About Me

My photo
This blog is simply meant to bring God the glory; no more and no less. I'd love to hear from you! Comments, questions, conversation. rebecca.labriola@gmail.com

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Leadership 101. Wednesday, June 10. 2015.

“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does He give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does He give them opportunities to love each other?”
Morgan Freeman as God in Evan Almighty

Often, things don’t come in the pretty little packages that we imagine they would.

Patience doesn’t come in the form of patience
but rather,
the opportunities to be patient.

Courage doesn’t come in the form of courage,
but rather,
the opportunities to be courageous.

Love doesn’t come in the form of love,
but rather,
the opportunities to show love.

Leadership doesn’t come in the form of leading,
but rather,
the opportunities to be a servant.

We often think that leadership says,
“I am above you.
You are below me.
Do as I say.
And by the way,
you’re doing everything wrong”.

We lead with our egos.

This hurts people.
It puts people in crappy positions.
And they have to make decisions that they don’t want to make.
And then we aren’t raising effective leaders.

We put people down when our egos are inflamed.
Ego engulfs us
and leaves no room for others.
Ego extinguishes others’ spirits.

I’m not the best leader
but I do know the most important part of leadership.
Service.

That there is Leadership 101.
You just need one word.
Service.

Don’t worry about the leading.
Just serve.
The leading will fall into place.

True leadership asks,
“How can I help you?
How can I ensure that you are being the best you?
Where can I serve alongside you?
What are your goals, dreams, and aspirations?
How can we get there?
What can I do to be a better leader?”

Leading through service elevates the lives of others.
There is no ego.
Just a servant’s heart.
A heart humble enough to let others’ spirits grow.
A heart wise enough to know that,
just because someone else's spirit is illuminated,
does not take away the light from your spirit.  

My friend Steve Schultz put it this way:
Lead. Love. Elevate.

Brilliant.
Succinct.
Spot-on.

“The world needs good leaders.”
Many people have said this.
Most recently,
I heard this from someone who is far from a good leader.
I wanted to scoff.
Actually,
I think I did.
And then I gossiped about it later on,
when I should have taken it as an opportunity.
An opportunity to be a good leader.
I missed it.

But there’s tomorrow.
And the next day.
And the day after that.

His mercies are new each morning.
His graces abound each sunrise.
So too should ours.

Let us lead as Jesus did.
Through love.

Lead. Love. Elevate.