Category: Leadership Journey

The Difference Maker

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Willingness makes the difference in leadership. I have written about this before, but like so many leadership lessons, I keep seeing it played out time and again.

Give me two kids: one with natural leadership ability and little desire to make a positive impact, and one with lower natural leadership ability and a high desire to make a positive impact, and I’ll choose the second every day.

A student (or adult, for that matter) who is unwilling to take steps to make a difference will stall in their development. Sure, they have a natural ability, but without the desire to get better or to make those around them better, they will not truly succeed.

A student who is willing to step up and humbly serve, while not necessarily getting all the public praise and affirmations, in the long run will greatly impact those around them. A willing leader is willing to lead, willing to grow, willing to serve, willing to help others achieve more, and willing to make a difference.

I am incapable of changing someone’s mind. I can try to guilt someone into showing up or stepping up, but until it becomes a priority in their life, then my effort is wasted.

Does this mean we give up on natural leaders who are unwilling to lead? No. But it does mean we learn to find the point where we are just spinning our wheels instead of making progress.

Who in your life needs some attention today? Who is in your sphere of influence and willing to try to lead? What can you do to help develop and strengthen their desire and ability? Now, go do it!

Sit Down. Stand Up. Follow Me.

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Leadership is instinctual. I’m at Pre-Teen Camp this week and saw something remarkable one night during worship.

Following the sermon, we started singing again. I was sitting behind a group of boys who were standing and singing. After one song, I watched as one boy sat down. Slowly, and one by one, the other three boys all sat down.

Then, once the next song began, the first boy stood up, and slowly, one by one, the other boys stood back up.

Leadership influence happens with a group of pre teens as much as it does for adults or teenagers.

Our challenge, as people who are looking to develop leaders around us, is to help students (and adults) develop an awareness of the opportunities to lead, and to help them cultivate a willingness to make a difference.

Who can you develop around you? Who are the students who naturally have people follow them? What about the student who just has a great heart and needs some guidance?

Leadership is not reserved for a select group of chosen people. If that were the case, I would never have qualified.

Instead, everyone has leadership influence. My goal, and I’m guessing yours, too, is to teach anyone who is willing how to make the most of their opportunities.

Silent Victories

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On Tuesday I posted about watching as two airport fire trucks doused a plane as it was pulling up to a terminal. If you missed it, click here to go check it out.

Now, the rest of the story. Contrary to my worries, the plane was fine. In fact, it was a plane filled with military veterans. They were arriving in Washington DC on what is called an Honor Flight.

Those of us in the terminal gathered around as the passengers disembarked, and clapped as they passed by. It was remarkable.

I could wax eloquently about the lessons we could learn from the faithfulness of those walking by, or the impact it had on my life, or the joy of sharing that moment with my daughters. But I’m not going to do that.

Instead, let me tie into Tuesday’s post and unknown reasons.

I had no clue what was happening. I had no idea an Honor Flight even existed. But there’s a large network dedicated to Honor Flights. People spend countless hours and energy preparing and carrying out trips.

I watched as one stood in the terminal. She was beaming with joy not because people were recognizing her effort, but because people were honoring these heroes.

The core of leadership is setting other people up to win, regardless of recognition.

My leadership is not better when I get recognized My leadership is best when someone I’m leading gets recognized.

This is why I love working with student leaders. I want to set them up to win long after they are in my realm of influence. I want them to grow and achieve more than I ever could dream, but it has to start somewhere.

We all have to start somewhere.

Are you ready to invite and equip leaders around you? What are you waiting for?

Hidden Reasons

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Last week I had the opportunity to take a vacation to Washington D.C. It was an incredible trip, and we were able to see so much.

One of the most striking things was probably the most unexpected. As we arrived at the airport, we stopped before going through security to grab a donut. Looking out the window, I noticed two fire trucks pull up not far from the terminals where we were going.

Now, just in case you’re not sure, when I get to an airport, I turn into a 7 year old boy when it comes to fascination with airplanes. I’ve always loved planes. So, I was naturally extremely curious as to what was going on.

There was no rush to the movements of the fire trucks. They were parked, waiting. No lights, no hustle and bustle.

Then, a plane started to pull up to the terminal, and the fire trucks sprung into action, spraying the plane with water. At first I couldn’t tell if there was purpose or not to their actions. And honestly, until later, I still wasn’t sure what I had just witnessed.

Leadership can be the same way a lot of the times. The things we see others do may not make sense from where we sit, but most people have a reason for the decisions they make.

We, as leaders, need to understand people are working with information we may never receive. So critical spirits, when we know nothing of the circumstances, are not beneficial.

Likewise, there are going to be things we do that people will not understand our actions or motivations. Sometimes out of necessity (because we can’t share) and sometimes out if neglect (because we failed to share).

If you’re in a position where you are training leaders, be willing to share what you can to help them know what’s going on and what went into a decision.

As for what was happening, more on that Thursday. Click here to subscribe to the emails so you don’t miss it.

Lessons from the Farm: Dirty Hands

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I have remarkably soft hands. Thankfully, most people don’t point this out on handshakes. But for some reason, I don’t have rough, cracked hands.

Part of that may be when I worked on the farm I preferred to wear gloves when possible. I hate having my hands covered in filth. It’s hard to explain. I wouldn’t say it’s a phobia or that it encroaches into the realm of OCD, but I was diligent in protecting my hands.

Have you ever tried to change the wheel bearing on a farm implement? Have you ever heard the term “grease monkey”? There’s a connection between the two. Changing a wheel bearing means one end result–grease gets everywhere.

One summer, my boss (okay, my dad) was literally out of the country, and we had a wheel bearing that needed to be changed. I knew how to change the bearing, but I hadn’t actually changed one before. So guess what? I got to have a great experience culminating in my being filthy. The thing about wheel grease is that it gets everywhere, and you have to use quite a bit to do the job correctly. 

As uncomfortable as it was to get dirty and filthy that day, the reality was the job needed to get done, and I was the one to do it.

Leadership is the same. There are undoubtedly leadership tasks that strike fear deep inside of you. Maybe you’ve been able to get by all this time without having to face that uncomfortable moment.

I have bad news for you: your day is coming. Before you know it, you are going to have to face that tough situation head on and get your hands filthy.

Your approach, however, determines your outcome. I could have moaned and complained all day about having to change that wheel bearing, but the job went much smoother when I just accepted the job and did it.

Whatever it is that you’re avoiding–a conversation, a situation, a person, a task–you get to choose your approach. Keep avoiding it and fearing it, and the monster grows. Face it head on and you never know what might happen. You may get your hands dirty and be excited about it.

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