The best leadership, in my opinion, comes out of the resolve a leader has made in his or her heart.
The resolve of a leader is a pre-determined approach to way a leader will lead. These are personal convictions, values, personally held beliefs, which shape decisions a leader makes and the way responds to others.
Your personal resolve – about anything – always determines the way you respond and your actions towards it. (I recently preached on how this principle impacts our spiritual life. You can listen to this message HERE.)
Most often these resolutions are made even prior to being in a leadership position.
The resolve of a leader is powerful. In fact, if leader wants to improve his or her leadership, he or she must often improve first their personal resolve.
So, do you want to improve your leadership?
Here are 10 personal resolutions guaranteed to improve your ministry leadership:
I resolve to never compromise my character in my search for progress.
I resolve to consistently be walking by faith – willing to risk for the sake of God’s call on my life.
I resolve to pray earnestly before I make major decisions and solicit others to join me in discerning God’s direction for our team and my leadership.
I resolve to extend grace freely, empower others, and realize mistakes made and learned from are a part of healthy discipleship.
I resolve to protect my family time – never compromising it in the name of ministry.
I resolve to make my personal health a priority and discipline myself to stay as healthy as possible.
I resolve to allow trials and turmoil to draw me closer to Christ and shape my character for good.
I resolve to love the seemingly unloveable – even those with whom I do not agree – responding to darkness around me with the love and light of Christ.
I resolve to pray for my enemies, extend grace liberally, offer forgiveness readily and never hold a grudge.
I resolve to surround myself with wise and moral influencers, allowing at least a few people access to know and speak into the deepest and most private parts of my life.
Which of these resolves do you need to make at this point in your ministry leadership?
Be honest.
Right now I am working on allowing trials to shape my character for good…to be more like Jesus…found wanting nothing more than him. My car recently blew up (transmission) and while we could go get a loan to fix this car or get a new one, I felt that our family needed this trial to reorient our lives for a season. Being a one car family of six is forcing me to think differently about how I organize my day and my plans so that there is more space for relationships with family and friends. It's also forcing me to be more present in my community rather than spread out across the city. I'm seeing with different eyes and listening with different ears to the needs in my immediate community. It's been challenging on our family schedule, but the Lord has been gracious and we are learning to count it all joy in every situation we find ourselves in. Thanks for the timely resolutions.
Thank you. Praying for you now.
I love these!
I also resolve to lead by grace not demanding perfection
I resolve to disciple based on principle not rules
Great post
Love your additions!
"I resolve to never compromise my character in my search for progress." — I like resolution the most. It is a much needed reminder for me.
Today, I see many comprise casually for the sake of their progress in their career. Sometimes, people who refuse to compromise are mocked and labelled as stupid/dumb. Pampering, toeing the boss' line, etc have become norm of the day. Mutilple instances of scandals and scams (like Enron, Worldcom, Ponzi Scheme) have taken place solely becuase of compromises over values and ethics in one's life.
Thank you Uma. Unfortunately much of what we see in the world can be found in ministry and the church. We must be on guard.
I have found that deciding never to hold a grudge is the best bridge builder in my relations with others. Letting go of a grudge is not passive though. Sometimes it means letting a person know that they are forgiven but you are still hurting. However, a message like that can never be conveyed without humility. Humility is absent if you are trying to control someone, that is called manipulation.
I like that Tim and agree with your philosophy. Thank you.
Lately I've been working more on loving the unlovable. Why? Well, the bottom line is that they're very time-consuming. It's often true that the people hardest to love are the ones that need it the most. But when you give that love, they cling. But I'm learning. In my experience, every single person end up being more lovable that I thought they were. They seem to become more, normal. And God always seems to redeem the time.
That's a great approach. One at a time and start with a most important one. Thank you.