Skip to main content

Musings on Leadership #1



The other day I was reading the blog of a good friend, I was very interested in what he had to say on his pondering of the last 40 years. At the end of his last three blogs he presented some of his conclusions to the musings and the congealed thoughts that have stayed with him and to which he has given a place in his life and ministry. It challenged me to look back on the last few decades and present my musings and conclusions in regards to Leadership and how they have shaped my own particular ministry:

                God is not bound by border posts and manmade boundaries. I very quickly learned that it                 didn't matter where I was in the world, God was well able to fulfil  his will for my life. 

                Jesus would rather work with those who have a servant heart than those who are placed on                 pedestals of power. Working for Jesus is our highest calling. He is top of the pile not me.

                I cannot please everybody all of the time. However if I am consistent in letting my                                Yes be Yes and my No be No then most people will be satisfied.

                Not everybody is comfortable with who I am and what I represent. But if I love everyone,                 don't hold a grudge (because life is too short) and keep silent before my accusers and just                 be me, then God is always vindicated.

                Any mess I find myself in is down to the choices I have made. No one else is to blame. God                 is always willing to help me out if I am willing to be teachable and to learn the hard way.

                Complacency is the biggest threat to change, if I cannot convince those around me that                change is necessary then I can achieve very little as a leader.

                I always celebrate the victories no matter how small. I may have only won a small battle                    but I celebrate as though I have won the war. One soul for Jesus is always a major 
                never a minor victory. People are what matter.

               Management is the domain of highly efficient civil servants. But a leader is the one who                casts vision, shapes culture and instils values, not just for the here and now but for the                future.

These are by no means all the lessons from a life in leadership but they are some of the most fundamental. I will continue to ponder and to muse and to offer up further congealed thoughts in the future. For now there is a lot more to read between the lines. To me leadership is about doing real life together.
               

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers.                 "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours,  but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Playing well with others.

Today's rambling. Looking over some of my old school reports the other day and was amused at how some of the comments, that teachers made about me have shaped my life and in many respects made me who I am today. One teacher wrote that I didn’t play well with others, I was 5 at the time maybe I had an excuse. Another teacher in my high school years, the wood working teacher or wood shop teacher for my American friends wrote; “If you value your life you will keep him away from power tools and other dangerous equipment. I can’t remember why he wrote this, obviously I did something that made him fear for his life. Today as an adult I have to say that I don’t do well in committees, for most of my life I have been self- employed. I have steadfastly stayed away from power tools and other wood working equipment, basically anything that can cut something off and is a danger to life and limb. Over the last 10 years I have been looking at and teaching about Emotional Intelligence ...
Post a Comment
Read more