Leadership is fun. It’s something that I enjoy learning about, teaching others about and doing personally. But there are days when leadership hurts. If you are a leader, you know what I am talking about. There are days as you lead that you have to make tough decisions – decisions that affect the lives of other people in the organization. People disagree with decisions, decisions impact people differently, and perspectives vary depending on your place in the organization.
So, what do you do when leadership hurts?
- Lead with character. Have the character to back up your leadership decisions. If people know that you have character, they will ultimately trust you in the process.
- Seek the input of others. Don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Seek the input of those that you trust within the organization so that they can carry the burden with you and help you make the best decision.
- Make the tough decisions in spite of the pain. Some days I want to make a decision to avoid the pain. That decision will only cause more pain in the future.
- Say I’m sorry when it needs to be said. Leaders make mistakes! Sometimes you need to say, “I’m sorry. I messed that up and I own it.”
- Have someone that you can talk to inside and outside of the organization. I have guys that I can trust completely outside of the church and others that I trust completely inside of the church. Make sure that they are wise people who tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear!
- Get away often. If you make lots of leadership decisions, you need time off. Take care of yourself spiritually, physically and emotionally.
No matter where you serve in your organization, you will make a leadership decision that hurts.
What would you add to the list?
So often we don’t keep the perspective that leaders suffer through some of their decisions. Sometimes the right decision means that you have to do the very thing you don’t want to do. Great perspective. Makes me want to be sure I encourage leaders more often.