Thoughts on Leadership Based on James 3
At my work there is a lot of demand for leadership. I used to be very reluctant but am now more open. I've now gotten some leadership experience and am in a transition stage. Below are my thoughts I wrote down in my journal last night:
I need to not ask for leadership. It brings great responsibility. God will bring it to me in His own time. The spotlight of leadership shows my faults and stumblings. I am not perfect.
What I say, in any context, matters. It can cause much pain if I'm not careful. I need to think through everything I say as work is just one aspect of our lives. How am I impacting others? What I say reflects who I am. Do the thoughts of others about me reflect who I should be?
Our speech can be a blessing or a curse. I can literally help or hurt someone's career, and, as it goes, their life for better or worse. What can I do with my speech to build others up?
I need to be consistently in a mode of building up others. I need to learn to be much wiser in the times I need to be critical. I need to lean on the positives even in a negative situation. I am either going to be a positive or a negative infuence with my speech. I can't have it both ways.
Do my deeds reflect wisdom and understanding? Are my deeds done out of envy and selfishness? Do I need to step up to leadership because of the pride issue? I need to wait and reflect. If called I will step up but not before.
Pride is the most evil of things that cause me to stumble. A so-called injustice needs to be thought out. If I'm passed over for something is my pride hurt? I need to make sure my intenstions are always good and motivated by wisdom and charity, not envy and pride. With envy and pride comes chaos and unnecessary energy wasted.
James 3:17-18 - "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
I need to seek mentors who are motivated the right way and who don't leave a trail of chaos and dead bodies.
These were my writings last night and writing them out again helps re-enforce what I need to remember. Read James 3! The last 2 weeks our pastor covered James 3 and I just found it so applicable to workplace leadership.
Posted by Tim at June 6, 2005 10:29 PM
