Category: Leading in Life

The day has arrived–election day 2016. I devoted yesterday’s post to reminding as that as leaders we must often make the least bad choice, and commented on the two major candidates for president. I won’t rehash that here. My goal is short and simple today: to urge those who are registered to vote to VOTE!

The freedom to vote for our government officials is a great freedom, that men and women have defended for well over 200 hears. It was not purchased lightly, nor maintained without great cost. That means out of respect for those who have given us and continue give us this and many other freedoms, if for no other reason, we need to vote.

While so many have told me their vote doesn’t matter, that one person can’t make a difference, I would contend that one person has always made the difference. This blog is devoted to leadership, because history tells us that the most unlikely people can become leaders, and in their roles as leaders one person has always made a difference. We can go back several thousand years to a time when Israel was a fledgling nation, struggling under the political leadership of their first king, a man named Saul. While the Israelites didn’t have a right to vote the king out of office, or to select a new one from a field of candidates, the could and did offer their backing to God’s new choice: David.

David was a shepherd. On the surface, he didn’t look kingly. In fact, when the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king from the family of Jesse, he had Jesse line up his sons in a row, and Samuel went through a handful whose appearance seemed more fitting than David. Jesse hadn’t even invited David to the lineup, because he seemed such an unlikely candidate. Yet God chose him. It must have been much easier to have God choose the king, than the process we use, and yet, whomever is chosen as leader in any era, that person must lead, that person must grow and develop or be looked at in the rearview mirror as an unworthy candidate.

David was a great king. He had many flaws as all of us do, but the people loved and followed him. Throughout the pages of history we see individuals who rose up from the back woods, from slavery, from oppression, from humble circumstances and became great leaders. That’s because each of us has a certain capacity for leading, but some recognize their role and take advantage of timing and step forward into leadership. The people must then rally around the leader, or determine he or she is not a leader.

What does that have to do with our voting today? Everything. We may not like many or any of the candidates, but they are what we have from whom to select. If we really believe “someone” needs to do something, then perhaps that’s a call to become more involved in the political process and perhaps to run for office.  After all, any of us who are leaders know it was a dissatisfaction with something that moved us to step forward and doing something in our area of leadership. What we can do today is vote. What we do tomorrow is our responsibility to discern and act.

Please, exercise your right and privilege to vote today!

As we continue our series on leading in the fruit of the Spirit today’s focus is gentleness. While Siri’s definition of gentleness is the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered, the biblical definition is closer to humility. However we define it, gentleness is probably not on the top ten list of the qualities most leaders would consider vital to leading effectively. And yet the Apostle Paul included it as a facet of the fruit of the Spirit. Why? The short answer is gentleness or humility is a quality of Jesus. He led by serving. He led by demonstrating a gentleness or humility unparalleled in the history of leadership, and the history of humanity for that matter.

What does that has to do with our leadership in the 21st century? That all depends on whether we want to lead in a manner reflecting Jesus or not. When we gain success as leaders, it is all too easy to let that success inflate our sense of ourselves, to exhibit pride, and to think that our leadership is the key to our organization’s success. We might even think without us our organizations couldn’t make it. While our leadership may well be vital to our organization’s success, one thing about which we must be clear is one day it will succeed without us, or it won’t succeed. We are all “interim” leaders when we consider things from the long view. Even if we hold our position for decades, the time will come when we retire, move on to another position or die.

That means gentleness is not only a helpful quality for leaders, but a particularly important quality for successful leaders. After all, gentleness will be the trait that helps us keep our success in perspective, to thank God for the abilities and gifts He has given us, and to remember that without a plan for succession there is no long-term success. Without gentleness or humility, we can forget that the organizations we serve are intended to outlive us. We may forget that we serve them and our employees or co-workers, and not the other way around. These are vital reminders for the long-term success of our organization.

So how is it going in the area of gentleness or humility in your leadership? Do you recognize the contributions of others? When you need to reprimand an employee do you do it with gentleness, recognizing that unless he or she is totally derelict as an employee, the time will come when you will be offering praise for work well done. Are you see the folks around you as people and not merely as “cogs” in the “machinery” of your organization? How would others say you do in the area of gentleness.

