan for the new year–I won’t be posting until Monday, January 2, 2017.

Have a blessed Christmas! I pray you will also take some time to enjoy the season, and then to reflect on this year now nearly past and to plan for the future.

Here’s to leading better by renewing ourselves daily!

Hi Everyone! With the activities of the Christmas season bearing down, and a full schedule from now until after Christmas–and then a much-needed break the week after Christmas to rest and plan for the new year–I won’t be posting until Monday, January 2, 2017.

You may have noticed I actually started my break last Wednesday, as I didn’t write post for Thursday and Friday. I apologize for not giving notice then.

Have a blessed Christmas! I pray you will also take some time to enjoy the season, and then to reflect on this year now nearly past and to plan for the future.

Here’s to leading better by renewing ourselves daily!

As we continue our focus on thanksgiving this week, today’s focus is: Being Thankful in All Circumstances. As leaders we do end up facing all kinds of circumstances–the good, the bad and everything in between. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been on a rollercoaster when it comes to my leadership. We have experienced an incredible blessing as folks have responded to our “Yes! Initiative,” a three-year campaign to expand our generosity and raise funding for the construction of our Children’s Nurture and Discipleship Center. We have also experienced a handful of challenging circumstances as well.

If you’re a leader, you know what it’s like to be celebrating one minute, and doing all you can to keep a positive outlook the next. It’s easy to be thankful for the moments of celebration, not so much when it comes to the unexpected and unwanted surprises that come our way. So how do we be thankful in the negative circumstances, in those time when someone we trusted lets us down, or when the big deal we knew was a sure thing, falls through?

The Apostle Paul gave an answer to those of us who are people of faith in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. He told us to always be joyful, to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks to God in all circumstances. That triad of joy, prayer and thanksgiving are the key to moving forward in a healthy way in those times when we don’t think it’s possible. Paul was not telling us to deny our circumstances, paste a smile on our faces, pray as if nothing is wrong, and thank God for the train wrecks we go through in our lives. He was saying when we put God first in our lives, we can have joy, meaning a sense of well-being, even when the circumstances have turned totally against us. When we can’t maintain our joy, we pray. We pray for God to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We pray for God to overcome the circumstance. We pray for new strength. We pray for miracles.

I’ve been on the receiving end of God’s responses to prayer enough times in my life that I tend to pray at the first sign of negative circumstances, and even through them. When I do that I am able to give thanks in the circumstance, not necessarily for the circumstance, but in it. After all, it would be ludicrous to thank God for some of the terrible things that happen in our lives, but we can thank God in the midst of them if we know He has our best interest at heart. That’s a big if, isn’t it? Some people don’t believe God exists, so they certainly don’t believe He’s in the midst of our dire circumstances. But when we do believe in God’s existence and presence in our lives, we can trust that He will see us through the circumstances that would break us otherwise.

How are you doing at being thankful in all circumstances? Think of the best and worst situations in your life right now. How do you respond when you get to experience the best circumstance? What about the worst one? Are you thankful in each? Are you able to separate the events from your feelings about them, and be thankful regardless. Over time, one of the greatest indicators of long-term success is an ability to be grateful in all circumstances, not just the good ones.

Here’s to being better leaders, by being thankful in all our circumstances–today!

Today, I pause to say, “Thank You Veterans!” The longer I live the more grateful I am for those who have served our nation through the military.  We owe the men and women who served, because they were drafted into service, or because they voluntarily accepted the responsibility to serve in the armed forces, a debt of gratitude we will never fully understand or be able to repay. Having never served in the military myself, I often look back over my life and think that while I have served many people, and sacrificed a great deal in doing so at times, it is not the same as bearing arms in defense of our nation. The men and women who have done so deserve our thanks.

While some disagree on principle with the concept of an armed military, and others contend those who serve today are often simply in the military as a “job,” the fact remains: the men and women who serve on the front lines, and in support of them, are playing roles that make it possible for me to write these words, without fear of governmental intervention, or some outsiders’ disdain. The very freedom to disagree with what I right here, and to have right to speak our minds has been bought with the service and lives of men and women who have served in the armed forces. I appreciate that willingness and commitment on the part of so many to provide such opportunities.

