Dare Great Things

It goes without saying that our culture today is facing a crisis of truth.  Ideas and customs we once held dear are being questioned and our young people seem to be bereft of sure guides for what life is all about.  But was it that much different at the time of Christ?  And how did Jesus respond to the difficulty of the people of his day to embrace truth?  When Jesus formed his twelve apostles he formed them as apostles of truth and sent them to teach the nations in his name.  What impact does that have for us as leaders today? 

Following the way of the Lord obviously is the right thing to do.  It’s a good thing and should make us happy.  Why then is it so often marked by difficulty?  Why wouldn’t God make our path an easy one?  If we go to the New Testament we see that actually it never was easy and when our Lord was forming his disciples to be bold proclaimers of his Word he formed them through challenge and difficulty.  Learning how he did it with them then can make us better leaders now. 

When it comes to making leaders nobody does it better than God himself.  Studying what scripture tells us about how Jesus himself trained leaders is the ultimate pattern for how we can advance in leadership today.  In this ten part series I want to study the elements that are essential to this leadership formation.  Prominent amongst those many features is the fact that Jesus formed his apostles to live in a community.  A veritable band of brothers.  This was no accident but has great fruits for them and for us today. 

When it comes to learning how to lead no one can teach us better than Christ.  And for Christians who are trying to lead their world Christ is the ultimate and best reference point.  So how did he do it?  When he had his disciples to form in order to make them the leaders that he wanted them to be – how did he approach it?  In this first of a ten part series we try to answer those questions.  And let Jesus speak and form us as leaders today.  Christian leadership is the way of every disciple – then and now.

A leader could have the best strategy in the world but if he’s unable to make a choice on how to implement it his strategy will be meaningless.  And yet is precisely here that many of us struggle.  Making a choice seems irrevocable and sometimes choosing one way in preference to another seems like closing the door on perfectly good opportunities.  But then again not choosing is also a choice and it’s a choice that won’t bring us to where we need to go.  How does our faith in God help us with this dilemma?   How does it help us to be leaders who decide?

In the Gospel our Lord tells us to be as cunning as serpents and as simple as doves.  What does it mean to be cunning as a serpent and how could our Lord possibly want us to be cunning?  Anyone involved in leadership knows that leaders need to be strategic.  They need to think ahead of the curve and find a plan for achieving the great things that they set out to do.  Could this be what Christ meant?  How do Christians live and thinks strategically at the service of their love?

The ability to cast an effective vision is much more than coming up with great ideas.  Ideas require planning in order to be effective and planning requires choice and focus.  But as we all know our choice and focus can sometimes be wrong.  That’s because strategy itself depends upon our awareness.  Being alert, being aware, and being attentive is the secret for making great plans.  Let’s take a look at how this dovetails with our faith to help us lead everywhere in our lives. 

One of the most important aspects to any leadership is your ability to have ideas.  Casting a vision and showing where we want to go is essential to have anyone follow us.  But what is the difference between having ideas and having good ideas?  What makes a potential idea or a future vision something that is captivating and true?  Our Christian faith helps us here – God will help us to be temperate, to not be afraid to prioritize, and to be open to the great things he wants to do through us.

The easiest way to get lost in doing anything is to not know what you are trying to do to begin with.  Anytime we’re called to lead a project of any kind, our leadership begins with vision.  But what if we can’t find a vision?  Is there something deeper at the root of being able to cast a vision going forward?  There is – we call it the power to dream.  Dream is the power within a leader to reach forward to something which you do not yet possess and its roots lay in healing our ability to desire things. 

All great leaders dare to dream but what do you do when the dreams have gone dry?  Where does our power to come up with great ideas or great initiatives come from?  In the Christian view of leadership, it comes from deep within our hearts made in the image and likeness of God.  Which is why the redeeming power of Christ to heal us and our sense of ourselves is the key to unlocking our desire to dare great things for Christ.  Journey with us as we explore self-acceptance and its power to change our lives. 

There are a plethora of books and articles written about leadership today.  But most of them focus on leadership as if it were an individual enterprise – almost like something the leader does in a vacuum.  In fact, however, leadership requires leading others which means our relationship with others and ability to get them to join our cause is at the heart of what we’re doing.  Does our faith in Christ give us an advantage here?  How does a Christian leader form a team and motivate them to give the very best of themselves. 

The key that determines the success of every great endeavor is whether or not we actually do it.  Planning, scheming, dreaming, all of these things are fine but in the final analysis only doing a deed will get the deed done.  But getting things done is hard.  Things can arise that we did not plan energy can wane situations can change.  It’s a good thing that God is on our side and leading out of a place of faith helps you to bend and not break. 

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  The same could be said about the road to failure.  The difference between success and failure is often the ability to try.  But this is exactly what is difficult for many of us.  We can have the greatest intentions and the most noble aspirations but passing into action seems to be on of the hardest things to do.  Does faith offer us any remedy?  Does grace give us any advantage in taking the plunge of leadership? 

All of us want to be influential in our lives.  We want to be successful parents, great business leaders, powerful leaders in our community and we know that all of our influence flows from our actions and all of our actions flow from our intentions and desires.  But intentions are not good enough.  Great leaders know how to build on good intentions and make effective plans to really hit the mark.  Our Catholic faith shows us this in many ways and our faith can provide a priceless tool as we fight for vision.

It seems self evident to say that all leadership begins with vision but that begs the question, “where does vision begin?” For many people finding a vision is a very difficult thing to do.  In the face of so many problems and challenges how can we come up with good solutions.  The truth be told God has a lot to do with healing our ability to dream.  His grace in us repairs the fundamental structure of leadership by allowing us to recapture our ability to cast a vision.

Leadership has many definitions but all of them have one thing in common:  people have to follow.  Regardless of how good your idea is or how passionate you are about it, if you can’t bring other people along with you, you will not be able to lead successfully.  But effectively sharing your vision and your passion is more than just a natural talent.  It’s a skill that can be studied and harnessed.  And what is more, it is an especial gift that Christ gives to the world through his Christian leaders.

Everybody who is successful knows that great ideas are only the beginning.  You need a strategic plan, you need helpers along the journey, and you need the staying power of pure determination.  Does our faith have anything to do with this?  Does being a Christian give an advantage to leaders?  Or is there any overlap between the faith and the demands of our practical life?  We believe that there is and one of the best places to see it is in the beauty of grit.

Getting things done.  How do I pass from ability to action?  I may know what is right, I may know what I need to do, but actually doing it is a whole other thing.  What’s more, sometimes the risks involved of actually doing something and putting my name to paper are quite daunting.  What if I’m wrong?  Can I afford to pay the consequences for my choices?  Many people prefer to simply hide.  How can my faith in God help me to pass from potential into action and make the difference I really want to make?

One of the hardest parts about leading is making choices.  It seems that if you choose one thing, you can’t have another.  And the perspective of missing out on something can make us afraid.  How can we be sure that what we chose is really the best way?  Would life be easier if we didn’t have to make those decisions at all?  I find it fascinating that God forces us to make decisions.  It’s almost like God isn’t afraid of making us choose.  How can we as leaders make the best decisions?  What’s the secret to choosing well?

When it comes to leadership, so much can be said and so much has been said but sometimes it can be a little confusing.  What exactly is meant by leadership?  What is not leadership?  What comes first and defines the rest?  In the approach we take at the Saint John Leadership Network, leadership begins with what we call aspiration.  Profoundly put, this means the ability we have to dream.  In today’s course we examine where dreams come from and how to recover its power in our lives.