These questions are so important when it comes to examining our performance in areas such as gentleness, because we wouldn’t naturally think to consider the. Gentleness is like salt. When you add salt to food in the appropriate quantity it enhances the flavor without drawing attention to itself. When we lead with gentleness the same will be true. We will enhance the overall well-being of our entire organization without drawing attention to ourselves.

Here’s to leading better, by making sure we are exercising gentleness in our work–today!

As we continue our season on leading in the fruit of the Spirit today’s focus is faithfulness. Faithfulness is the quality of being faithful; fidelity. Faithful means loyal, constant and steadfast, or full of faith. Faithfulness is a necessary quality of a leader if our goal is to be taken seriously over the long haul. A leader who is not loyal to peers and workers, or who is not steadfast when it comes to moral character, and the organizations mission, vision and values may succeed in the short-run, but won’t be successful over the long haul.

Faithfulness is a quality we may not talk about much in leadership circles, but we all know when it is missing in an employee or a leader. While faithfulness isn’t valued nearly as highly as it was in generations past from the standpoint that most workers and leaders today are not going to be “faithful” to a particular company over the long haul and most companies aren’t going to be “faithful” to their employees over the long haul, faithfulness is still a valued trait when it comes to depending on a person to follow through with commitments.

We all know leaders and workers who are faithful. We know if they tell us they’re going to complete a project, it will be done and done well. Faithfulness is what keeps an organization moving in the right direction over time. After all, if no one demonstrated the qualities of loyalty, constancy and steadfastness, if no one believed in the organization’s purpose it would be impossible to move forward over time. Thankfully, many leaders and workers do demonstrate faithfulness, because they are the glue who hold those organizations together.

Because we are talking about leading in the fruit of the Spirit, I simply remind us again that while the quality of faithfulness may be developed naturally, and demonstrated in increasing measure over time, the Holy Spirit offers an extra measure of faithfulness when He fills and indwells us. As I have pointed out several times during this series, the Spirit’s filling us with Himself doesn’t mean we will demonstrate the qualities He offers. We must still submit our wills to His guidance, and as we do whatever quality we’re considering will be demonstrated in greater measure and with deeper effectiveness.

As you consider how faithful you are, perhaps it would be good to ask this question, “Do those around me at home, work and where I hang out see me as faithful as loyal both to the cause I champion and to them?” How you respond to that question, and as you respond honestly, you will determine the level of your faithfulness. As I noted above, faithfulness is the glue that holds organizations together, because as our loyalty increases, as our steadfastness increases, we will influence others around us to move the organization’s purpose forward. All of the facets of the fruit of the Spirit are necessary to leadership, and faithfulness while sounding more spiritual than the others, is one of the most needed.

Here’s to leading better by committing ourselves to greater faithfulness to God, others and our organization’s purpose–today!

As we continue our leading in the fruit of the Spirit series today’s focus is goodness. A dictionary definition of goodness is “the quality of being good, in particular; virtue; moral excellence.” The value of goodness in leadership is obvious to anyone who values strong character as part of leadership. In Andy Stanley’s book, The Next Generation Leader, he lists five qualities beginning with the letter “c” as traits of such leaders: competence, clarity, courage, coaching and character. For Stanley and many of us character is the quality of a leader that ties everything together. After all, if we aren’t trustable as leaders, we won’t be effective as leaders over the long haul.

Goodness can be equated with honesty. One of the eight historic principles of church order in the Presbyterian Church is: truth is in order to goodness. In other words when we know and value the truth it leads to goodness in our lives. As we all know it is easier to talk about good character and the traits of which it consists, including goodness, than to live them out in our lives and in our leadership. Far too many leaders have compromised our character in order to pursue some other, often short-term gain. While none of us are perfect, indeed, Jesus and the Apostle Paul reminded us that only God is truly good, the goal is to strive for goodness as leaders, so people will know they can trust and rely on us.

As with all the facets of the fruit of the Spirit, the point for us as leaders is we may have each in their fullest measure only as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. He gives us each of the nine qualities: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control as we call on Him to fill us with Himself on a regular basis. I start each day during my prayer time asking the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me. For those of us who are leaders who follow Jesus, this is a great blessing. We get to have the God of the universe supply us with His goodness.

