8 More Challenging and Convicting Thoughts from Leaders

Over the years, I’ve written posts about thoughts and statements I’ve learned from leaders in my life. Here are a few of those posts, followed by eight more statements that have caught my attention:

10 Leadership Thoughts to Remember

10 Leadership Truths I Cling To

1. “You have my trust already because we hired you. You have to earn my distrust.” That philosophy means you serve with others with affirmation rather than suspicion. Frankly, that changes your whole attitude.
2. “If you make ministry fun, you’ll keep the best people on your team.” You have to work at it, but your staff won’t want to go elsewhere when they actually enjoy their workplace. A holy sense of humor goes a long way.
3. “A church without a little bit of chaos probably isn’t doing much.” That is, the church for whom nothing ever changes probably isn’t making much difference. Even reviewing and re-casting vision annually keeps the church active and forward-looking.
4. “If it won’t really matter a year from now, don’t get so stressed about it now.” This leader reminded us that many things will pass, and others won’t even remember the things that so bother us now. We waste energy on that kind of worry.
5. “You don’t need to make that visit by yourself.” When this faithful church member gave me this advice as a young, inexperienced, naïve pastor, little did she know that her words would save me from later heartache in this situation. I’m so grateful for her wisdom today.
6. “How you leave a ministry position is more important than how you arrived.” That’s because people remember your departure more than they do your arrival. In fact, I’ve written more about this topic in this post.
7. “There’s no pain like church pain, but don’t let it rob you of your ministry joy.” Ministry hurts deeply at times, but it also brings great rejoicing and much satisfaction. I’ve learned that the joys are worth enduring the tough times.
8. “Learn to apply to yourself the gospel of forgiveness that you preach to others.” I wish I could explain how much I needed to hear these words at the time. I was preaching the freedom of forgiveness but living in the bondage of guilt because I’d made some leadership mistakes.

What statements have you heard that have challenged you as a leader?