As I drove away from my meeting with a business owner I was struck with a real sense of sadness. I knew that, unless some significant things changed, that frustrating space just described to me would remain the same.
Over the years I have been quite perplexed with just how difficult it can be for real growth to happen. Speaking words of promises and resolutions is easy; following through is not.
How about you? Are you growing? If we were to chat, what would the quality and quantity of your leadership growth be over the past few years? Like the old saying goes…
“If you are green you will grow.
If you are ripe you will rot!”
Our leadership is similar to a bank account, having either a positive or negative balance. Just like a bank account, we need to make more leadership deposits than withdrawals in order to have the needed resources to lead self and others well. Running a leadership deficit over time will result in “personal bankruptcy”!
The apostle Paul was quite clear as he invited the Roman Christians to lead themselves and others differently. I suggest that it is virtually impossible to lead others well if you are not leading yourself well. For those of us claiming to be Christ followers, we are called to a life of growth. Here are Paul’s words to the Roman believers.
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 (Message)
Before you begin to ask the following 6 grow-your-leadership-bank-balance questions, let me invite you to first:
- Set aside a time this week to have an honest conversation with yourself and God regarding your leadership of self and people.
- Resist the temptation to bump your time because of added pressures.
- When you do have your time:
Choose to STOP
Choose to BREATHE – S L O W L Y………
Choose to hear His voice informing you.
Based on Romans 12:1-2, here are 6 Maverick style questions you can ask to assess the health of your leadership bank account:
- When is the last time you asked God to help change you – at the very centre of who you are?
- What may have been keeping you from doing so?
- Are there things in your “sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life”, which may be keeping you from experiencing intimacy with God and the leadership growth He would have for you?
- If so, what are they?
- How would you describe your capacity to embrace what God has been doing in you and through you?
- Are there areas in your leadership of self and people that have become “so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it with out even thinking”?
- If so, what are they?
- What has been the impact on you and those around you?
- Describe a recent time when you “fixed your attention on God”.
- What was it like?
- Identify a situation where you experienced God “bringing out the best of you”, where you saw Him “develop well-formed maturity in you”?
- What were the circumstances?
- Who else may have been present?
- What did you learn about yourself, God and others?
Maverick Application:
Based on the above questions, reflect and discuss:
- What is God teaching you about Him?
- What is He teaching you about you?
- Is there a specific action you know you need to take?
- Who can you share this with?