Even so, we must exercise that goodness in our lives and leadership. Just as filling a car with gasoline doesn’t make it go, without the application of a spark, and guidance, so being filled with the Holy Spirit and the goodness He brings to us, doesn’t mean we will act with goodness. We still have control of our decision and commitment-making processes. We must choose to live in goodness, or we won’t. The freedom we have to say, “Yes!” or “No!” to God is never more clearly demonstrated than in the moment by moment decisions and commitments we make in our lives. As leaders we make decisions, which become actions, which form habits, that become behaviors.

Overtime those behaviors determine our characters, whether for good or ill. How do you respond to those moment by moment opportunities to choose good? Are you consistently choosing what is right and true in your life, so that goodness is developing in you? Are there particular areas where you tend to take short-cuts, or make decisions that reflect low moral character rather than moral excellence? Remember that while goodness is a quality that becomes part of our character, we’re always only one stupid decision away from abandoning any of these good qualities as leaders. That’s why we must be on guard constantly. It’s also why the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is such a blessing for those who trust and follow Jesus.

Here’s to leading better by choosing to live with moral excellence in all of our decisions and commitments–today!

As we continue our leading in the Fruit of the Spirit series, today’s focus is kindness. For me kindness and leadership have always been a challenge, not because I don’t think leaders ought to be kind, but I find it challenging to be kind in certain situations. For example, when a worker hasn’t put for a best effort, my first response is not kindness. When a worker hasn’t told me the whole truth, kindness is once again not my immediate response. Leadership requires the exercise of authority and at least in natural terms authority is more “objective” than kind.

Having said that, I recognize that kindness is a facet of the fruit of the Spirit precisely because it isn’t natural. As with all the facets of the fruit of the Spirit, an aspect of the supernatural is involved or it wouldn’t be the fruit of the “Spirit.” Let me acknowledge once again that not all of you may come from the same worldview as I when it comes to matters of faith, but given my worldview, the fruit of the Spirit is by definition made up of traits that are not natural to us. They require a filling of the Holy Spirit in order to be carried out. That is why my natural response to a worker’s half-hearted effort, or half-truth is not kindness.

When we serve a leaders who follow Jesus, our leadership style and methods will be different, at least they ought to be different. One of the major differences is we value kindness along with objectivity. That means while we may want to blow up when someone hasn’t put forth their best effort and it costs us having a project, event or system be ineffective, or at least not as effective as it could be, our response must be kind. That does not mean it must be soft, or that no consequence results for the worker. It means we treat the person as a person, and with respect, even though their work was ineffective.

I watched a brief part of a college football game on Saturday. I don’t remember who was playing, but one of the wide receiver’s dropped a pass. The receiver’s coach went ballistic on the sidelines. His behavior reflected that of a two-year-old who has just been told, “No,” by his mother. He screamed and yelled, jumped up and down, ran along the sidelines, and got right into the face of the young player as he came off the field. The announcer mentioned the receiver was a true freshman, meaning he was probably 18 or 19 years old. In my experience, most 18 or 19 year olds don’t respond well to such “instruction.” Kindness would probably have been a better approach.

What do I mean? I mean the coach could have run over to the player, asked him what happened, and then explained how important it is for him to make that play. The receiver already knew he had messed up, and cost his team an opportunity for success. The coach’s tirade certainly wouldn’t have helped him understand it any better. I was a spectator at home on my coach and I was embarrassed for the coach. If I were his superior, he would either be enrolled in an anger management course or looking for a new job today. That’s because, I believe the old saying is true, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” Once again, I’m not saying we ought to be soft in our leadership, but kind. The coach could have made his point without acting as a two-year-old, and most likely with better results. I didn’t watch the rest of the game, so I don’t know whether the receive went back in the game, but having been an young receiver back in the day, I know that I would have been thinking more about not dropping a pass than catching it, if I had that coach.

