Date posted: November 18, 2011
Woody Allen once made the observation that ninety percent of success in life is just showing up. Today there are a thousands of other things that you could be doing instead of the thing that you should be doing. There are those weekends away, that music festival that you might check out, that party, or even just the comfort of staying in bed.
Great leadership is built on a habit of turning up when you really don’t want to, of pushing past the FOMO (fear of missing out) and standing by your commitment. God will entrust you with a greater mantle of leadership when you have shown dogged persistence in the most simple, uncool and mundane things.
The other day I watched a thirty second clip of an incredible goal scored by a footballer in a crucial match. The goal was watched live by tens of millions, and will be replayed for the next twenty years. What most people will miss however is the backend. We forget that the thirty sublime seconds of skill was built on a decade and a half of practice and perseverance. In the thirty second clip we don’t see the blood, sweat and tears, the tens of thousands of hours of practice. We love the ‘yes’ of the goal, but don’t see the thousands of ‘no’s’ that proceeded it, no to a social life, no to doing what you want when you want, no to sleeping in, no to anything else but utter discipline.
People look at the author holding their new book in their hand, and wish that they could do the same, but fail to see that behind that book is a sea of hard work, of research, of handling rejections from publishing houses, of torturously wrestling with a manuscript, the thousands of hours of writing, the excruciating essays at University where the writer honed their skill, the bad reviews and misunderstandings of readers. Young leaders must understand that the public victories are built upon a backend of sacrifice, hard work, and frustration.
Great leaders are hesitant. Not because they are not prepared for leadership but because they truly understand the cost. Before his triumph on the Cross, Jesus sweated blood in the garden understanding what was before him. His view of ministry was sober. He was not drukenly caught up in viewing ministry through the lens of celebrity. Many young leaders today simply ‘want it’ too much, because they don’t really understand what ministry is. They mistake Christian leadership for celebrity. They have not grasped the idea that God humbled himself to stand amongst us, that he was spat upon, tortured and killed.
Many when they envision Christian leadership imagine their favourite Christian speaker or author, instead we must look to the suffering servant to truly understand what leadership is. A Christian leader is one who understands the cost of their calling. The Christian leader must be ready for pain, loneliness and opposition. They will not seek out influence or to be known. God will sometimes grant this, but to those whom are spiritually ready for it. The leader who has gained influence too early or by their own hand without understanding the cost of leadership is in a very dangerous position.
Good leaders know their weak spots. They are aware of the way that they might fall. Often our weaknesses are known to us, our bruises and cuts point us to them. Yet it is often the short comings that we are unaware of that do the most damage. We can understand our blind spots by prayerfully bringing ourselves before God, by allowing Him to shine his light on the dark crevices of our souls. We must invite Him into the rooms of our heart that we have left locked and uncleaned.
We also become aware of our weak spots by making ourselves open to correction from our loved ones, from those we work with and with our mentors and leaders. It can be a painful, humiliating, process, yet it is utterly vital. The best way to start is to ask those around you ‘What is a weakness in my life that I need to be aware of?’. Feel a bit queasy about the idea of doing that, it is probably a sign that you need to do it.