Friday, April 29, 2011
Leadership Requires Courage (The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell)
Maxwell states in his chapter on courage that every successful leader shares something in common: "the willingness to risk" (pg.40). A willingness to risk requires that leaders possess a great deal of courage. Maxwell gives wonderful truths surrounding courage in leadership.
(1) "Courage begins with an inward battle" (pg.40).
Maxwell claims that every leader must learn to embrace fear and then fight to overcome it. He emphasizes that leaders are not fearless, but they do refuse to allow fear to keep them from standing up for what they know is right. Fear of rejection sometimes keeps me from standing up for what I believe in. Therefore, I need to have the courage to face rejection so that I may be a more effective leader. If I do not face this fear, I will consistently exchange my calling to lead for a desire to be accepted by people.
(2) "Courage in a leader inspires commitment from followers" (pg.41).
When I served as a board member in my former church in Columbus, I recall a particular incident in which I felt someone needed to stand up and challenge a particular person. But I was afraid that I would be the only person who felt this way. Once I faced my fear and found the courage to speak up, I was shocked by how many supporters quickly backed me up. Maxwell cites this great quote by Billy Graham: "When a brave [person] takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened" (pg.41).
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got this one!
ReplyDeleteI really struggle with fear and what people think of me. I feel like I have been in a personal battle with the fear of what others think of me for a while. I especially struggle with this with people in the church. There is a story in a book “Wild at Heart” that explains how a man keeps having dreams that a lion is chasing him. Every time he awakes right before the lion catches him with great fear. Elderage guides him in a meditative act of finding himself subconsciously within the dream and once again the lion is chasing him and about to catch him. But instead of running Elderage encourages his friend to turn around and ask the lion WHO ARE YOU, the lion answers …...
ReplyDeleteI AM YOUR COURAGE, why are you running from me?
Elderage explains every time we feel the prompting of God on our hearts to do something and we don’t do it because of fear, it turns into a domino effect where each time we lose a little bit of our courage.
Joshua 1:9 – LETS BE COURAGEOUS TOGETHER WITH CHRIST INSIDE OF US. Think of David dancing naked in front of the Lord, that took some courage!