Month: October 2016

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

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!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit–Patience!

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!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit–Peace!

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!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit–Love

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!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit

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!

Finishing Well – Part 5: Why Does Finishing Well Matter?

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!

 

Finishing Well – Part 4: What Does Accountability Have To Do With It?

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!

Finishing Well – Part 3: Do You Know Your Potential Roadblocks and Detours?

As we continue our Finishing Well focus for this week, we ask another important question: Do you know your potential roadblocks and detours to finishing well? As I mentioned yesterday, when a group of pastors who had not finished well were surveyed about why, all of them agreed they never saw it coming. They didn’t think it could happen to them. Recently, a person I know at an acquaintance level was arrested on the accusation of embezzling company funds. I was shocked, because I didn’t see it coming. I wonder if the person did?

One of the best ways I know not to be shocked by our own behavior is to examine our motives and behaviors daily. If I were to ask you, “What would derail you from finishing well?” Do you know the answer? Do you know what your potential roadblocks are? Four major potential stumbling blocks in all of our lives are Fame, Power, Fortune, and Sexual Immorality. While many other potential stumbling blocks are in our paths, the four just mentioned have derailed countless leaders who were doing effective jobs in their leadership in government, religion or business.

Do you ask yourself whether you are vulnerable in any of these areas? Do you know which one would be the most likely stumbling block for you? Who is holding you accountable to maintaining your integrity and growing in your character and leadership? While the questions are similar to yesterday, that’s because we must practice daily disciplines if we want to ensure we can prevail over a lifetime, and finish well. After all, the finish line is a long string of days away for each of us, and the string is longer or shorter based on how old we are right now.

One of the things I have learned about myself the areas where I am most likely to stumble have changed through the various seasons of my life. I got over the drive to pursue fame and fortune at virtually any cost quite early in my life. While I have gone through periods where I groused about not having enough money, the pursuit of wealth has never been a serious roadblock for me. In my younger days, the allure of affirmation from women was much more of a stumbling block than it is today.

As we mature in our lives, and the key word there is “mature,” not just age, but as we mature in our lives each of the temptations becomes less of a potential stumbling block, because maturity brings wisdom. We see where the 15-minute decisions will lead, far more easily than when we were in our teens or twenties, or even thirties and forties, so we make more 15-year decisions. If you are not familiar with the concept of 15-minute decisions, versus 15-year decisions, the idea is that when an opportunity comes before us we ask ourselves, how will this make me feel in 15 minutes; in 15 years? Indulging in the pursuit of any of the temptations mentioned above may feel good for fifteen minutes, but won’t feel so good in 15 years when it has destroyed a major portion of our lives.

Whatever our age right now, we must take time regularly to evaluate the potential roadblocks ahead of us, and plan to overcome them before we face them. It is far better and far easier to consider what we would do in a potentially devastating situation, before the situation ever arises. If you’re a person of faith, read the Bible, because God’s word gives us great guidance in these areas. In addition, take time to pray and ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit so you will be empowered to avoid and overcome the temptations and potential roadblocks in your path. After all, we look forward to the ultimate in finishing well, when Jesus says to us, “Well done, good and faithful servants. Enter the joy of your master’s Kingdom, after this life ends.

Here’s to leading better, by evaluating and preparing to overcome the roadblocks to finishing well in our lives–today!

Finishing Well – Part 2: What Do You Do Daily To Make It Happen?

As I noted yesterday, we’ll be devoting this week to considering what it means to finish well as a leader. Yesterday we addressed the question: When do you start thinking about it? The short answer was: right now, if you haven’t already. Today, were going to ask another important question: What do you do daily to make it (finishing well) happen? I don’t know that I’ve ever quoted Mary Poppins before, but it seems apropos here: A job well begun is half-done.

What I mean by that is when it comes to finishing well, we “start” by living and leading well daily. Most of the leaders who have not finished well, didn’t wake up one day and decide to short-circuit their leadership and their lives. They woke up daily for a long time and didn’t practice the habits necessary to finish well. Of particular interest to meet are pastoral leaders. Whether you’re a follower of Jesus or not, you have certainly heard of the Christian leaders who have not finished well. Many have made the news over the past several decades. A study by Fuller Seminary focused on pastors who didn’t finish well, who had a moral failure and left the ministry. They discovered that while many factors contributed to these derailed leaders’ failing to finish well, three were common to all: 1) They were not reading their Bibles daily; 2) They were accountable to no one; and 3) They never thought it could happen to them.

Let’s consider each point: 1) They were not reading their Bibles daily. Again, whether you are a follower of Jesus or not, investing time each day to gain truth or at least to gain information that will continue to shape you as a person of integrity, and to guide your overall personal development is vital. Whatever our faith background, we must make daily deposits in our own personal development. For me that means reading the Bible, reading and listening to the Bible blog posts, podcasts and other sources of personal growth and development. I’m ordinarily reading a book about best practices in both ministry and business at any given time. This practice of investing in our own personal growth and development daily is a way we plan to finish well.

2) They were accountable to no one. As I have written before, accountability is a crucial factor in our ongoing growth as a leader. While we may not meet with an accountability partner daily, we need to be accountable to God and our spouse’s (if we’re married) daily, and to an accountability partner on a regular, preferably weekly basis. We need to give access to our calendars and our e-mail accounts to someone at work, so we ensure that we’re not spending time doing things that will derail us from living well and ultimately from finishing well. In this technological age, so much that can harm us is only a click of the mouse or tap of the finer away, we must be more diligent than ever to ensure that we live daily in a way that will lead to the health and benefit of our lives and those of everyone around us. Remember, when a leader fails to finish well it impacts so many more than the leader.

3) They never thought it could happen to them. Some of us think we have moved beyond stupid. You know what I mean, right? We think that there’s no way I would ever do what that person did, whether it’s fail morally in the sexual or financial arenas, or make unethical decisions regarding our businesses. The longer we’ve navigated the waters of life and leadership well, the easier it is to assume that under our guidance the ship will never run aground, hit a sandbar, or an iceberg. Remember, before she was launched the builders of the Titanic pronounced her unsinkable. We must never let pride or even naivete convince us that while many other leaders might take a path that wold derail them from finishing well, it could never happen to us.

I take that last step a bit further in my own life. On a regular basis I ask myself, “If I were to be derailed, how would it happen?” I consider what trials and temptations could lure me away from the path of effective leadership and living. I never assume it couldn’t happen to me, because I know that despite decades of growing as a person and a leader, you and I are all just one bad decision away from being the next victim of derailment from a life well lived. Please hear what I am not saying, I’m not saying that I never make mistakes, or that I never sin. What I am saying is I read the Bible and other information daily that reminds me of the consequences and rewards of my actions. I make sure I’m accountable to my wife and my accountability partner and to a number of others on a daily and weekly basis. I know myself, and I know that apart from the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit I won’t finish well.

All that keeps me moving forward, and reminds me of how important it is to finish well. We have all done many things over the years, we wish we could go back and undo. WE can’t. What we can do is live today in such a way that the job of finishing well is “half done.”

Here’s to leading better by investing in actions that will move us toward greater integrity and faithfulness in finishing well one day–today!

Finishing Well – Part 1: When Do You Start Thinking About It?

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!