Leadership isn’t easy, but it is simple

I have read books, attended conferences, been honed by my father, and sought out workshops on leadership. It is a topic within which there is no shortage of opinions and thought. After more than a few years of serving in leadership roles I have come to this conclusion: Leadership isn’t easy but it is simple.

Leadership really comes down to just three things:

1. To walk with transparent, inspiring, and compelling integrity.

When a leader commits to operating with both professional and personal integrity, it creates trust in those they lead. That consistency in character manifested in honesty transparency creates in others the willingness to be a part of the vision they are being called to pursue. Leaders who walk in that way woo people toward amazing accomplishments. Those who don’t simply drive them toward their desired ends. The former brings life and unity that latter only damages those caught up in the tempest of destructive leadership.

2. To engage all those in your sphere of influence with an empathy that is driven by the love found in the Father’s heart.

This is where the heaviness of leadership comes. Wearing the mantle of leadership while allowing yourself to genuinely feel the impact of your decisions on those you lead has a weight to it that has no comparison. It brings an emotional component to leading that is hard to describe. Real deep empathy takes relationship crafted over time. That means there is an investment of oneself and a willingness to be hurt in the process. When you have to make a decision you know to be correct that will bring pain to those you lead, it takes a toll. Standing by your convictions to follow the truth, even when the impact on those around you will be hard or even hurtful, takes a strength few can muster. To do so each time one is faced with such choices is almost unseen. Our nature tends to lead us down a path of compromise in an attempt to avoid conflict. One compromise done in that way leads quickly to the destruction of vision.

3. To stand with unwavering grace upon the truth of God’s Word.

This is perhaps the most decisive yet nuanced aspect of leadership. There is absolute Truth found in Scripture which is often wielded as a bludgeoning tool of divisive correction. But when that Truth is carried with a humility rooted in an understanding of one’s own failings and ongoing struggles to pursue what is good, right, and noble, it becomes the life-giving Word it was created to be. Leaders who possess a firmness of conviction about the Truth found in Jesus Christ and can deliver it with loved-filled grace will not stray from His calling and will draw people toward holiness and redemption. As a leader there is no other place upon which solid footing can be found than to stand upon the truth found in God’s Word. There is no more powerful way to lead than to do so with grace powered by humility found by understanding to Whom you belong.

Yes, leadership isn’t easy but it is simple. I have been in leadership for many years. It has been a journey filled with times of success and failure, trials and triumph, and sorrow and joy. I have not always succeeded in following the simple rules mentioned above but when I have victory, healing and progress always follow. May those things follow you as you lead where you are called.