Thank you to any who read this post who have served or are serving in the armed forces of the United States of America. Thank you for the sacrifices you have made or are making on our nation’s behalf. Thank you for standing up and in some cases standing down in order to bring or maintain peace and order here and abroad. Thank you for being willing to serve your fellow Americans, and those of many other countries, sometimes in situations that most of us can’t even understand. Thank you for those who serve as a response of duty to God and country, and thank you for those who serve, because it is your chosen vocation. Whatever the reason for your service, Thank You!

 

Well, The elections are over, and the “losers” are protesting. The world is stunned that a non-politician who ran a belligerent campaign, and whose personal life is filled with questionable and even despicable behavior has been elected president. That he has apparently failed to receive as much of the popular vote as his challenger, adds to the displeasure of those whose candidate lost. As I said yesterday, the immediate changes to our lives won’t be great, although the protests indicate that many believe the results are a harbinger of terrible things to come.

How are leaders to respond in such times? How are we to respond over the long haul when the short-term outlook is filled with uncertainty? As always my response to those questions comes from my faith in Jesus Christ: We respond with calm and assurance, because we know that He who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. In other words, we don’t panic as so many are doing. We don’t act out as a two-year old who didn’t get his or her way in the check out line at the grocery story. We maintain our character. We consider the facts and respond with wisdom.

The protests surprised me, to be honest. I believe in the American system of government, and the peaceful election of leaders, and transition of power. We have become a nation of two-year olds in my lifetime. When we don’t get our way, the tendency is to act out. When we think we are “right” about a matter we tend to yell and scream to make our point. As I say so often when I’m speaking about the truths of God,”When you’re right, you don’t have to shout.”

I’m not saying that Donald Trump is right, and therefore we ought not to yell at his being elected president. I’m saying, the democratic process we use is the right one for us, and we must abide by the results it produces or protest in decent orderly ways. Particularly as leaders, we must remember that the systems and processes we put in place in our companies, our churches, and yes, even our government, are intended to bring meaning, purpose, order and predictability to our lives. When we disregard them, because we don’t like the outcome in brings disorder  and potentially chaos. That’s why we must lead in such times, through the crises, because crises come and go, and as we demonstrated wisdom and calm through them it becomes the long haul.

As I move toward the benchmark of sixty years on the planet, I have become more and more certain of one thing when it comes to leading for the long haul: Infantile responses to matters we don’t like, or with which we disagree are never beneficial. As leaders, we don’t have the luxury of acting out in such ways, because we don’t like outcomes or in order to change decisions that have been made. The way leaders address such matters is to pause and reflect before we act. I was talking with someone the other day, who has a strong tendency to overreact in situations he doesn’t like. He said he had started to pause, pray and reflect in such situations and was amazed at how much more positive his actions have become as a result.

Undoubtedly, we could take that advice as a nation right now. Most assuredly we, as leaders, need to take that advice all the time, but particularly as we go through crises on our way to the long haul. Every time we decide and act with wisdom in our daily lives, we are forging a long haul that is worthy of emulation. At the end of the day, one of our most important legacies as leaders will be the way we led over time. Anyone can lead effectively for a day, a week, or a month. But the test of leadership is seasons, decades and lifetimes. How are you responding or reacting to the crises of your life right now? What safeguards do you have in place to ensure that when life brings you something you don’t like or even hate, that you respond with wisdom rather than with raw emotion, or an impulse you will regret? What plans do you have in place to lead effectively over the long haul?

The way we respond to such questions will determine how we respond or react in the inevitable crises of our lives and of our leadership. May we respond in such ways that we are demonstrated to be leaders, true leaders, over the long haul.

Here’s to leading better, by pausing to reflect before we act, so our leadership will be effective–not only today, but over the long haul!

As I’m writing this post it is 11:53 pm and I have NBC news on it the background. We’ve just been told “Decision Night in America,” could be an all nighter. Regardless of the outcome, we will all be leading through change. We will be a divided people, as we already are as a nation. Whichever candidate wins will have a major task of seeking to convince those who voted against him or her that he or she is worthy of the office of president. For each of us who serves as a leader, we will experience some impact.

