The Essence of Leadership

"Managers control, leaders inspire."  I shared these words with a CFA team member who is leaving to attend Law School in Grundy, VA.  It's always hard to lose good people who are not only good at what they do, but also very versatile.  On her last day (well, she will be back for seasonal work), she was thanking us all for allowing her to work over the summer.  I commented that it was a pleasure for us that she was here those months.  One thing I want her to remember from her time at CFA is those four words....Managers control, leaders inspire.

Managers keep their thumb on their workers, micromanaging every aspect.  Managers look for ways that their workers can make them look better.  Managers are consistently dependent upon things: numbers, budgets, tasks, etc.  Admiral Grace Murray Hopper once said, "You manage things, you lead people."  How true this is.  Activity doing "things" is not leadership.  You can be the busiest person in the world and still not know how to lead.  Don't get me wrong,  I'm as much of a numbers person as anyone.  When the choice comes on whether or not to do the math, I want to do the math.  I love numbers probably more than I should, but numbers are things that can be managed, and they are not the main focus.

In his book "One Piece of Paper:  The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership, Mike Figliuolo writes, "Great leaders have a keen ability to inspire others to tap into their own pools of energy in a way that unleashes their innate potential."  Wow!  Unpack that statement for a moment and think of the number of people you can think of who are true leaders.  Can you think of any?  

People ask me if I miss ministry.  I know what they mean.  They mean do I miss being in a church, full-time, on staff.  My answer is always this:  I have a ministry no matter where I am, no matter what I am doing.  I don't have to be on staff full-time at a church to be "in ministry."  I have the awesome privilege every day to not only inspire those around me with whom I work, but I have the awesome privilege to brighten someone's day with something as simple as a smile and a chicken sandwich.  Do we have our crabby customers, you bet, just like we do in the church.  However, I've found that for every crabby customer, there are probably 10 or more whose lives I get to touch on a daily basis in a positive way.

My goal every day is to inspire others to be more than they could ever dream to be.  To inspire my team to do their best, not because they have to, but because they want to.  To tap into their own pools of energy and unleash their innate potential.  That was the way Jesus led.  He took a ragtag bunch of men and transformed and inspired them to be change agents in their world through His power.  May we move past managing people, and learn how to truly lead.