Leadership Wednesday 05 - Leadership is a Process. Ugh.

I’ve been involved in organized leadership since I was 16-years-old. I started out as a leader on our high school ministry’s student leadership team. After that I worked as an intern for our church’s junior high ministry. I spent years as a volunteer working with both junior high and high school students. For a year while I was in seminary, I was the volunteer director for a student ministry. And now, for the past two years, I have been a full-time pastor. I have been leading for almost 12 years, yet sometimes I feel like I’m still at square one. I know I’ve progressed as a leader; I know that I’ve gotten better. However, from time to time, I still get frustrated with the process.

I am currently reading John C. Maxwell’s modern classic The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I’m nearing the end of the book and I’ve got the sinking feeling that I should have read the book a lot sooner, a lot earlier in my leadership career. It is filled with lots of insights for leaders that are both practical and applicable. Apart from the 21 laws, what sticks out to me most is Maxwell’s profession that he was just beginning to come into his own as a leader when he wrote the book in the late 90s; he was in his late 50s and he felt like he was just starting to pull things together. Obviously he had led others and he had been a great leader for years, but he didn’t really feel like he had arrived until he passed the half century mark.

Crap.

Does that mean I’ve got another 25 more years to go? That’s a long time. I was kind of hoping I could wrap things up by the time I was 40 and spend the next 40 years spouting wisdom like some guru. That’s not possible, though, because leadership development is a process and, in the words of John Mayer, I am in repair. Since leadership development is a lifelong process, it’s important to find benchmarks along the way to mark any and all progress.

Maybe you’ve made the decision to reorder your life in order to be more productive.

Perhaps you’re gaining traction and creating momentum from a decision that you’ve made.

Maybe you’re beginning to see how you’ve helped multiply leadership, even in the smallest ways.

Leadership development is a process that needs to be embraced; it is through the process that you and I will become more effective and productive leaders. Sitting in the middle of the process can sometimes be frustrating, but we have to reflect upon past successes and continue to push forward. Something that brings me encouragement is a quote from Craig Groeschel:

God has given us everything we need to do all that he wants us to do.

I always thought this applied mainly to resources and finances, but it applies to leadership skills and abilities as well. God has given me the leadership abilities I need to do everything he wants me to do. When he wants me to do more, it’ll be because I’ve focused on my leadership development and intentionally moved forward in the process. And if the thought of getting to do more for God’s kingdom here on earth can’t get me excited about the process, I don’t know what will.

How do you find encouragement in the midst of your own leadership development process?