Leading You

The hardest person to lead is yourself. Yet without the ability to lead yourself you will be in a much more difficult place in trying to lead others. I define self-leadership this way: spending time, energy and money on growing you.

You only have so much time, energy and money. Spend some on yourself. Does that sound selfish to you? Why? How can you lead others if you can’t take care of yourself?

Invest in yourself to gain wisdom. Here are some people you can seek wisdom from:

1. People you know;
2. People you don’t know; and
3. Virtual people.

People you know. There is a great book by Bob Beaudine called the Power of Who. https://powerofwho.wordpress.com/thebook/. This is a great place to start to understand how you already know everyone you need to know to be successful. But you need to invest time, energy and money to maintain those relationships that can restore you, encourage you, give you wisdom and, hopefully, help you along your path.

2017 was a difficult year for me physically. I was in great pain in my arm and neck and was slowly losing the functionality needed to lift things or even play guitar. I was on pain meds, in physical therapy, chiropractic care etc. and while those things stemmed the pain a bit they did not provide me with the functionality I was used to. I researched as much as I could and ending up flying to Dallas to what I understood to be the foremost surgeon of a particular procedure. Long story short, he indicated I was not a candidate for that procedure but rather should seek out a more regular surgery. I flew home that night and picked up my son from a friend’s house. I described to my friend the situation (he is a Dr.) and he said he would check into it for me. I left his house around 10p.

By 7 a.m. the next morning I had an appointment with the Chief Medical Officer of the NFL who had been performing this specific surgery for decades and now only did this procedure for friends and family. The surgery was performed within that month and I’ve been pain and medicine free for over a year now with full range of motion.

That result came from the Power of Who. There is no way I had any direct connection to such a physician. But I knew people who did (even though I didn’t know it at the time).

So I ask you. Are you investing in relationships such that in your time of need you have a team that is willing and able to go to bat for you? That is part of self leadership. Investing in others not only helps them but can also bring a reward to you as well.

People you don’t know. Spending time with people you don’t know can affect your belief system and will increase your wisdom and understanding. Too much of today’s society believes that opinion trumps understanding. In fact there are often times people require you to have an opinion (See FaceBook and other social media for verification of that).

But to get to the point where you refine what you believe comes from investing in reading the stories of people you don’t know. (Perhaps that is what you are doing in reading this.) For example, have you read biographies, theological treatises, business books, or adventure stories about people you don’t know? These can help refine what you think and believe and can greatly increase your understanding.

Please do not shut out your potential by listening to or getting information only from your peers. We have thousands of years of documented history to learn from. For example, here is how I try to discern what God is saying to me: I read what the Bible says; I read what the church has said about what the Bible says; and I listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to me. Don’t miss out on the second step. The wise men and women who came before you can really help you sort out your beliefs about a lot of topics if only you will read what they have said.

Here is another area of People you don’t know that maybe you haven’t thought about before. Have you visited churches or attended conferences from a different expression of the Body of Christ than what you normally attend? You will find that Christendom is much broader and wider than you think.

Many of us attend a particular type of church. We get the same perspective (one that we agree with) every Sunday. I challenge you to visit another church or attend a conference from a different Christian perspective to widen your ability to maybe increase your wisdom in specific areas.

I have attended a Vineyard Church for over 25 years. That is where I call home. We seek to be the Radical Middle between conservative evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. The question then is how you can be in the middle of something if you don’t have any experience with either side of the spectrum?

So in order to help me to better understand what I believe, I exposed myself and my family to experiences on both sides. We have gone to conferences and heard teaching from very conservative circles as well as very charismatic circles. Each has taught us something about other believers and about ourselves and helped to firm up what I believe.

Virtual people. Of course, we cannot finish this topic without touching on the wide range of virtual opportunities that exist today. Podcasts, youtube.com etc. Some of my current favorites to listen to on a wide range of topics are Robert Morris, Craig Groetchel, Eric Worre, Jim Rohn, Erwin McManus, Daniel Coyle, Tom Big Al Schreiter, etc. There are virtually endless opportunities to learn and self-lead if you take the time to do so.

David Cassidy died in late 2017 and his daughter said his last words were “so much wasted time.” You have the opportunities before you to make sure that those are not your last words. Being a leader means you need to self-lead which requires your investment of time, energy and money. Make the most of what you’ve got.