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Go Ahead… Be Over-the-Top! {leadership & parenting}

Work hard for your familySeveral months ago I had the opportunity to speak at an event for some of the Chick-Fil-A leadership team, looking at 2 Timothy 2, where the Apostle Paul lays out his picture of a leader to his young disciple, Timothy. As a parent I am amazed by the daily opportunities I am given to test my leadership. This is both humbling and sobering!

WHAT IS YOUR PICTURE OF A LEADER?

In 2 Timothy 2, the Apostle Paul is writing it to his young son in the faith, Timothy, and lays out six pictures of what it means for us to be leaders. I believe these are great pictures for us as parents to consider as we lead our families. Two of the marks of leadership that we looked at during this leadership event really hit home with me as I thought about my role as a leader in our family.

1. Leadership is like being a hardworking farmer (2 Tim. 2:6)

THIS is one of those realities that many leaders and parents try to avoid BECAUSE this is about DOING a lot of hard work and NOT SEEING IMMEDIATE RESULTS!!

Farming essentially is unglorious hard work. There are very few FANS on the sidelines, if any! A farmer has to be patient for the crop to come in. And this is so hard for most of us. MOST of us really want to see INSTANT RESULTS.

BUT in Farming… you have to… WAIT!

And here’s the deal: IT’S THE SAME WHEN YOU’RE LEADING PEOPLE and when you’re parenting your kids!!! You don’t get instant gratification! It takes a long time. You have to be patient with disappointments and you have to be there FOR the long haul.

2. Leadership is like being a craftsman.

The SECOND PICTURE, that I find personally challenging as a parent is that of being a “workman” or better translated, the CRAFTSMAN.

Have you ever seen a REAL LIFE craftsman at work? Someone who is just utterly committed to building something with PRECISION.
Someone who MEASURES twice and CUTS ONCE. Someone who is EXACT when it comes to details and making sure RIGHT ANGLES are REALLY right angles and makes sure that WHAT they are building is being built in the WAY it’s supposed to be built?

Paul says a leader worth following is a person who lives their WHOLE LIFE under the FULL REALITY that even when NO ONE ELSE is watching, God is PRESENT.

Patrick Lencioni, a leadership consultant that works with hundreds of organizations and churches writes this:

“If you’re not willing to do things that others would say are over the top, and if you’re not comfortable being criticized for having standards that seem perhaps just a little too high, then you’ll drift toward mediocrity. Although no one would ever aspire to being mediocre, it is more tempting than we might realize… After all, the majority of people out there will encourage us to take the easy route, because that isn’t threatening to them. They’ll support us as we justify cutting a corner here and lowering our standards there, because it isn’t reasonable to do anything more. And I suppose that’s the whole point. Success isn’t about being reasonable. It’s demanding. It’s over the top. But it’s worth it.”

Wow!

Go Ahead… Be an Over the Top Leader at Home!

Fighting with you against mediocrity & without immediate results!

God bless,
Ryan

Image : 180coach.com

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