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1. THE POWER OF INTROSPECTION Healthy leaders make regular and realis- tic evaluations of their overall health. A realistic evaluation doesnt include your best friend or your strongest supporters telling you how awesome you are. Real growth requires taking an honest look inside. Significant moves forward entail hearing the hard things. Ministry is such that if you are doing it right you get hurt. We try to shield ourselves from pain but in doing this we also cut ourselves off from construc- tive feedback. Genuine introspection constructive feedback and action move us forward keeping us strong for maxi- mum impact. 2. THE POWER OF RESPONSIBILITY Theres a crisis of leadership today in which people want to blame complain and pass the buck but few want to do the hard things. Several times I have come into a new leadership role facing the ramifications of bad decisions made by my predecessors. Ive learned some- thing about cleaning up messes left by other people You can blame or make progress but you cant do both at the same time. If youre going to gain ground in a difficult situation you have to stay focused. Its tempting to get angry and rant about how hard it is to clean up the mess you have inherited. But it takes a tremendous amount of energy to blame and stay angry. And it takes all the strength you have to come up with solutions and implement them. Leaders and organizations move forward as they own the problem and take responsibility to solve it. 3. THE POWER OF SEEING CHALLENGES AS OPPORTUNITIES When I was invited to serve as director of a womens ministry the department was almost 75000 in debt. The teams morale was low and we desperately needed to unify. A three-year plan to eradicate the debt was suggested but that plan was never needed because in seven months our team was stronger than ever the debt was fully paid and we were in the black for the current year In hindsight we see that the debt was the perfect setup for an incredible victory. There were many components that went into slaying that debt but one thing is certainit was a team effort. What challenge do you have that you are not seeing in the right light 4. THE POWER OF REPLENISHMENT Some leaders love to talk about how overwhelmed they are and how they cant recall the last time they took a break. Healthy leaders dont wear a lack of rest as a badge of honor. Needing replenishment is not a blessing or something to brag about. Gods Word commands us to rest. A leader who refuses to take a break is doing so from a broken place likely rooted in an unhealthy desire for affirmation. Others view exhausting themselves as some sort of spiritual achievement. We arent supposed to lead alone or to the point of utter exhaustion real leadership is about teamwork. Replenishment refocuses usbody soul and spirit. If you feel like youre losing your leadership edge maybe the answer isnt to work harder or go to a conference. Perhaps God is calling you to take a nap. 5. THE POWER OF ELEVATING OTHERS Elevating others to reach their full potential is what leadership is about. Ephesians 411 says that we are to equip people to do works of service for the building of the Kingdom of God. Healthy leadership raises others up with a desire for the one being led to not only succeed but exceed. A strong leader amplifies the voices of as many people as possible encourag- ing them to share with others what God has done in their lives. Many leaders will look for opportunities to be used in setting up tables serving food cleaning up or distributing materials. But how many leaders do the work of developing people in sharing their story with others As we tell what God has done for us people experience life change through Christ. 6. THE POWER OF LISTENING Listening to people talk about themselves is one of the greatest ways to make a connection. Ernest Hemingway 30 WWW.AGRM.ORG MAYJUNE 2016