One of the biggest challenges of leadership is implementing change. Truth told, implementing change is a challenge for most people.
More than 600,000 people die each year from heart disease1. And yet, of people diagnosed with heart disease and told by their doctors they must change their lifestyle or die, only 10 percent have changed their lifestyle in the subsequent two-year period.
Change is so difficult that people often chose death over change.
As we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the power that is now available to the believer because of the resurrection, here’s a question to consider: How is the resurrection of our Lord empowering your work as a leader?
I imagine most leaders would say that resurrection power is central to their leadership. But does their life and work as leader bear out this claim? If Christ’s resurrection power is at work in their ministry, why does their life and ministry provide little evidence of that reality?
In Mark 7:21-22 Jesus warns us of what comes from the heart; things such as evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. You don’t have to work at these things; they come naturally to the human heart.
Take a child for instance; you don’t have to teach a child to be selfish, say no or throw a tantrum. You do not have to teach the child to hit, scream or get in a fight with another child. Rather, you find parents trying to teach their children how to be nice, caring, sharing and controlling their temper.
I recall too many times of hustling through the airport, bobbing and weaving through the crowd pulling my carry-on baggage behind me.
Every so often I would have to stop and adjust my baggage because the smaller piece on top fell off and was dangling off the side of the larger piece making it difficult to keep moving forward.
When the baggage gets in the way, two things happen.
I find this experience similar to what we experience in life.
We hear a lot about the essential qualities of great leaders or simply successful leaders. Some of the qualities highlighted include good listening, honesty, patience, respect for others, communication, openness to input from others, and a non-judgmental attitude.
I want to suggest that of all the essential qualities of a great leader TRUST is the one upon which all the others stand. Leadership is built on trust.
Accountability: the quality or state of being accountable; especially, an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.
The word accountability likely raises various ideas. For example, for what is a leader actually responsible? And what is beyond the leader’s responsibility? That could be the focus of our discussion; however, let’s take a different approach. Let’s accept the notion that the leader is accountable and responsible for her choices. And let’s focus on the idea that when it comes to choices, the leader should know the buck stops with her.
Motivating members of your leadership team is an ongoing challenge for most leaders. The sometimes-daunting task of knowing what to do to keep them motivated can be discouraging.
The unfortunate reality is that demotivation often proves easier. If you want to demotivate your team, do nothing; but keeping them motivated takes intentional action from you as their leader. Let me suggest a few things you can do to keep your team motivated.
I am the kind of person who enjoys being in the presence of people who see life from my point of view. When I am with these people, I am happy, calm and in control. No tension or emotion is rising because all our conversations are agreeable. I don’t have to think outside my box because everyone is in the box with me, no disagreements. I like living like that. I suspect the same is true for you.
But if I want to grow as a person, and more so as a leader, I cannot afford to surround myself with only those who see things like I do. I must have some people around me who see things differently. People who can challenge me in my ways of thinking and doing things. This can be uncomfortable, painful and challenging.
I am dyslexic and as a result, reading and writing are very tedious for me. I naturally struggle to comprehend what I am reading, and trying to capture my thoughts in writing is a real struggle.
While these are real issues of struggle for me, I have lived most of my life trying not to let others see my weaknesses. I tried to appear as I perceived others to be: without weaknesses.
Two of the most dominant attitudes driving actions in our society today are anger and hostility. We could use much more kindness and gentleness. We have a choice of which ones we want to characterize our lives. The challenge is that anger and hostility seem to arise naturally, but showing kindness and gentleness require us to be intentional.