Leader Lead Yourself 06: The Basketful of Fragments

I have been teaching and training you how to lead yourself for a while now – and I have some thoughts that I am not right now able to make a whole blog post from, so I put them all in this last one on this subject. I called it basketful of fragments – all the leftover bread from the feeding of the 5000. I believe all of these points will feed you and make you a better leader.

Here are 12 truths you need to know as a leader:

1. You are not immortal. One day you will die. What you are leading will go on without you, so you might as well start delegating now.
2. You are not immune. Others were doing better than you, closer to God than you, sweeter than you, but they fell and went splat. Do not consider that this could never happen to you. If you think you are standing firm, be careful you do not fall (1 Cor. 10.12). Do not be casual about waning fire, spending less time in prayer, giving less to the church, listening to the Word less. Do not let “a little offense” live in your heart, deal with it. Your heart can be deceptive, you can seek leadership for the wrong reasons, your character will be attacked, you can become a hypocrite!
3. You are not indispensable. The church managed to grow and reach every nation of the world for 2000 years before you were even born, and it will keep going changing the world after you are gone. This should also be an antidote to the excessive busy-ness some leaders have.
4. You are not superior. Other people are just as valuable as you, do not be heartless, do not become a leader made of stone. Do not isolate yourself from the laity, from first time guests, from the immature, from the foolish. Get your hands dirty! If you are a pastor, you should smell of sheep.
5. You are not saved by plans. It’s good to plan, I mean really good to plan, it’s a superpower, but sometimes the best laid plans just don’t go to plan. Sometimes, a plan doesn’t come together. Be flexible – especially when it comes to the leading of the Spirit! Formality cannot be an excuse for intimacy.
6. You are not self-made. John Maxwell says that one of the worst things that can happen to any leader is what he calls “Leadership Alzheimer’s” when you as a leader forget where you came from, forget who nurtured you, who promoted you, who platformed you, who help you, who mentored you. You should be honouring those people all the time. Just text them today and say “Thanks for being such a strong influence on my life, I couldn’t have done it without you!” It’s life-changing! Never stop acknowledging the debt you owe others.
7. You are not in competition with others. Your focus is not titles, not glory and not perks. Your focus is obedience to the Living God.
8. You are not a hypocrite. Stop living different at home from in the pulpit, from in the Living Church, from in the boardroom.
9. You are not called to right the wrongs of those above you. Gossip, backbiting and grumbling are the hallmarks of cowards, not leaders.
10. You are not to idolize those above you. That’s going too far the other way. They are human too. If you idolize someone you will use them to try and get ahead rather than learn from them. That’s a powerful truth that requires you to think.
11. You do not need resources. Stop hoarding, stop thinking a new sound system, or new lighting system, or new venue will change things. If it’s not working now, it won’t work then. If it’s not working here, it won’t work there. Get it working, build the people, listen to the Lord, walk in faith! Build bridges not storehouses!
12. You cannot make a brand-new start. You do not have a time machine. But you can start from now and make a brand-new end!

Character is so essential to leadership that Paul told Timothy not to even appoint a small-group leader who lacked character! Work on yours! Leaders, lead yourself!