TC Robinson <<>> Leading Upwords

Sometimes as a leader you called upon to make some tough decisions.  Only you can make them.  Only you will make them.  These decisions often have for far-reaching impact. 

But they must be made.

Leading alone is part of courageous leadership.

This past weekend (Feb. 19-21), while at a leadership conference in Santa Clarita, California, I was reminded once again of the importance for leaders to lead from a life of intimacy with God.

The world needs people who are deep in their spiritual lives.  True intimacy with God occurs through intentional effort over a long period of time as your relationship grows deeper. (International Leadership Institute: Regional Conference, p. 4, emphasis added)

Before his choosing of the twelve, in whom he would pour his life and teaching over a period of three years, Jesus spent a night praying to the Father (Luke 6:12).  Jesus sought intimacy with the Father.

To be used of God effectively in leading others, the leader must seek intimacy with the heavenly Father.  There is no other way. 

In fulfilling his calling as a leader, a leader may be so overwhelmed by the needs of others that his needs often go unmet.  Before you know it, another leader has another casuality.

To avoid this negative element of a leader's life, the leader needs to learn from the leader of leaders---Jesus Christ himself.  Though his life and ministry were often preoccupied with the needs of others, Jesus never allowed his own needs to go unmet.  He avoided becoming another casuality.  How?

Scripture tells us:

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  (Luke 5:15-16, NIV, emphasis added)

Prayer often empowers and clarifies.  Because he knew this, Jesus made time for prayer.

Even a leader must be led.  Every great leader knows this.

In many ways, Psalm 23 serves as a leader's prayer for guidance from above:

¹ The LORD is my shepherd;
    there is nothing I lack.

    ² He lets me lie down in green pastures;
    He leads me beside quiet waters.

    ³ He renews my life;
    He leads me along the right paths
    for His name's sake.

    ⁴ Even when I go through the darkest valley,
    I fear no danger,
    for You are with me;
    Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.

    ⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
    You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.

    ⁶ Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
    and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
    as long as I live.  (HCSB)

Yes, every leader needs the Shepherd.

A vision is a mental picture of a desired or preferred future.  It's seeing in advance what could be and should be.  It must be nurtured, protected, and pursued.

Now, if your vision is not worth fighting for, then it's not worth pursuing.

So, for this new year, weigh your vision.  Keeping asking yourself: Is it worth fighting for?  Is it worth sacrificing my all for?  Is it worth losing sleep over?

Remember, vision is your most powerful weapon.

It's time to get back to what makes for a great leader: Character! Character! Character!

Of course a leader needs competence, courage, clarity, and so on.

But without character, a leader is not worth following.

So this new year, resolved to renew your commitment to developing your character as a leader.

A leader is the person who has earned the right to influence others because of their character and a compelling vision of a preferred future.

We need men and women who have spent time with God alone and have received a compelling vision from him---to lead people onto his agenda.

We need leaders.  We need people who are willing to make a lasting difference, no matter what.

A few days after defining leadership to his followers as "service to others," we next find Jesus giving a vivid illustration of what serving others looks like. 

John relates the story for us, beginning with:

³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. (John 13:3-5, NLT)

John continues:

¹² After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? ¹³ You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. ¹⁴ And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. ¹⁵ I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. (vv. 12-17, NLT, emphasis added)

The roads were rather dusty back then. Upon entering someone's home as guests, a servant would usually wash the guests' dusty, dirty feet.  It was a menial task, reserved only for servants.

But in this story, we find Jesus, the one they called "Teacher and Lord," washing the feet of his followers.  Earlier, Jesus had defined leadership as "service to others" (Mark 10:41-45).  Now he provides an unforgettable illustration of what it actually means "to serve others": it means taking off one's robe, wrapping a towel around the waist, pouring water in to a basin, and actually washing the dirty, dusty feet of others.

To all followers of his, Jesus says, "I have given you an example to follow.  Do as I have done to you."  When we follow the example of Jesus, we will receive the Father's blessing.

As Jesus was winding down his earthly ministry and dropping hints of it, here and there, his followers for three-and-half-years, began to pick up on it.

But instead of displaying a great understanding of what the master teacher was saying for three-and-half-years, they showed both immaturity and wordly thinking: they were fighting for positions in the kingdom, which they thought Jesus was about to restore to Israel.

Jesus had to issue a gentle rebuke:

41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant.42 So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:41-45, New Living Translation, emphasis added)

Jesus defines leadership as service to others.  It's the ability to put others before yourself, in an effort to bring about the greatest good. For Jesus, this meant going to the Cross for sinners.

Jesus, the leader of leaders, teaches us that if we're not ready to humbly and lovingly serve others, then we're not ready to be leaders.

In a word, Leadership is Service.