Too often, leaders hold high expectations — both for themselves and for those around them. Expectations that are set too high often lead to disappointment and frustration. This kind of friction is never healthy for an organization or for the leader. Sometimes, leaders need to lower their expectations.
Way too often, leaders think they’re superheroes. NEWS FLASH: Leaders are not superheroes! Superheroes wear capes, appear in comic books, and have movies made about them. Some superheroes can even turn into muscular green monsters. Leaders are human beings who plod, who serve, why cry, and who get really discouraged sometimes. Most don’t own a cape. If you’ve ever been prone to succumb to the Superhero Complex, this article is for you.
Dave was an amazing pastor. He could do just about anything. He had a blazing intellect, and could exposit a passage like you wouldn’t believe. His skills in counseling were outstanding. He did amazing things with the youth group and children’s program. Attendance grew under his leadership. He launched new programs and carried out the vision of the church in a way that no pastor had done before him. When it finally happened, no one saw it coming.
“Leadership” conjures up ideas of authority, commands, oversight, and supervision. In modern practice, that’s precisely what it is. Christians, however, should take their leadership cues from the Bible — from Jesus who modeled servant leadership, not authoritarianism. When we peel back the stuff of leadership — all the commands, directives, and administration — we discover some of the unlikely secrets of effective leadership.
For most people in this world’s workforce, moving up and moving on is the big dream. It’s all about the next promotion, the big break, the upward advancement, the management position. There is nothing necessarily wrong with trying to advance one’s career or seek improvement in one’s situation. The problem, however, is when this same type of thinking infiltrates the calling of the Christian leader.
I know you’re probably too busy to read this article, but what if taking the time to read it could change all that busyness in your life?
Busyness is endemic to leadership. Since most leaders are goal-oriented, type A, driven personalities, they have a propensity to pile too much on their plate, and then get sick trying to stuff it all down. Pastors are not exempt from the busy leader syndrome. Pastors have more than enough to keep them busy — preparing the Sunday sermon, making hospital visits, running staff meetings, planning the new building project, answering an irate email, fixing the church coffee maker, creating the PowerPoint display, and…oh yeah…he has a family, too. In general, most Christian leaders are overworked. They’re trying to save the universe from perdition, but that’s an awfully big job. Continue Reading…
Have you ever experienced a church or organization where you’re led by a bully? Your leader is like the overgrown kid at the playground who derives glee from shoving around smaller kids. He’s the leader, and he’s in control. He’s mean. He’s tough. I wish I were just painting a caricature, or indulging in a bit of overstatement, but I’m not. There are such leaders — even Christian leaders and pastors. This is the pastor who controls his church with an iron fist, and declares, “Well, if you don’t like my church, you can just leave!” They are tyrants.
We are in an age of hero worship. We think that bigger is better. Real leaders are larger than life. The “successful pastor” is one whose congregation has crested 3,000, whose book has edged into the top seller list on Amazon, and whose blog is cruising along with 425,919 subscribers. This leader has thousands of Twitter followers, and is about to make a Facebook fan page for himself. He is getting invited to speak at conferences, and he even wears designer jeans with graphic Ts. This leader has truly arrived. What does he lack?
Possibly, he lacks accessibility.
