It’s never fun to tell someone no, even when you know it’s best.
If you are like the vast majority of leaders in ministry, you love people. You want to help and empower others, but more often than we prefer, leadership requires unpopular answers.
In fact, a great deal of leadership is learning and practicing the art of saying no in a way that encourages, earns trust, and even inspires, rather than in a way that may alienate or discourage people.
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One of the greatest risks in local church ministry is not having specific people pray for you as a leader.
Serving as a pastor for 38 years has continued to teach me the importance and the power of prayer. Too often leaders attempt to carry the prayer burden alone and therefore become spiritually unprotected.
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God created each of us on purpose with a purpose.
I love the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most of us can remember being asked that question as a child.
I wanted to be a veterinarian. By the time I reached my junior year in high school and realized that I didn’t have an aptitude for math or science, I quietly suspected I was in trouble. Then an academic career counselor told me I needed to “get a back-up plan in place,” so I started thinking about other careers and quickly got lost.
That’s a desperate place to be, lost. Not sure why you are here. And it’s a dangerous platform from which to lead.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a fun, energizing, and inspiring question – until you don’t know the answer, especially if you are an adult. Then it becomes a quiet inner unrest and maybe touches the fringes of fear.
Knowing your purpose, meaning what God calls you to do, is essential to lead.
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A fast pace with high pressure can cause us to believe functional leadership lies even if we’ve been taught they’re not true.
I call them functional lies because they are not moral or sinful, but they can still be harmful.
“Leadership lies” may be too strong a phrase, but “misconceptions” is too weak.
I’ve met too many great people that lead as if these statements are true. So, allow some grace for perhaps an overly strong word, and let’s get practical.
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Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.
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