Leaders Sacrifice to Protect

Greetings Faithful Readers...

The more leaders I read about and study, the more I realize that leadership requires sacrifice.  Leaders give up stuff.  But why?  Why should the top of the mountain give up so much?  Why work so hard to be in charge and then have to pay the biggest price?

We'll answer these questions over the next few posts...but I'd like to look at one piece of that today... 

Leaders sacrifice to protect their followers.

When I think of leadership, I always look at the shepherds role with the sheep.  He gladly gives up sleep to make sure the sheep he has been assigned don't get attacked by the circling wolves.  

It makes me think of the true role of the leader...what can a good leader do (or give up) to protect those he/she is put in charge of?

-  A leaders gives up some privacy...transparent enough to admit his/her mistakes so that followers won't repeat them

-  A leaders takes on gossip head-on to prevent slandered reputations

-  A leader speaks well of his/her team when they aren't even in the room.

-  A leader settles disputes between team members in a private, direct, and controlled way (ie; protect them from each other)

-  A leader sacrifices his/her monopoly on prudent knowledge.  He/she gives their team enough information to make confident and well-educated decisions (prevents some failures)

-  A leader protects their team from frustration - give them an appropriate level of authority...let them lead!

What are you sacrificing to protect those you are leading?  Are you shepherding and sacrificing?

BV

The 4 Qualities of a Leader

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I want to start a 4 part post with some thoughts about leadership. I just finished reading "A Tale of Three Kings" and put together a list of what I think are four things a leader absolutely must be or do to be effective and used by God.

Leaders are broken
Leaders sacrifice to protect their followers
Leaders pay a higher price
Leaders are inconvenienced

I hope to cover these in the next week or so here on the blog in a bit more detail. Let's start with #1

Leaders are broken.

One of the hardest things for me to remember as a leader is that I have been called to be broken. My natural tendency is to repair damage...mend cracks...patch holes in my knowledge...fill in gaps in my abilties... get un-broken. You know what I find when I fix what I think is missing in my leadership? I get proud. C'mon don't you get a little chest puffy when you know something that somebody else doesn't?

I do.

...and when I do I lean slightly askew to who God has called me to be. I put up a tent in the land of "me"

And my leadership suffers.

God didn't create me for me. God didn't give me gifts for me. In fact, God stands downright against what I sometimes try to do...

James 4:6
"But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."

I've found that Godly leaders remember their place. They lean on the securities of God's faithfulness rather than the rubber crutch of egocentrism. Oftentimes insecurity is misunderstood for brokenness...but they are different. Insecurity waits for the roar of the crowd to move forward. Brokenness needs only a gentle nudge from the Voice it has the faith to hear.

Brokenness is knowing that you are imperfect. Brokenness is embracing who you are and not the world-warped version of who they say you are. Brokenness picks up the cross that you've carried for so long and not ask why...but trust that there must be a reason for it.  Brokenness is hard.

Broken leaders are a little harder to find than those with pride. They are usually standing behind their teammates...pushing others to go farther...leading others to success...holding up those that have fallen.

How hard is it to empty yourself of yourself? Very. How often will you have to do it? Everyday.

Why bother? Because there are people who need to see Christ in a very real way...and they can't do it if I'm standing in front of Him trying to show off the big "S" on my chest.

Jesus, please break me again.

BV

A True Leadership Must

Greetings Faithful Readers,

If you are a leader, you need to check this out...

Leadership Summit Promo from Flamingo Road Church on Vimeo.

See you there!

BV

Why Aren't We Growing?

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Ran across this article about a church in Indiana with no indoor plumbing. Seems as though members and guests use outhouses when nature calls.

They are currently in a fundraising drive to raise the $5000 needed to add inside toilets and sinks.

"It would help the growth of the church. When you say you've got outhouses, it actually turns them off," he [the Pastor, Gilbert Thornton] said."

Ummm.... yeah...  Comments?

BV

38 Years

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Well, tomorrow is my 38th birthday... and I refuse to lament about it.

I can smell 40...see it on the horizon...and it really doesn't scare me. I've packed a lot of stuff in the last 38 spins around the sun...

- I went to Walt Disney World the year it opened (1971... I was four months old)
- I saw Star Wars at a drive-in in 1977
- I asked Jesus to take over my heart at 9
- I played soccer for 17 years
- I became an Eagle Scout
- I played bass in a rock band for 8 years (complete with earring and fro-mullet)
- I met Huey Lewis over the phone
- I was baptized twice
- I married my best friend
- I became a daddy to an angel
- I taught elementary and middle school for 8 years
- I was the Principal of a private school
- I answered the call to be a Pastor
- I have mountain climbed, whitewater rafted, and danced ballet in tights onstage (don't ask)
- I got to create, produce, and edit a TV show
- I have written a chapter of a published book about carniverous plants (in 5th grade)
- I met Spider Man at a Comic Convention (he stole my pen after signing my autograph)
- I have acted with George Takei (Mr. Sulu) of Star Trek fame
- I recorded a song on a CD that somebody actually bought
- I was called to lead the Internet Campus at Flamingo Road Church (the most fulfilled I've EVER been in ministry)

I've met so many people who have impacted my life.  I've laughed with them..cried with them...been angry at them...and figured a lot out about who I was as a result of having known them.  I'm grateful to those that thought I was worth the time to invest in. You know who you are and you have already given me gifts beyond compare...

The last 38 years has been amazing.  I don't know if I'll get another 38, but if I do it is my prayer that God would continue to mold me, shape me, and use me in a way that will impact the world for Him.

As always...thank you to each and every one of you who brighten my life.  I may not always tell you that...but know that I mean it from my soul. 

BV