What I Would Tell My Twenty Year Old Self – Part 2

In continuing this week’s focus on what I would tell my twenty year old self about leadership, if I had the opportunity to go back and do it all again, today’s point is: Whatever You Are–Be All In! As a follower of Jesus, I’m reminded that in the Book of Revelation, Jesus told a church located in the city of Laodicea He preferred they would be either hot or cold, but because they were lukewarm and neither hot nor cold He was going to spit them out of His mouth. What a clear reminder Jesus offered: Go all in or be all out, but don’t go halfway.

I’m reminded of the saying I learned from many years of working with folks in recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction: Half measures availed nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon. Halfway doesn’t get us there. Half in doesn’t move us to action. We must make a full commitment as leaders in order to be taken seriously and in order to move others to action. I’m not talking about passion alone, but I am talking about passion. Our hearts have to be motivated if our heads and bodies are to follow. That’s true of others’ heads and bodies as well.

Last night I had the opportunity to speak at the leadership academy of a larger church in the area. Over the past couple weeks, as I thought and prayed about what to say in a two hour talk, which would likely be a once in a lifetime opportunity, what would be the most helpful thing I could say? I made three points and the first one was be all in. I realized with the opportunity to speak to younger leaders, the question of what I would tell my twenty year old self was extremely relevant. They were for the most part twenty and thirty year olds. Therefore, my opportunity was to help them include intentionality in their leadership that I had sometimes missed. Being all in with what we are is so important.

What I missed when I was going through my twenties was a 100% all in commitment to being a pastor. I came to the ministry grudgingly. I didn’t want to be a pastor, but God called me to it. I said, “Yes,” to the call after five years of seeking to avoid it during my late teens and early twenties. Instead of embracing the vocation fully, I sort of half raised my hand in saying, “Yes.” I went to seminary, and did better than average, but not my best. I worked in a couple of churches as a student pastor and exceeded the churches’ expectations, but not my own. I was always wondering whether there was another opportunity, a better opportunity.

I realize you may not be a pastor, but if you’re a leader you can certainly identify with the idea of being all in or not in what you are, and I make a point of saying what you are rather than just what you do, because while leadership is something we do, being a leader is what we are. You may be a CEO or a teacher, or a parent, and those are all tasks we do, but they are something we are, before they are something we do, at least they ought to be if we’re all in. If I had it all to do over again, if I could go back to my twenties and relive that decade, I would be all in. What a difference it would have made if I had woken up daily and taken discipline seriously every day (see yesterday’s post), and jumped into being a pastor with both feet rather than wondering whether I ought to have been a lawyer or a chiropractor or a doctor or a… so many other possibilities.

I’m not saying that in the best of scenarios we don’t at times think about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. I’m saying if we invest our lives leading on the side of the fence we find ourselves, we will be so much more productive, effective and at the end of the day so much happier. I’ve always experienced happiness as a by-product rather than a destination. I find myself being happy when I’m all in with just about anything. Whether it’s my work, or a relationship, or even watching a television program investing myself fully makes the experience more enjoyable and I feel happier as a result.

So what about you? Are you all in right now in whatever area or areas you lead? Do you wake up fully invested in whatever it is you are called or have chosen to be? What single step would it take for you to be more fully invested, to be all in? These are vital questions, because while we don’t get to be our twenty year old self again, unless you happen to be in your twenties right now, we can be the best self we are right now, by being all in. If we can’t be all in then we ought to get out and jump into something else. I know that’s a post for another day, but the one action that has made the biggest difference in my being all in was to take a great step of faith (which some would call a great step of stupid) and leave a comfortable position with an assured future to step out in total uncertainty to follow what I was sure God was calling me to do, and to do it at the age of 41 when I had the responsibility of a wife and young family in addition to myself.

Being all in isn’t always a safe situation, but it provides motivation, clarity and a call to action that being lukewarm will never provide. If your leadership is in a rut, perhaps it’s time to ask yourself some of the tough questions in the previous paragraph and get back to being all in.

Here’s to leading better by being all in–today!

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