It’s never a good thing when those we lead are more afraid of not performing than being freed to perform. You may disagree with that approach, but my experience over decades of leadership is that kindness and encouragement yield far greater productivity than screaming, yelling, and negative criticism. While all of us have something of the screaming two-year-old in us, it’s a great blessing that in the power of the Holy Spirit we can overcome that tendency and demonstrate kindness even in the times we find it necessary to correct someone, and even when after continual correction we need to dismiss an employee. Kindness doesn’t mean weakness, softness or dismissing non-productive qualities and actions in our workers. It means we treat them as we would want to be treated and show them respect as we correct.

Here’s to leading better by responding with kindness in every situation–today!

As we move forward with our two-week series on Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit, today we turn to the first of the nine facets of the fruit: love. In order to speak about love in our culture, we must first define what we mean. The Greeks had four, specific words they used to define what the English language uses the one word–love to define. Those words are eros, philios, storge, and agape.  As you would imagine eros is physical love, often equated with sexual love. When we say, “They made love,” the word the Greeks would use is eros. As we know, the physical action may have nothing to do with actual love.

The word philios  as in the word Philadelphia, which is taken from the Greek words philios (friendship love) and adelophos (brother), means a warm affection or friendship. We may not use the word love in this way as much as we would say, “He’s my close friend,” but the Greeks would use the word in a different way than and with a specifically different meaning than the others.

Storge is the instinctual love of an animal for its offspring, as when a hen nurtures it’s chicks. We would probably use this word seldom in the context of human beings.

Finally, agape is a self-sacrificing care for another. This is the word used most often in the New Testament of the Bible when speaking of God’s love for people. God’s love is self-sacrificing by definition, since He has no “need” for human beings and yet Jesus sacrificed His life on our behalf, out of his great love (agape) for us.

So, now that we have a context for the word love, specifically agape, when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit, the first facet–love–is agape. As leaders, whether spiritual or secular, when we have agape for those we lead, we will lead them as people and not as objects. True leadership cares for those being led. Much has been made of the concept of servant leadership in the business world over the past several decades, and this is a corrective to the idea that workers or employees are just “cogs” in the “machine” of the business or industry, and need not be considered as people first when we lead. When we lead as those who serve, we demonstrate agape, and we demonstrate the type of leadership Jesus modeled.

Jesus made it clear to His disciples, who would become the first leaders of the church after Jesus died, rose again and returned to heaven, that they must not lead as the “leaders of the Gentiles,” (The expression Gentile in the context in which Jesus used it, would mean pagans or non-believers.) Jesus said the greatest among them would be the ones who serve the most. My bias is to lead in that style. In order to do so, we must exhibit agape to those we lead. That can be done most effectively when we have been filled with the Holy Spirit and are exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, starting with love.

What if you aren’t a follower of Jesus? What does all of this have to do with you? Everything! After all, every person appreciates being treated as a person. Every person is more likely to follow a leader who cares about them, and who acknowledges their weaknesses and strengths. Think about your leadership style. Are you a servant leader? If not, how would you characterize your leadership? What is most important to you, the “bottom line,” of the well-being of your employees? While a person who leads without agape may get results, and may even be promoted, what will be that leader’s long-term legacy?

As you consider these questions, I realize you may or may not be concerned with any long-term legacy. Perhaps you just want to climb the corporate ladder, or attain a certain standard of living. If that’s the case, these posts may spur you to something greater. If you’re already more concerned about those you lead than your bottom line, then these posts will help you understand what it takes to be the best leader you can be. After all, we were created for relationship, and when we live in the fruit of the Spirit we will relate most effectively with others at home, work and in the community around us.

Here’s to leading better, by living the fruit of love (agape) in our leadership–today!

I am unapologetically a follower of Jesus Christ, and my vocation is pastor, so this week and next, we’re going to consider what it means to serve as leaders in the fruit of the Spirit. Let me explain for those to whom the phrase “fruit of the Spirit,” is unfamiliar. Followers of Jesus have long understood that while there is one God, He expresses Himself in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. (For those who have no desire to understand anything about God in any form, please bear with me for a moment, as the fruit of the Spirit contains aspects of character and leadership that are valuable to all of us regardless of our faith background, or those who have no faith background.)

