Month: March 2024

March 27, 2024

We have examined several significant actions of secure leaders and recognized that secure leaders are serving leaders. They demonstrate their leadership security as they serve by encouraging, delegating, embracing differences, and accepting mistakes. These actions all lead to the final one, developing others. Developing others is both the outcome of these actions and a deliberate act of secure leaders. Apart from Jesus, Paul is perhaps the best example of a secure leader that developed many other leaders, including Apollos. When the Corinthian church started quarreling about who they should follow, Paul had this to say:  

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:5-9, NIV).

Paul’s response demonstrates why secure leaders serve as they develop others.

Secure leaders develop others because they recognize their role.  

 “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants…” Paul recognized that he was the founder of this church. But he also saw his role as a servant. He was in a role to serve others and to meet the needs they had. He served by developing Apollos, another servant. Paul was secure in his role and did not need to defend his superiority.   

An insecure leader in the same situation would loudly defend their own role and remind people of their title or position. But secure leaders do not need to argue, they recognize their role and are content to serve in the place of influence they occupy whether that is high or low.

Secure leaders develop others because they respect the gifts of others. 

“…as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it…” Paul knew his own gifts but recognized that Apollos had distinct gifts. Paul was secure in who he was called to be and had no problem with one of his disciples being gifted differently.

Insecure leaders cannot affirm the unique gifts of others, especially when they seem to outshine their own. But secure leaders respect the gifts others bring and welcome them to use those gifts to serve.  

Secure leaders develop others because they realize the vision.  

 “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” Paul was able to develop others and allow them to flourish because he realized that the vision was much bigger than him. Paul’s vision was not only to plant churches but to see a reproducing movement of churches. He realized that he could not accomplish this alone. He was secure enough to invest in developing others so the work would multiply in subsequent generations.

Insecure leaders limit the vision to what they can accomplish through others but they don’t develop others to multiply the vision for the next generations. Their focus on self produces a short-term vision. But secure leaders see a larger vision of work that will continue long after their own time. So, they invest in the lives of others, developing them to carry on the vision.

Your security as a leader matters! Consider the questions below to grow in your own leadership security.   

For further reflection and discussion:

• When I look at my own leadership, do I primarily see things I have accomplished myself or ways that I have developed others?  How does this reflect my own level of leadership security?
• How do I see my role as a leader? Do I have a need to be at the top or be recognized as the most important leader in my organization? If my title was taken away, would I be content to continue serving in whatever role I had?
• When I see gifts in others, do I feel threatened by areas in which they excel beyond me? How does this impact the way I talk about other leaders in my organization?
• Is my vision limited to what I can accomplish in my lifetime, or do I see a larger picture of what can be accomplished in the next generations?   
• Where I see insecurity in my leadership, what steps do I need to take this week to become a more secure leader? Who can I talk with that can help me grow or hold me accountable to take the steps I need to take?           

Until next time, yours on the journey,

Jon Byler  In the next issue, we’ll begin a new series.

March 13, 2024

Leaders make mistakes and those they lead make mistakes! But there are many ways that leaders respond to the mistakes. Their response indicates their own level of security as a leader. The story of Joseph is a model of leadership in many ways. When Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, it was not only a mistake but a terrible wrong done to Joseph. His response to them after he revealed himself to them is remarkable.  

⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance (Gen. 45:5-7, NIV).

The response of Joseph to his brothers indicates grace and forgiveness and the deep security he had as a leader. He models the way secure leaders view the mistakes of others.

Secure leaders accept mistakes because they understand their role towards those they serve.

Joseph acknowledges the hand of God in his own life even through the mistakes of his brothers. He sees that “it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” He was secure in understanding God’s plan for his own life and understood that the mistakes of others would not change who he was or what God wanted to do with his life. His role was given by God and was not for his own benefit, but to serve others.

Insecure leaders see mistakes of others as directly impacting their role and their value. When mistakes happen, they react based on how they perceive it will impact them. But secure leaders act out of the confidence they have in God’s control and realize that the mistakes of others do not raise or lower their call to lead.

Secure leaders accept mistakes because they care about the emotions of those they serve.  

Joseph knew his brothers would struggle with feelings of guilt and be angry at themselves. So he tells them, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here.” He was secure enough to think of how they felt, not simply about his own emotions. Joseph was emotionally healthy. He had worked through his own deep emotions and was now able to care for others.

Insecure leaders think only of their own emotions. When mistakes are made, they may react in anger, disgust, or contempt. They reflect on how the mistake of another impacts their own image. But secure leaders can focus on the emotions of the person who made the mistake and care about what they feel.

Secure leaders accept mistakes because they want the best for those they serve.

“But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”  Joseph was able to focus on his brothers and how their mistake would help provide for their own needs, not his own. He was in his position to serve others and meet their needs, not his own.  

Insecure leaders evaluate mistakes by how it will impact their own role or position.  But secure leaders are focused on what is best for those they serve and accept mistakes as an opportunity to serve. If the person who made a mistake needs encouragement, they encourage. If they need coaching, they provide it. If the person needs to experience a consequence for their mistake, they also provide that, but not from anger or a desire for revenge but out of a heart to serve. Secure leaders want the best for others.

For further reflection and discussion:  

• How have I led myself in regard to my own mistakes? Have I grown to the point that I accept my own mistakes as a part of my journey or do I expect perfection from myself? How does this impact my response when others make mistakes?
• When someone I lead makes a mistake, do I evaluate that based on how it impacts me, or how it impacts the person who made the mistake? What impact do the mistakes of others have on how I view myself and my role?
• When someone under my leadership makes a mistake, is my default response to focus on my own emotions or the emotions of the person who made the mistake? How does that impact my leadership?
• When someone I lead makes a mistake do I focus more in response on what I need or on what they need? How does this impact my leadership?           

Until next time, yours on the journey,

Jon Byler In the next issue, we’ll look at how secure leaders develop others.