Kingfisher Leadership
1st February 2017
Kingfisher Leadership news My top four leadership lessons (we will unpack these over the next couple of issues):
Leadership lessons I have learned- part one
I did not appreciate the importance of tending my own I have been in various leadership roles for most of soul. Laying down our lives for the my Christian life, which now spans 37 years. These sheep and pouring our lives out like a roles have ranged from leading drink offering are very small groups, being part of a biblical practices, but unless local leadership team, pastoring we take steps to tend our My big local churches, leading leaders own souls, maintaining a and overseeing an international healthy spiritual life, we will leadership network. Although these are have nothing to give and mistake not widely differing leadership will quickly burn out.
prioritising the
situations, the lessons I have
I have allowed my learned over those 37 yeas of tending of my leadership calling to being a Christian and 36 years become blurred. All own soul. Learn of leadership are relevant to all leaders need to respond to from my mistake! of these categories. Although crises by putting on life lessons can only really be whatever ‘hat’ is needed: a learned through experience, I ‘firefighters’ hat’ if there is a wish someone had flagged up fire that needs putting out, a for me in advance the most important lessons I ‘police hat’ if there is an intervention would need to learn. Over the next few issues of that needs to happen, and so on. Leadership News, I want to highlight some of these However, that hat should only be worn really important lessons. Here’s the first one: short-term. If the leader has no strategy for how they will take it off, You can’t pastor others if you don’t pastor they will end up having no space to yourself. wear the hat that represents their Perhaps the biggest mistake I have made over 36 actual calling. I let conflict become personal. Leaders will always be the focal point for peoples’ unhappiness and unresolved issues. Being that focal point can
years of leading others is the lack of attention I have given to looking after my own soul. Leaders tend to be ‘others-focussed’ by nature and will work long hours and put up with a great deal in order to see the mission fulfilled. As such, they commonly tend to overlook the need to look after their own soul - their own emotional life, the balance they need between 1 giving out and receiving,