Frankly, the impact may not be noticeable right away. After all, whichever candidate wins won’t be inaugurated until late January. I told the folks at worship this weekend on Wednesday morning Jesus will still be Lord. For those of us who believe that, the stabilizing effect is huge. For those of you who don’t, moving forward will be a time of moving through change. How do we lead through such momentous change in the greater culture?

The key to leading through change is do the next right thing. That’s a statement I learned from my association with folks in AA and NA. For the past six and a half years I have led a weekly Bible study for those in recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction, and they have a saying, “Do the next right thing.” That’s good advice for all of us, but particularly for those of us leading through change, because we will need to discern the next right thing and lead others to do it. In times of change, it isn’t always clear what the right thing to do is, but clarity is a key of great leadership. In fact, over time, those who follow us will continue to follow our leadership if we are clear, even though at times we are clearly wrong.

Let me explain. When everyone is wondering what to do next, and no one knows for sure, effective leaders will examine the evidence, we will pray if we are men and women of faith, and then we will take a clear step in a particular direction, explaining why we’re doing it and how we’re going to get where we’re going. If we have a good track record of navigating uncertainty well and with clarity, people will follow. They will give us some latitude for error, because no one will know for sure what the next right thing is in times of change.

During times of change leaders don’t take polls and follow the majority, they may take polls to find out what people are thinking, but they will always lead based on what they believe is right and best for everyone they lead. The character we have been developing to this point, will guide us as we move forward into a new future. Whether we’re living under the first woman president, or the first populist president since Andrew Jackson, we will live in an historic time. Life is change. So leading through change is a given, yet at times the changes are more dramatic. This will be one of those times.

Will it matter to you who is president? Will your leadership change as a result? What changes do you anticipate depending on who is elected? Remember asking such questions helps us to be ready for whatever eventuality may come. My prayer and plan is to stay rooted in the truth and to live it out in love. Those two qualities: truth and love are going to be needed regardless of who wins, or by the time you read this post has won!

Here’s to leading better, by preparing to lead through change–today!

As we continue our Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit series, today’s focus is patience. Over the my three plus decades as a pastor, the one trait people have asked me to pray for them to gain more than any other is patience. In some of the older English translations of the Bible, the word is translated “long suffering.” That is a great definition of patience, because when we are exercising patience it often feels as if we are suffering for a long time. Patience is needed in order to wait for something we desire to happen or to be completed with a sense that everything is oaky. The challenge is when we’re in the midst of most situations requiring patience it doesn’t seem like everything is okay.

Patience is a quality sorely needed by leaders in today’s world particularly. We live in an instant age. We have fast food, microwaves, and short cuts to nearly everything  we do in life. The challenge is as one of my mentors once told me, “There are no short cuts to any place worth going.” While that was an overstatement, the truth is most of the important aspects of leadership cannot be developed or exercise instantly or in three easy steps. Leadership takes patience. Life takes patience. As we’ve noted throughout the week, these qualities are called the fruit of the Spirit by the Apostle Paul, and he understood they would come to all who trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord and lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.

While you may or may not be a person of faith in Jesus Christ, Paul’s assumption was love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are the supernatural outcome of a life dedicated to God in Jesus Christ. As leaders we need all of these traits if we are going to be the best and most effective leaders we can be. We can certainly develop and exercise them over time through practice, but in order to have them in full measure we must add to our effort God’s presence, power and blessing. When it comes to patience in particular, what I have found over 47 years of following Jesus as my Savior and Lord is exercising patience in both my effort and God’s power makes for success in living it out over time.

Patience has never been one of my natural traits. Part of it is my “instant” personality. In the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator I’m an ENFP, which means I’m an extrovert who gathers information intuitively, analyzes it through my feelings, and doesn’t like order and structure all that much. I think “rules” are “guidelines,” and I never want to wait for anything. Add to that a dad who was angry most of the time, and modeled a “short fuse” type of attitude to life, and patience was not among the top qualities in my natural make up as a person. Some would use that as an excuse for being impatient, and I have certainly done that. If we are going to be better more effective leaders though, at some point we must stop making excuses and start making an effort to change.

