Daily Grace
Weekend Wanderings-May 18
Weekend Wanderings is a collection of links and pages which impacted me during the previous week or so.
They may take you on an adventure or down an unexplored path. Sometimes our casual wanderings in a state of relaxation help us unearth previously hidden treasures.
Gems to ponder over the weekend:
Here is a helpful article over at Life of a Steward about taking a Sabbath. All of us struggle with keeping this one of the Ten Commandments!
A unique article from Seth over at Life As Experienced. We believe we must do things perfectly in order to do them. Maybe we should just do them....even if it is done poorly. Have a look!
Abraham Bates does a short, thought provoking post about our relationship with God.
Tullian Tchivijian has a great devotional on performance versus grace. This guy is one of my favorites on grace!
And to re-engage our discussion of different style of marriage, I would like to recommend this one from Matt Appling, on the site The Church of No People. It is similar to the post I wrote awhile back called Who's The Boss: Two Views on Marriage
Don't forget to wander on by the rest of NoSuperHeroes.com. The top post of the month so far is: Why Christianity is True
What other gems have you found?
Photo by wander.lust at Creative Commons by Flckr.
Add a comment6 Ways to Overcome Hurt from Leaders
I have recently been writing about good leadership in my series "United We Move: Creating a Team Culture." Much of what is learned in leadership comes from personal mistakes, as well as lessons learned from the mistakes of other leaders.
This is true in my own story.
I was hurt by leadership early in my missions career. There were issues of control, manipulation, and a very works oriented mentality. The smallest mistake was treated as massive, leading to feeling as if you disappointed the leaders. Perfectionism was modeled, grace was not.
During these years I had to contend with tribalism, accusation, character attacks, and many other wretched things people do to each other. At one point, I was even advised to engage in illegal activities by a senior leader in the organization!
I would like to share several tips which have helped me journey out of the pain. These tips will help you regain health and succeed as a leader.
Here are 6 remedies for recovery:
1. Taste something different
Realization and healing often begins by seeing something different. Go to another church, serve in another ministry, or align yourself with someone who leads in a different style. Healthy leadership reveals unhealthy traits and points you in a good direction.
2. Seek Good leaders
This is very closely linked to the first one. These leaders can be in the flesh as well as through podcasts, teachings, and various friendships.
I credit one leader with saving my career in missions. During my period of turmoil, I phoned him; asking if this style of leadership was rampant in our organization. He did not engage in a debate or defense of the hurtful leaders, rather spending time describing how he led his region. Hearing a healthy leaders perspective gave me hope, keeping me in the game when I was tempted to quit missions.
3. Give yourself time and grace to process
Overcoming disappointment and hurt is a journey which takes time. Time is the great healer and bringer of perspective. My path led me to step out of leadership for a season to process. I would strongly advise speaking to a counselor during this time of seeking answers.
4. Get back into leadership yourself
Once you have had sufficient time to process, it is time to get back on the horse. I have met many people who say, "I will never be a leader again." This is their hurt and pain speaking. Avoid words like "never" or "always."
I have walked this journey with a friend recently. Little by little as he healed, he accepted responsibility and leadership again. With each step, he embraced his return and calling again.
We do not want to allow our hurt and pain to compromise the call of God on our lives.
5. Be honest with your mistakes
Rarely is the blame entirely on the hurtful leaders. I call this the 1% principle. Even if you see yourself as erring in 1% of the problem, we must own our 1%. Of course we want the other person to respond to the 99%. But reality is, they may never own their mistakes. Our concern is not their response, but ours. We are responsible for our part of the problem. Doing so aids in our recovery.
6. Forgive
This may be the most important. Do not allow lack of forgiveness to taint you and your future leadership. We likely will not be the ones to bring correction to those who wounded us. We must forgive.
The truth of the matter is: but for the grace of God, so go we. We will find ourselves in similar situations or worse without keeping our eyes on God and remaining in a place of teachability.
We must forgive and forget the offense.
We never forget the lessons we've learned. They can inspire and guide us for the rest of our lives as a leader.
Are there any other tips you would share to overcome hurt in leadership?
Photo by Make Studio | Marty Coleman on CC by Flckr.
Does a Lack of Vision Cause Death?
"Without a vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18) This verse is often quoted as inspiration to have faith or to dream. But, do people really die without one?
As we explore building a team culture through our series called "United We Move", the first step in our journey is vision.
Vision is essential to moving a group forward. This is common sense. You cannot move a group somewhere unless you know where you are going. On this journey, there a few common mistakes which are made in the area of vision.
Mistake #1. Too Small
The vision needs to be big enough to inspire people to dream. If there is no difficulty in obtaining the vision, it is too small. A vision must be bigger than yourself or the others involved. There should be risk involved as well as the potential to fail. This is the part that requires faith. If no faith is required, you do not have a vision, you have a project.
People want to be apart of something bigger than themselves. The greatest recruiting tool we have employed in Africa is to cast the vision. People commit to causes and a desire to a part of something they could not accomplish on their own.
Our ministry in Africa seeks to be a hub for Biblical Training in Africa. This is broad. This is sellable. If I recruit people to one of our projects, a Bible school, that is not as appealing. A vision is so much bigger than our own abilities to accomplish it.
Mistake #2. Lack of Visibility
Bill Hybels says that vision needs to be restated or reminded once every 30 days.
This can be done through a number of vehicles. Have a mission statement. A clear concise statement of where you are going. Put it in the bulletins, recite it as a fun exercise, or paint it on the wall. Whatever you do, keep the vision before the people.
Did you ever wonder why the Bible repeats itself so much? It is because we are a stupid, forgetful people. Never underestimate the value of recasting the vision.
Mistake #3. Too General
A vision needs to be measurable, or it needs to inspire specific, measurable steps so people can see progress.
A vision of a small group to meet and study the Bible is too general. What about defining certain books to study? What about setting a goal to multiply the group? The cell group could rally around personal growth; measuring it through setting goals and having periods of evaluation.
Our team has long term goals for 5 to 10 years, but each year we go through a process of evaluation and assessment. This provides opportunities to make sure we are on track.
Mistake #4. Lack of Connection
One of the most important jobs of a leader is to navigate and remind people of how the details fit into the big picture. We must show how smaller goals lead the group closer to the vision.
This works in a family as well. In the fantastic book,The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family
My greatest job as a leader is to keep the plot in mind. Where are we heading? How will small decisions affect the long term?
Too often as leaders we mortgage the long term for short term, temporal comfort and ease. Keeping the vision in mind, helps us to make hard decisions.
So do people literally dies without a vision? Perhaps.
You and I have heard of people losing the will to live. The same concept could be communicated with other words.
Without a vision, people become bored.
Without a vision, people become lazy.
Without a vision, people lose interest.
Without a vision, people only dream as big as themselves.
To take a group of people somewhere, the vision must be:
- Big
- Kept before the people
- Specific and Measurable
- Connected to smaller goals, projects, and campaigns
Vision creates continuity, cooperation and cohesion. Vision takes people places.
What other mistakes have you made in regards to setting the vision for a group?
Photo courtesy of CC by Flckr by vestman
