Movements Move!

Leadership Next - Eddie Gibbs

By definition, movements "move" and therefore require leaders who are not stuck and insecure when it comes to change and adaptation.

Harland Cleveland (Nobody In Charge) provides a list of eight attitudes that he believes are indispensable to the management of complexity. They apply equally well to leadership among the people of God.

1) A lively intellectual curiosity; an interest in everything, because everything really is related to everything else and therefore to what we are trying to do, whatever it is.

2) A genuine interest in what other people think and why they think that way- which means you have to be at peace with yourself for a start.

3) A feeling of special responsibility for envisioning a future that's different from a straight-line projection of the present. Trends are not destiny.

4) A hunch that most risks are there not to be avoided but to be taken.

5) A mindset that crises are normal, tensions can be promising and complexity is fun.

6) A realization that paranoia and self-pity are reserved for people who don't want to be leaders.

7) A sense of personal responsibility for the general outcome of your efforts.

8) A quality I call "unwarranted optimism;" the conviction that there must be some more upbeat outcome than would result from adding up all the available expert advice.

The church needs navigators tuned to the voice of God, not map readers. Navigational skills have to be learned on the high seas and in the midst of varying conditions produced by the wind, waves, currents, fogbanks, darkness, storm clouds and perilous rocks.

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My comments:

Movements "move-" Anything alive grows and changes. Anything dead changes not. Today's Army is growing where it is changing and getting better. Our Army is dying where it remains the same it always has been.

3) Trends are not destiny- If it looks like it will go in a straight line it probably won't. I don't know a single story in the Bible where the outcome could have been obviously projected from the current situation.

4) Most risks need to be taken- Hallelujah! Now we're talking! An army is not meant to be a "safe" place. We are at war. A turtle never gets anywhere unless he sticks his neck out. I am a risk taker, but most of my career I have not been allowed to do so. When I have been given that option, I can point to great things God has done through those risks.

5) Crises are normal- "The church is a mess!" We're dealing with people and that alone means things will be unusual at best. Starting from this understanding, we can move through each crisis certain that God has the future in his hands.

6) Self pity- Wouldn't the Enemy love to keep us in this frame of mind? Oh, woe is me!

7) Personal responsibility- with responsibility comes trust. At least it should work that way! If I am given a responsibility, I should be given the trust to follow through to the best of my abilities and then stand on the outcome.

I call this "faith!" God plus a little faith means the outcome is much bigger than any of us could imagine! Why do we ever limit God?

Tuned to the voice of God- It's not about what I want to do- it's about what God wants me to do. How can I know that without listening to his voice? I fear too many leaders in this Army listen to their own voice and believe it must be what God wants. I have often found what God wants scares me; I don't want to take that risk! But I must, if it is in fact, his voice.

This thought provoking blurb was sent to me today (minus my comments) from one of my leaders. It is encouraging to see this coming from that position in today's Army. This is the kind of leader I want to follow and the kind of leader I want to be.

Let's move!