Posts Tagged ‘leadership’

Recently a gentleman approached me just minutes before one of our worship services began to let me know all that he doesn’t like about our worship services.  It was a real blessing.  As he sat down, the service began and all I could think about for the next half hour was that conversation.  I can handle criticism.  Criticism gives us the chance to evaluate our motives, processes and actions.  It’s a great chance to listen, evaluate, educate the criticizer and then make any changes that we need to make to bring improvement, or continue on with more fervor because we’ve evaluated and are convinced we are moving in the right direction.  Criticism doesn’t bother me.  Honestly, the tone and demeanor of the criticizer does bother me if it’s mean-spirited, devaluing or laden with consumerism and entitlement.

The thing that was so deflating about this reason criticism was that it was just …

I had a great one on one last week with a young leader who is learning to make the transition from that stage of college guy to an adult with a lot of responsibility and people who rely on him.  He’s doing great, but that is a tough transition.  Remember college?  Remember how it seemed like we had a lot of pressure and stress and stuff to do?  Who knew?  Right?  Ya, college was rough.  Go to class a couple of hours a day, take a nap, eat, take a nap, play ball, study, take a nap, eat, stay up late…..very late…..study, write, eat, sleep for a few hours and start it all over again.  Lots of pressure.
College was awesome, but the transition from college to life after college is a little tougher to get.  You start learning to go to bed on time, get up on time, be where …

As an ISTJ – an introverted thinker who likes structure, I don’t like surprises.  My wife recently asked me about my 40th coming up.  She asked if I’d like to have a big party……uh, no…..thank you very much.  I told her, “If you like me, you’ll spare me that work of having to be all kinds of social with a ton of people on my birthday.  I’m not trying to be mean, but I prefer a few people rather than a roomful who are there for me.  Boo to that.  I also told her not to even think about a surprise party.  It would be the worst birthday ever…..because I hate surprises….especially if they involve a lot of people socially…..centered on me.  Major boo.
As a leader, I realize that surprises are a part of what we do.  There’s always something that pops up unexpectedly that we have to tackle.  These …

Credit.  Who gets it?  Deep down, most of us like to get credit for stuff that we do.  We like to be recognized for our contributions.  A friend of mine on staff and I will jokingly brag about cards or letters we receive from folks whose weddings we’ve performed as they tell us that we’ve done a good job.  It really is totally a joke between us, but I’d be lying if I told you those cards weren’t super encouraging.  A wise friend of mine told me once to do the same thing with praise and criticism – lay them both down.  So those encouraging cards get laid down…..but only after I “mistakenly” leave them on my friend’s desk.
Really, as much as we like to be recognized for a job well done, God is who deserves all of the credit for everything He’s done.  He’s even big enough to handle …

Is it possible to follow well yet challenge your leader at the same time?  Submitting to the authority of our leaders should never be optional, but there are times when those in positions of authority over us give directives which we may not be comfortable following.  So, how can we respectfully challenge the directive yet continue to follow well?
There’s a great picture of this in Daniel chapter 1.  These 4 Hebrew boys were smart and very wise.  When the directive from the king was not in line with their faithfulness to God, Daniel respectfully challenged.  Read the story.  In verses 8-16, we see how Daniel did this.  Here’s what I learned:
1. Daniel was obviously trustworthy.  The steward listened to Daniel and allowed him to make concessions.  The steward put his own neck on the line which he wouldn’t have done if Daniel had not already proven himself faithful and trustworthy …