For me, the biggest breakthroughs in the area of patience have been related to two primary experiences: 1) the experience of consciously calling on the Holy Spirit to fill me and empower me daily, sometimes multiple times each day; and 2) addressing the life-long anger that filled my heart through a process I learned in Gary Smalley’s book Change Your Heart, Change Your Life.  I would encourage you, as I have throughout the existence of my blog to give Jesus Christ first place in your life, and let His Spirit give you strength for developing and exercising all nine facets of the Holy Spirit. That single realignment of our lives makes all the difference.

Please, understand as leaders we do not abdicate our responsibility for personal growth and development, by saying, “It’s in God’s hands,” as I’ve heard many people do over the years. They excuse their lack of patience, or peace, or integrity or any number of qualities by saying, “God hasn’t developed that in me yet.” It sounds spiritual on the surface, but underneath it’s lazy. If that sounds harsh, let me say that I’m one of the laziest people I know by nature. I would much rather let God be responsible for my growth, than taking responsibility for it myself, but I have learned over many decades as Jesus’ follower, that He will always do what I cannot do, but only when I am doing what I can do in my personal growth and development.

Again, if you aren’t a person of faith, the previous paragraphs may not seem to apply to you, but this certainly applies: wherever you and I may be on the patience spectrum right now, we must take responsibility for taking the next step toward patience if we ever hope to be the leaders we can be. Impatient leaders make bad decisions more frequently than patient leaders. Impatient leaders treat people as objects more frequently than patient leaders. Impatient leaders see today as the only time to accomplish the company’s plan, while patient leaders plan a course for success over the long haul. Patience is a virtue, precisely because it gives us time to assess, evaluate, correct, and exercise the best or at least better course of action than when our approach is “Fire! Ready. Aim.”

So, how are you in the area of patience? Do you wait appropriately when necessary, or are you always angry, impatient, and irritable when you have to wait for a result, or a report, or a plan to develop? How you answer questions such as these, can help you see where you are on the patience spectrum. Remember, over time each of us ought to be moving more toward patience than impatience if we are going to be the best leaders we can be.

Here’s to leading better, by analyzing where we are on the patience spectrum and taking a next step toward greater patience–today!

As we continue our series on Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit, today’s focus is peace. We live in a world that seeks peace, but lives with war and confusion. In our own nation, we often experience disruptions to peace at home, work, and in the communities where we live. Many explanations and rationalizations have been given for why we see so much violence, and what can be done to eliminate it. At it’s core a lack of peace comes from a lack of relationship. You don’t have to believe in God, as I do to recognize that. When we have rapport with another person we don’t shoot them or do violence to them. We may disagree over many matters, but we learn how to work it out in a peaceable manner.

So, why is it that we experience broken relationships at the personal, corporate, national and international level? Hundreds of answers could be given to that question, but at the basic level, the reason we experience broken relationships is because of sin, because we are all broken. While you may disagree with the premise that we are all broken, our life experience lends incredible credence to my contention. After all, even the best of us don’t have all the spots on our dominoes. We experience moments of unexplained, or at least unsupportable anger. We don’t always desire the good of those around us. There is dis-ease within us all. That’s why peace is such a powerful need in each of our lives.

Peace is not just an absence of violence or war. In the biblical sense of the word, it is a positive quality, a sense of harmony and well-being with God and others. It’s interesting that the Apostle Paul in writing to the early Christians in Rome offered this advice, “In so far as it remains with you, live at peace with all.” I have always recognized the power in that statement. We cannot live at peace with all, because some people will not live at peace with us. We only have control over ourselves, and even that control is a challenge. Only when the Holy Spirit is living in us and guiding us do we demonstrate the ability to live at peace with all who will live at peace with us.

Those who aren’t willing to live at peace with us, who may even desire to harm or kill us must be addressed, but let’s consider for the moment, those who are willing to live at peace with us. As leaders, we have an obligation to be peacemakers to the degree we can. Why? It’s good business for one thing. After all, we can’t close a deal with someone who  is fighting with us. While peace is a spiritual reality more than anything, it is also a practical reality for those of us who lead. We must be able to bring civility and hopefully more than that–positive relationship in our dealings with others, whether individuals or groups, companies, or governing bodies.

