Leadership is Messier Than a Book

I'm continuing to read, "Axiom" by Bill Hybels, and I continue to get some great leadership lessons out of it. Here are a few I've read recently:

"Throughout my entire ministry, one thing has almost always been true: If I communicate the right mission at the right time of the year in the right way and with the right motivation behind it, the sheep do not disappoint." From the axiom, "Never Beat the Sheep."

Then there's this axiom, which says a lot without any explanation: "Every Soldier Deserves Competent Command".

As a person whose love language is words of affirmation, I really like this one:

"Effective ministry leadership has a lot to do with keeping spirits buoyed and people uplifted so that they feel appreciated for going above and beyond what they would give in a typical job. I'm a firm believer that we're never going to end up with the most God-honoring results possible unless we're all having fun along the way." From the axiom, "Are We Still Having Fun?"

I was thinking about that last one this morning, and thinking about some of the leadership in our church. My immediate thought was, "Gee, I wish so-n-so would lead like this." However, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart then and stated His own axiom to me:

"Leadership is Messier Than a Book."

You see, it's easy to read these great leadership principles, from great leaders like Hybels, Maxwell, or even Eugene Peterson, and think, "Wow, I wish I could lead like that," or, "I wish my boss would lead like that." In some respects, that not a bad thing, as there is always room for improvement. However, it becomes a bad thing when you start doing the comparison game, and not celebrating what's being done well. Even as I read Hybels' book, he's gracious enough to allow me as a reader a glimpse into his life to see where he has really blown it over the years. He's hurt people, driven people out of the church, said yes when he should have said no, etc. But even these lessons are cleaned up with the perspective of time and leaving out the messy details of before and after that he had to work through.

So, as I read and learn how to lead - and make mistakes, and learn from them, then make them again with somebody different - I am reminded that these principles are great, and we should work to put them into practice. As I sit under, or watch others sit under, church leadership around me, and they make mistakes and learn from them - or don't seem to - I wish that they could learn this particular principle so they could lead better and get the results they are really looking for. However, through it all, I'm reminded that all of this is a learning process. I'm reminded to pray for those leaders as they lead, that they would learn. I'm also reminded to give them and myself grace as we make mistakes - even costly ones, or ones that hurt others. I'm reminded that living in community is more about learning to forgive like Christ, and less about making things run without conflict. I still want to see good leadership, but part of good leadership on my part - and good following - is accepting people where they are, while praying that they'll grow, and, in the meantime, loving, helping, encouraging, serving, and forgiving when things get messy. That includes doing all those things for myself, too.