Mistakes Leaders Make
By Dave Kraft
Show me a leader who never makes a mistake and I’ll show you a leader who has never made anything.
Affection for Jesus cannot be replaced by achievement for Jesus
Ministry idolatry is loving the work of the Lord more than the Lord of the work.
Ministry cannot become a mistress, taking the place of Jesus. I John 5:21 and Col. 3:4 teaches us to keep away from idols. Our hearts are idol factories. We must confess as David saying, against thee and thee only I have sinned (Ps. 51).
Don’t allow comparing take place of contentment.
Be content with who you are, where you are, what you are doing, and what God is doing through you.
So often it seems we hire people based on their competence (what they can do) and wind up letting them go based on their character (what they have become).
I find that extended time spent in serious meditation of scriptural truth changes the way I view things—especially myself!
If you really, truly believe that everything you have and are (gifts, personality, experiences, upbringing, education, capacity, limitations, intelligence, opportunities, blessing, and fruit) are sheer gifts (as The Message paraphrases it), why do you need to become prideful, compare and compete, or be envious of others?
ALLOWING PLEASING PEOPLE TO REPLACE PLEASING GOD
Making it the habit of your life to please people is a losing proposition. There is room for only one person when it comes to whom you really serve. Luke 6:26; Gal. 1:10; Acts 4:19–20
In the West we function with a “faster, better, bigger” mind-set in most Christian leadership settings. We equate busyness with spirituality.
Good doers don’t necessarily make good leaders.
Very few leaders who honestly, gracefully, and promptly deal with conflict. Many leaders are “relational cowards.
The primary role of a leader is to develop leaders.
Moses was to select men who
• were able(competence);
• fearedGod(relationship with God);
• were trustworthy(character/relationships);
• hated a bribe(character/relationships);and
• were rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens (capacity:gifting)
You have two choices in your leadership. Do everything yourself or get others to help you carry the load.
Numbers 11:16–17
Our willingness and determination to work through others, more than anything else, may well define our effectiveness and success in ministry.
Today is the day of the team and collaborative leadership, not “the Lone Ranger.”
I’m always looking for is the one who does ministry through people, not for people or with people. Delegate or suffocate, which will it be?
(1) Inviting the right people to get on the team bus based on character and chemistry; and (2) Getting the right people in the right seats on the team bus based on competency and capacity.
That is why, if possible, it is always best to “hire from within,” so you know what a person can and has done rather than what they tell you they think they can do.
It’s not what you know, but what you do, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, with what you know that makes the difference.
Maturity is erroneously equated with how much you know, how many Sunday school ribbons you have, how faithful you are at church activities, and if you can on any and all occasions be the “Bible Answer Man.” People are admired as they spit back the right answers and information. They are wrongly assumed to be godly, mature Christians and sadly find themselves stepping into leadership roles.
Here is a good formula to remember: Information + meditation + repentance +
application=transformation.
When trust is missing, it is the beginning of the end of any relationship.
At the heart of a controlling leader might be insecurity and fear.
• Fear that someone might out shine me;
• Fear that something might go wrong;
• Fear that someone’s failure might tarnish my reputation;
• Fear that others might not do things as perfectly as I would do them.