Peace is at the heart of civility, because when I am in harmony with God, myself and others, I am able to develop positive relationship with all who have even a modicum of civility. As leaders, we must exercise self-leadership in this area first. We all have folks who give us a pain where a pill won’t reach, folks with whom it is difficult to live at peace, but as leaders we don’t have the luxury of discounting them. That is always true, but particularly true if they hold a position that is important to our success personally or corporately. How do we address such people? We seek to live at peace with them. We seek to exercise peace toward them. We treat them as we would want to be treated.

What if none of that works? Paul reminded us we won’t be able to live at peace with all, but we are obligated to make the attempt. After repeated attempts, if the person is unwilling to live at peace, then we must determine how to avoid them positively. What do I mean by that? I mean we minimize our contact with them. We find someone else in the organization whose personality or leadership style may fit them better, or we may disassociate ourselves from them.

I learned many years ago that just because I am the pastor of a church doesn’t mean that I must permit toxic people to poison the rest of the church family. I have seen too many situations in churches where people have put up with lethal amounts of poison from a person, in order to “keep the peace.” That isn’t peace-keeping. It’s cowardice. At New Life we are extremely clear about our mission, vision and values when folks join us. We welcome everyone! Everyone belongs at New Life the day they show up. By we do play by God’s rules and guidelines. We speak the truth in love. We don’t permit folks to steam role others in the name of truth, without exercising love. That leads to division, disharmony and a lack of peace.

You may ask, “Isn’t that unloving?” Of course not! Letting someone spew poison on your family, your business, your church isn’t loving. It’s contributing to the dysfunction of the system. Peace never means cowardice. It seldom means compromise. Peace means being so filled with the harmony and good will of God that we can address dysfunction in leave, and make certain that the dysfunctional member understands we don’t believe in “keeping the peace at any cost.” That isn’t peace at all.

How are you at being filled with peace in your own life? Do you have a sense of harmony and well-being with God and others that serve as the base for how you treat others? What do you do when a toxic person attempts to guilt you into accepting their behavior in the name of peace? These are vital questions to answer, because as leaders we are responsible for the overall health and success of our organization whatever it may be. If you look at the questions and think, “This can be overwhelming.” Yes, it can be. The only way any of our tasks as leaders become manageable over the long haul is to make certain we’re in a right relationship with God in Jesus Christ, and consistently live in the power of the Holy Spirit. (If you don’t operate out of a Christian worldview, you will need to give your best effort to being at harmony with yourself, so you may express that sense to those you lead.)

Here’s to leading better, by exercising peace within yourself toward God and in all your other relationships–today!

We’re going to focus on finishing well as leaders this week. Each day we’ll ask a different question about finishing well and address it. Today’s question is: When Do You Start Thinking About Finishing Well? The short answer to that question is: Today. I’m fifty-nine years old, so the finish line is closer for me than it may be for many of you, but the truth of the matter is the sooner we start to think about finishing well, the better of we are. Why? Because, the unexamined life is not worth living, and a key aspect of examining our lives is considering where we want to be when we complete our work here on the earth.

Our faith perspective definitely plays into the matter of what it means to finish well as leaders. Even so, I contend regardless of where we stand with regard to matters of faith, considering what it will look like to cross the “finish line” of our lives someday and be “victorious” is an important aspect of finishing well. If we don’t know where we’re going, how will we know when we get there? If we don’t have a picture of what it will be like to finish well, to cross the finish line in victory, then how will we know we have? Taking the time now, whether you’re 25, 45, or 65 to ask what it will look like to finish well in your life is one of the most important tasks you can accomplish.

If you’re a leader in business, what will it look like to finish well? Have you thought about that question? Will it mean the company has accomplished a certain level of growth, or that you will have maintained a specific level of expertise throughout your career even as the world changes and the dynamics of your work do as well? Whatever your view of a victory as you cross the finish line may be, now is the time to start to plan for it, to train for it, and carry out the practices necessary to see it happen.

