Leaderhip 101

Leadership 101   

Here are some great lessons that I have learned in growing a church. A. Beware of pitfalls. 1. The lie of perfection. Many people in leadership are perfectionist. By their nature a leader has a tendency to be a perfectionist. The problem with perfection is that it is an impossible standard to keep. The higher people move up in leadership the faster they forget the many opportunities afforded them to fail and learn. You must never allow yourself to judge people on a level that they cannot measure up to. You will always be disappointed and hurt with others. You also can never allow anyone else to apply perfection standards to you. People many times will place you at a standard that they themselves cannot live up to. Many people were raised with standards of perfection and they have learned to demand those same standards on others. They pass them on to their coworkers, their spouses, their children and their fellow leaders. This will always produce a high level of stress and disunity at every level of their lives. Remember if God himself does not demand perfection why should we. 2. The “I’m going to fix it all” lie. Please don’t allow yourself to think that you have all the answers. Most of the time your suggestions have already been made by someone else. It is like telling a alcoholic that they are drunk. This is not a revelation but an offense. Stick to your ministry and responsibilities and allow others the room to grow in theirs. If it is not your job then don’t do it or even make strong suggestions. Most likely the other person knows the problems exist and is processing it to the best solution. 3. The “If I were doing that job” lie. As we grow we will find more and more that the efforts of others will directly or indirectly effect our ministry. This is where this lie comes into play. People say to themselves If I were doing that job I would do it much better than them. I had that said to many many times while in my first year here in Columbus. I finally said to my leaders that they don’t have a clue to what they would or would not do until they live in my shoes. As pastor I have learned to extend grace to every leader and allow them to process their ministries based on where they are in life. Do they work a lot of hours? Do they have children that demands their attention? Are they still growing? What was their family background growing up? These and many more issues allows me to give grace to our leadership as we grow together. I will respect full ask that each of you extend to each other the same grace that I have extended to you. Many people were raised with standards of perfection and they have learned to demand those same standards on others 4. The “discouragement brings encouragement” lie. This lie says that I am helping if I point all the negative things about a situation. Some people can never praise the lord for what is going on. Their first inclination is to find the negative and point it out. They think if they discourage you that somehow they are encouraging you. When you remove someones courage by pointing out all the negatives then you take away their peace of mind. You rob them of their fight and they loose something vital to winning. Everyone is aware that there are negatives and that not everything is perfect. The bible teaches us to focus on the possibilities of God not what could go wrong. Think on positive things and good things. See positive and good things. Don’t get caught up in pointing out the negatives in others and their ministries. Put courage in never take it out. 5. The final pitfall is falling into the negative. We must see things in a “God can” attitude. This is all about God. Through all our human failures and inabilities “God Can” We can never let the atmosphere become negative. Don’t be a bad apple. Don’t think it’s your way or no way. Don’t try to hinder what you cannot control. Don’t manipulate what you don’t agree with. A negative controlling environment is an open door to the spirit of Jezebel and we cannot afford another war with her right now. Remain positive….Some leaders develop a negative spirit and no matter what is going on you can find a negative to point out. For some reason this makes them feel bigger and better than others. This is a horrible pitfall and should never be allowed to be a part of a growing church. Finally, Please remember the rule of esteeming. Esteem those under you and they will push you up. Esteem those with you and the will hold you up. Esteem those over you and they will pull you up. If you do not esteem others then you can reverse this rule in your life. My job as a pastor is to be a mentor to each leader in our church. I have to mentor you each on the level I feel is best. That means that what applies to one may not apply to the other. I know that we are a growing church and things are great. You may see them differently but I see them as great. I know where we are going and I can see the road ahead. We are doing great. Please don’t tell me any different. Stay positive despite what you see. We walk not by sight but by faith.