My Philosophy of Leadership

So much of what we call leadership today is really just management, moving tangible resources around to accomplish things. Leadership is more than that. It’s about the intangible. It’s about hearts.

Often, when I see the word “heart” in Scripture, I substitute the word “desire.” I got this from somewhere in Psalms and it stuck. Try it. God wants our hearts, right? To me, that means He wants us to desire Him.

Leadership is about helping people find their desires and aligning them. What do you want? Really want? That’s what great leaders inspire people toward, to want the same thing…together.

In my life and leadership, I’ve learned to be content with wanting what God wants. Sure, I set goals, make plans, and work hard to make things happen. But often, it doesn’t turn out the way I planned. My job as a leader is to try and align people’s hearts, and what they want with what He wants. If they get disappointed, it’s up to me to help those I’m leading see as God sees and realign their hearts with His.

I don’t always know what God wants when it comes to earthly outcomes. So, I use my brain, the wise counsel of others, and a whole lot of prayer to make an informed decision and then I go. Most often, I discover what God wants by how things turn out. And my job as a leader includes helping interpret what happens through the lens of my Biblical worldview.

It’s all about Him. Nothing happens that He didn’t allow in love. He loves us and He’s trustworthy. So, we pick up, reload, seek His direction, and go again. To me, that’s what leadership entails. We pray, listen, decide, communicate, inspire, act, and assess. Then we do it again.

In Radical Mentoring, mentees memorize a rather obscure verse when they discuss leadership, Judges 3:31, “After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel.”

I heard Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A explain this verse once, and I’ve lived by it ever since…

• Start from where you are – Shamgar was among 600 Philistines.
• Use what you have – Shamgar had only an oxgoad…a stick!
• Do all you can – Shamgar struck down all 600 Philistines he had access to.
• Trust God with the outcome – God (not Shamgar) saved Israel. Shamgar played his part, but God brought the outcome.

That’s my philosophy of leadership. Amen.

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