Get Better as a Leader - Part 2

Over the last month, I have been reminded of some important leadership principles. I shared them in my last blog. One of those principles is the law of the lid. John Maxwell notes that the senior leader is the lid to an organization’s growth and health. This means that if I want Rebuilt to grow, I need to grow as a leader. If you want your parish or department or ministry to grow, you must grow as a leader. Growing as a leader means being committed to getting a little bit better every day and lifting the lid of our leadership.

Here are five key steps to embrace so that you can lift the lid and grow as a leader:

Step 1:Recognize that your growth is not your project alone.

You serve in ministry because God has called you into the work. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which he has prepared in advance that you should walk in them.” You are God’s work of art. He created you to lead in a way that is suited to how he created you. He is forming you all the time into the leader he wants you to be. John Ortberg comments on this verse by saying, “Your life is not your project; it’s God’s project.” I like that idea, but I tweak it a bit: I think it’s a partnership between God and us. We have to be open to the ways he is forming us and the lessons he is teaching us, which leads to the next principle.

Step 2: You have to want to get better as a leader.

This is obvious—if we don’t want to get better as leaders, then we won’t get better. If you don’t will it, it won’t happen. I was just speaking with a very successful business leader and he noted how teams just don’t win championships, they will it. They want it, and they make it happen. God wants us to get better as leaders, but he won’t do it against our wills.

To want to grow as a leader, you have to want to get better; this means you recognize there are gaps in your leadership. Let’s acknowledge that sometimes we don’t want to get better. Sometimes the gaps are exposed in our leadership, and we feel like victims. We think, “Give me a break, I’m doing the best I can.” It’s okay to feel like that sometimes, but we can’t stay stuck there if we want to grow. You and I have gaps. We are not yet all that God has created us to be. Have the humility to admit the gaps in your leadership so that you can embrace the next important principle.

Step 3: Embrace feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions.

Craig Groeschel likes to say, “We don’t fear feedback, we crave it.” When it comes to feedback, we often fear it because we think that means we automatically have to change what we are doing. No, you don’t. I like to say, “Don’t drink feedback unfiltered.” Feedback is information. You still have to sort it out and figure out what it means. The book of Proverbs says that the wise person listens to advice—it doesn’t say the wise person takes advice. Feedback is a form of advice; it’s the gift of someone’s perspective on how they perceive you or something you did. Being open to feedback will help you spot your gaps and weaknesses so you can grow and improve.

Step 4: Put yourself in environments that will challenge you to grow.

This is what we do through our coaching and courses at Rebuilt. These are environments where you learn about various aspects of parish life from Nativity as well as other parishes. In coaching, you get the perspective of someone who will help you put together a plan for how to get better. In our courses, you will learn from other parish leaders; it is iron sharpening iron.

Step 5: Put into practice what you are learning.

We grow as leaders when we put into practice what we are learning. If you don’t apply what you are learning, you won’t grow. If you are working on communication as a leader, then you have to try something new in your next homily or next one-on-one conversation. If you are learning how to lead a meeting, then apply what you have learned when you lead your next meeting. If you are working on painting a clearer vision, then you need to sit down and write out a clear, compelling vision and share that with your team to see how it lands. If you are working on being more empathetic and caring for your team, then you need to take time to listen to a member’s concerns.

You get the point. At the end of the day, we grow as leaders by leading and trying on new practices. This is perhaps the most difficult part because anything new will feel awkward and strange at first. As we keep doing it, it will become more natural.

Commit to taking the steps to get a little bit better as a leader. If you will commit to getting a little bit better every day, over time, you will find you are much better and you will be amazed at the results.

Rooting for you,
Tom