Leadership Lessons…So Far

What I’ve learned thus far….

1. I’m not going to accomplish half the things I thought I would this year.
I’m not sure if this is because I’m the only paid pastor on staff or just the normal course of transitioning for a new pastor. Maybe both. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing either. It’s made me be more purposeful in deciding where to put leadership energy and resources.

A couple of mentors have told me repeatedly – “Your first year agenda needs to be – love on people, preach the word, ask questions, make some disciples. That’s it. You’re there for the long haul.” Sounds easy enough, right? It’s not. It’s great advice and I’m trying my best to follow it…but there are times when I just want to “DO SOMETHING!!” Which leads me to number 2.

2. You can’t do everything that comes down the pipe.
Let others lead. Give opportunities to others to lead. Yes, somethings will fail miserably. Yes, there will be some falling through the cracks. But don’t own every single thing that comes across desk. When you do start something, finish it. Keep at it. Don’t give up. Keep working. Slow is better than stop.

3. Don’t confuse insight with leadership.
It’s easy to spot problems. It’s easy to spot holes in the system, things that are quite done right or perfectly. It’s easy to see the problems. The ability to see those problems doesn’t make a good leader. It makes a good critic.

Leaders see opportunities….solutions…possibilities. Leaders are willing to put shoulder to the plow to fix it. Leaders WORK the problem, not escalate the drama or create crisis. Secondary principle here for me is this – empower leaders, not critics.

I’ve got more but these three stuck out to me this morning.