While I’m not a planner by nature, I am learning that having a plan for today, and for the future makes it much more likely that I will cross the finish line with victory than if I drift through life. Of course, not that many leaders are drifting through life, but I’ve met many who are like me–they are working furiously to accomplish as much as they can, but in the midst of all the activity, they aren’t sure where they’re going. Taking the time to sit down each day to consider not only what you are going to do, but why you’re doing, what overarching plan the tasks will contribute to completing is a worthwhile endeavor. Steven Covey called it “sharpening the saw.” Such activity is a necessary component of finishing well, and ought to be carried out today, and each day.

If you have no idea what it would look like to finish well, then right now, or in the very near future why not block out a half day or a day to reflect on that question, and to start forming a plan for accomplishing the goal of finishing well? Remember: we can only finish well if we know what that means for us? Everyone’s finish line and victory will be unique, but the sooner we start to plan for it, the more likely we will win. I want to appeal to those who are like me once again–you may think there’s plenty of time for starting to think about the finish line, later. The truth is later comes a lot sooner than any of us think, and unless you plan now for finishing well, you may be derailed before you get that. You may also put off defining what it means to finish well so long, you won’t be able to do so.

Why am I making such a big deal about this? Because so few people finish well. It doesn’t matter what discipline we consider: business, art, faith, entertainment the news and tabloids are filled with accounts of those who finished poorly or didn’t finish at all. Today is the best day to stop to look ahead to the finish, if we have never done. If we already have a definition and a plan for what it looks like to finish well, then today is a great day to stop to review it and make any course corrections needed to see we do, indeed, finish well.

Tomorrow, we’ll consider what we can do daily to make sure we finish well. Looking forward to sharing with you.

Here’s to leading better, by taking the time to be intentional about finishing well–today!

Yesterday was the second day of our Leadership Pipeline experience in Nashville, Tennessee. It was a long day of talks similar to TED talks on various aspects of what it means to develop a leadership pipeline. While the focus was explicitly Christian, the principles presented cross the lines of churches, business and other organizations. As one of the presenters said, “Leadership is leadership.” This has been demonstrated to be true by a secular author named Dave Ulrich in his book, Leadership Code. Ulrich contends that up to 70% of leadership is transferable across disciplines.

That mean’s an upper level manager at Target would find that 70% of his tor her leadership skills would transfer to a non-profit or to another business environment. The key is we must develop the 70% in order to have it transfer if we ever move from one environment to another. After all, as John Maxwell has pointed out for decades, no one is born a leader. While the capacity for leadership differs within each of us, we must each develop the skills of leadership in order to be the most effective leader we can be.

While the Pipeline Conference is intended to help organizations develop convictions, cultures, and constructs conducive to developing leaders from across the organization, the emphasis made on developing one’s own leadership skills is crucial. After all, whether we’re the CEO of the company, or a mid-level manager, our leadership will determine much of the success of those who report to us over time. We can facilitate the flow of the pipeline or clog it. While no one would intentionally be a pipeline “clogger,” it takes intentionality to ensure that we are developing as leaders day-by-day, rather than drifting along, or assuming that we have arrived. Leadership is a life-long journey, and while we will become more and more effective as we develop our skills and gain experience, there is always more to learn.

When was the last time you stopped to consider what role you are playing in the development of your organization’s leadership pipeline? If it’s been a while why not take some time right now to think about it. The key question to ask is, “Am I facilitating the flow of the pipeline, or contributing to clogs in it?” Based on how you respond to that question, you’ll know whether you need to continue on your current course or make some intentional corrections. We all need to be challenged to reflect on where we are in our leadership, because the busyness of our lives, can often lead us to by pass such opportunities.

If it’s been a while since you’ve read a leadership book, or listened to a leadership podcast, or attended a leadership conference, why not schedule it on your calendar, because we know that what gets scheduled is the most likely thing to get done, right? We all need to be held accountable for our growth and development, because we can’t always trust our own motivation, or inclinations to move us forward.

Here’s to leading better by examining our own role in developing the flow of our leadership pipelines–today!