In any case, followers of Jesus belief God created us, redeemed us from sin, and sustains and empowers us in our daily lives. God the Father, is the Creator. Jesus Christ is the redeem, who lived a perfect life as a human being, in order to die on a Roman executioner’s cross to pay the penalty for human sin, and set us free to live new lives. His resurrection demonstrated that He is God. The Holy Spirit lives in those who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord. One of the most important aspects of the Holy Spirit’s presence is His “fruit,” or His qualities, which become part of us. The fruit is presented as nine traits in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians. They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

As you can see, whether you are a person of faith or not, the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are traits that serve a leader well, at least if character and integrity are matters of concern, and anyone who reads this blog is most likely concerned with such matters. Through the next couple of weeks, we will consider each of the nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit and what they contribute to a leader’s ability to live and lead effectively. You may wonder why we have nine traits, which though related are quite different and yet they are referred to as the fruit of the spirit and not the fruits of the Spirit.

I have no definitive answer for that consideration, but have always seen it as a matter of their being one Spirit, not many, and the facets of the fruit are given together, not individually. For example, many times over the years people have asked me to pray for God to give them patience. My response has been, “I am glad to pray for you, but wouldn’t you like to receive love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control along with patience?” They nearly always say, “Yes.” While each of us may struggle more with a need for one or two of the traits than the others, having the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives offers us all nine traits in increasing measure.

Again, if you are not a person of faith, I invite you to consider becoming one. After all, I believe Jesus desires to be God of every person, and to give us the fruit of the Spirit so we may live more meaningful lives in His name. Whether you say, “Yes,” to that invitation or not, I hope you’ll join us over the next couple of weeks as we take each facet of the fruit of the Spirit and consider how it manifests itself in our leadership, and how it makes us better and more effective leaders in every area of our lives.

I look forward to having you join us tomorrow as we consider the first aspect of the fruit of the Spirit–love. Until then, here’s to leader better, by living in the fruit of the Spirit–today!

As we conclude our week of considering questions about finishing well, here’s our final question: Why does finishing well matter? In a word: we were created to finish well. The point and purpose of our lives is to “…grow up into the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ.” (See Ephesians chapter in the Bible) I recognize not all of you who read this blog are Jesus’ followers, but we who are come to understand over time, that God created us for a purpose. The chief purpose is to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. We do that primarily by living our lives more and more like His Son, Jesus. As we grow and mature, as individuals and as leaders, our thoughts, words and actions, are to come more into alignment with the ways of Jesus Christ. That means finishing well.

That matters because people are watching us. People who know we follow Jesus are asking themselves, “Is that what it means to be a Christian?” As we finish well, people see the on going changes in our lives and it provides both hope and inspiration for their journey toward the finish line, too. So many folks in our culture flame out, or long for the day when they can retire, so they can relax and enjoy life. Those who are leading in Jesus’ name, are both life-long learners, and life-long “growers.” We are constantly growing in our characters, in our actions to reflect Jesus, the greatest and most integrated leader of all time. That matters both to us and to all we lead.

For example, as we lead by holding truth and love together in our lives those we lead see that Christians we are neither legalistic (which happens when we lead with truth, but don’t care about love), nor are we driven by a syrupy emotionalism (which happens when we lead with love, but don’t care about truth.) At its root integrity is integrating truth and love into our lives and leadership. That matters, because so few strive to hold the two together in tension. As Andy Stanley has pointed out that tension is always messy, but always worth it. Our leadership matters daily, and finishing well as we become more and more the integrated people practicing the truth in love makes us, allows us to be role models for others.

Many people in public roles across society tell the press, or the rest of us, “I’m not a role model. Just because I’m a professional athlete (or actor, or politician, or _______ [you fill in the blank]) doesn’t make me a role model. Actually it does. If we’re in a public role whether on a big or small stage, we are role models. The only question is whether we will be effective or poor ones. Finishing well is a great way to be an effective role model.

Finishing well also matters in the department of legacy–what we will leave behind after we’re gone. Some strive for fame and fortune as their legacy. Many others don’t even think about legacy. As leaders, we ought to consider our legacy for a number of reasons, not the least of which is we want someone to follow after us, to take up our leadership role when we have finished well. Part of our legacy is how we finish. Our legacy is both personal and corporate. Some who watch us finish well, will want to follow our example and finish well, too. Others will see the impact of our leadership on our company, church, community or whatever spheres of influence we impacted through our leadership and will be moved to pursue their own legacy of positive impact.

