John Maxwell teaches on “The Law of the Lid” in which he reminds leaders that every leader is the lid to their organization.  No matter how much we wish it, the team will never exceed the capabilities and qualities of the leader.  This means that when you see growth come to a stall, you as the leader, are probably part of the issue. However, this doesn’t mean its hopeless.  

Coming to the end of yourself is the beginning of growth.  Only when you come to the realization that you’re at your lid can you begin to look for pathways of growth.  If you’re unaware of your own limitations, then you won’t actively seek help and resources to improve.  Acknowledging gaps in your leadership capabilities is the first step to closing them. 

God has something next for you.  We never stop growing and we don’t need to stay where we are.  The God we serve ALWAYS has something next for us.  He is constantly calling you into deeper waters and preparing you for your next.  Living in that reality will always have you looking for and expecting more from God.  Listen to His voice and go where He leads. 

Your calling is deeply personal but also collaborative.  Most of us have a personal recollection of when God called us into the ministry (I.e. “God called me at the altar when I was 14”).  This call has sustained us in pretty hard times.  However, our call is not in isolation.  There are other people that will affirm, refine, and redirect our call as we head out into the ministry.  We don’t make it very far on our own and we would do well to take a collaborative approach to our call.   Let’s walk in relationship with others and listen to those around us. People that say, “I’m a self-made leaders” are usually very lonely and don’t have much of a hope of developing themselves further. 

The hardest person to lead is yourself.  Most of us want other people to follow us but we can’t even lead ourselves.  Put it this way, if you wouldn’t follow you, why would anyone else?  Successful leaders lead themselves first before they lead others.  Have the hard conversations.  Come face to face with who you are.  Get the resources and apply your learning to yourself.  Be the leader that people will follow because they see you leading yourself. 

The quicker you take responsibility, the quicker you can solve the problem.  Most leaders are caught in the cycle of blame where they say “our people won’t __________”.  They blame volunteer decline on the people.  They blame giving decline on the people.  They blame tardiness or disengagement on the people.  Here’s the thing, YOU are the leader.  You need to lead them to do the things that you want them to do.  Craig Groeschel encourages leaders to use the sentence “we have not yet led our people to _______”  whenever you’re talking about a problem.  This way you can take responsibility and begin to put plans in place to solve the issue.  Taking responsibility is both frightening and empowering.  

How are you leading yourself?  What gets in your way?  Tell us and let’s go together. 

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