At the end of the day finishing well matters, because it’s the best way to glorify God and enjoy Him in our lives. We’re all growing older everyday. The question is what are we doing with our increasing life experience, with the networks of people who come into our lives? Are we using them to lead more effectively, to accumulate an “end” that reflects the power of  a life well lived. You may not think you matter to others, but if you are a leader you matter to someone, and potentially many someones. Finishing well will be the last gift you leave to those who follow you, and the final chapter in your legacy. Finishing well matters.

Here’s to leading better by committing to finishing well, because it matters so much–today and everyday!

As we continue our week of asking important questions about finishing well as leaders, today’s question is: What does accountability have to do with it? In a word–everything! Life is a team sport, and leadership is most certainly a team sport. John Maxwell has long pointed out that those who say, “It’s lonely at the top,” don’t truly understand leadership. It’s only lonely at the top if we have bought into an autocratic style and model of leadership. If we subscribe to a collaborative style and model of leadership, then we will seldom be alone as we lead.

Specifically, when it comes to finishing well as leaders, we need to be held accountable for who we are and how we are leading. Both our integrity and character and our leadership effectiveness depend on our being accountable personally and in our area of leadership. I’ve spoken about accountability directly and indirectly in many of my previous posts, because it is so vital to every aspect of our lives. How does it impact finishing well as leaders? To put it simply: Human beings left to themselves eventually drive into a ditch.

What I mean by that is when we are young we are prone both to mistakes and sin. (If you aren’t a person of faith, you can just leave it at mistakes, but as a friend of mine always says, “Every sin is a mistake, but not every mistake is a sin.” What he means by that is some of the things we do are evil, wrong, against the will of God, and those are both sins and mistakes. Other things we do are done out of ignorance or a lack of thinking, and may or may not be evil, wrong, or against the will of God.) Without parents and/or mentors we will make many more mistakes and commit many more sins along the way. Parents and/or mentors provide our primary form of accountability at that stage in our lives, at least they do if we are blessed.

As we mature into young adulthood, we have the opportunity to develop peer accountability. If we marry, hopefully our spouses provide accountability in our lives for living with integrity as well as for growing in our chosen vocations. If we gain leadership positions, they can offer us input about our leadership as well. In addition, my experience has shown me that having someone else who holds us accountable personally and in our growth as workers and leaders is crucial. I have been in accountability relationships my entire adult life, with the exception of a few years in my late twenties, and those years my effectiveness personally and as a leader waned.

I’m not pointing only to my personal experience to affirm the need we all have for accountability. The Fuller Seminary study I pointed to the other day, regarding those who failed to finish well, included the finding that a common factor among them was they were accountable to no one. Socrates reminded us that the unexamined life is not worth living. My experience, and the research of others reminds us that we need to have someone else examine our lives with us. We don’t always tell ourselves the truth, so it’s helpful to have someone who cares enough about us to challenge us when our examination of our lives is really just rationalization.

As we have said all week it is crucial that we finish well. Our legacy will be much more powerful when we do. Our daily impact as we lead will be much more effective as people see that we are finishing well. While this may not seem important to you right now if you are in your twenties or thirties, those of us in our fifties, sixties and seventies know from experience what I’m saying. While we don’t live in a culture that honors the wisdom of age as in many cultures around the world, part of the reason for that may be the multitude of leaders who have reached those ages and either flamed out, burned out, or just turned off the burner. (More on that another time, but suffice it to say, the most effective leaders and the most effective lives not only start well, but also finish well.

Let me ask you again, Do you have an accountability partner? If you do, is he or she asking you tough questions that will help you finish well? If you don’t have an accountability partner, will you make finding one a priority, because being held accountable is a key to finishing well? Let me conclude as I generally do when I write or talk about accountability. Ultimately, our goal is to be accountable to God. After all, He is with us 24/7. Even so, having another human being “with skin on” as some have put it, to hold us accountable is such a key priority for those who would live and finish well.

Here’s to leading better by making sure we are being held accountable in helpful ways–today!