Unfortunately, in every level and
realm of life, we have all witnessed serious leadership failure!
It is no longer a surprise when we
read about a high-level pastor, celebrity, sports figure or politician who is
disgraced because of ethical or moral failure.
As one who has worked with many
struggling church and marketplace leaders on a very personal level for the past
30-plus years, I have made the following observations regarding warning signs
before a fall, which I teach younger leaders so they will avoid the mistakes of
the present generation of many leaders.
All of us have fallen into the
following in one way, shape or form. Hopefully we will have learned the hard
leadership lessons of life so we can pass on wisdom to the next generation!
Here are seven warning signs before
leadership failure:
First,
often before falling, a leader will cram so much into his or her schedule for a
prolonged amount of time that they don’t get enough time for personal renewal
and rest.
Much activity is not always kingdom
productivity; when a person is constantly running around from meeting to
meeting, from state to state, from event to event, without seeking God and
personal times for reflection, they do violence to their soul and will
eventually be operating on willpower and fumes instead of the Spirit of God.
This can lead to them being tempted
to escape from the pressure of life with adulterous relationships, pornography,
excess entertainment and foolish endeavors.
Activity without clarity will also
lead to making poor decisions.
When we are always in a rush, we
will not have the proper time to process things, which leads to a lack of
discernment and disastrous leadership decisions. This will compound the
pressure even more and create more work to get out of the mess we are in!
Sometimes less is more!
I am not saying leaders shouldn’t be
very busy or have a lot of responsibility.
But what I am saying is there always
has to be enough time in between events and days of meetings for daily
reflection, prayer and seeking God so that our level of discernment is high and
we are walking in the grace and power of God to do His work instead of our own
willpower and strength!
Second,
I have noticed that before falling, a leader avoids intimate contact with their
peers or overseers who can speak into their life.
They live a life of isolation, which
is very dangerous!
As busy as I am, there are a number
of mentors and spiritual sons that I open up to who give input and prayer; I am
always open to hearing God’s voice through their prayers or exhortations to me.
The more responsibility I have, the more community I need to keep myself on
track!
We also need intimate relationships
to keep the human side of us active.
It is very easy to go from one
productive business meeting or anointed service to another and always be in
front of strangers or crowds of people or with leaders who don’t know us well.
There is no real community in those settings; even in the midst of a crowd we
can still isolate ourselves, because in a crowd a leader doesn’t have to be
intimate or accountable since they are the ones calling the shots, doing the
leading and speaking instead of the other way around.
Third,
a leader is heading for a fall when he or she is not spending adequate time
with their spouse and/or family.
God told us that it is not good for
man to be alone.
I have seen many leaders, especially
those who travel a lot, who are not in regular touch with their spouses and who
rarely ever spend time at home.
Being with family helps keep a
leader grounded. Without that, they will be surrounded by superficial
relationships related only to their productivity as a minister or business
person, where they are always receiving accolades (from sycophants), as opposed
to being a father, mother, husband or wife who has to constantly strive to work
hard at intimacy in their family relationships—which God intended for us to
keep us humble and grounded. A leader may get praise from everyone around him
but the spouse really knows them and will tell them like it is and keep them in
touch with reality!
Fourth,
leaders are heading for trouble when they don’t exercise self-discipline in
eating and indulging their pleasures.
If a leader cannot control their
eating patterns, then most likely that is a reflection of a larger issue; that
is, they are medicating themselves with food and most likely are vulnerable to
other lusts of the flesh that will enable them to escape from the pressures of
reality.
Obesity is a social sin that has
become acceptable in the Body of Christ, even though Jesus warns against it
(Luke 21:34).
Furthermore, when we as leaders have
bad diets, it begins to affect our minds, emotions and spirits in negative ways
because it creates sluggishness and fatigue, and clouds our spirits with
our carnality.
Many leaders have died or have
serious health issues once they hit their 40s and 50s because of a poor diet.
God will judge us if we prematurely meet Him and miss half our lives because of
our lack of discipline and obedience.
Fifth,
leaders are heading for trouble when they don’t seek God for God and only pray
and read the Bible when they have to preach a sermon or minister.
Worse than our lack of intimacy with
the Lord is the fact that we are only using Him to make a living or using His
word to achieve certain outcomes.
However good they may be, our
highest call in life is to know and love God. Matthew 7:22-23 teaches us that
we can minister for God effectively and still fail if He doesn’t know us!
Leaders who only seek God for a sermon have a professional relationship with the
Lord and will eventually not have the grace and spiritual power to deal with
all the pressures of marriage, life and ministry, which can lead to moral
failure.
Sixth,
leaders who love titles, positions and recognition, constantly join
boards, and get involved in large events for public prominence are heading for
a fall unless they repent.
When we exalt ourselves, God says He
will humble us (Luke 14:11), and he who seeks his own glory is not glory
(Proverbs 25:27).
We are not far from a fall when we
try to lift ourselves up, promote ourselves, or get involved in events without
hearing from the Lord; we are like the Pharisees who loved titles, prominent
positions, greetings in the marketplace, and to be called leader or reverend or
bishop or doctor (Matthew 23:6-7).
Leaders who are broken have learned
not to try to create names for themselves by marketing their accomplishments
and hype; they have learned that only when God exalts a person does it really
last (Psalm 75:6).
Lastly,
when leaders use people as objects for their businesses or ministries instead
of having a motivation of empowering people to walk in their purpose—when
leaders put programs over people and tasks ahead of relationships—eventually
they will have no one around them who is loyal or whom they can trust.
They will have burned many bridges
behind them because, eventually, their followers will become weary of them and
leave them! Leadership is a lonely road to walk; leaders more than anyone else
need to minister to people with a servant’s heart.
When leaders come into the ministry
with the attitude of being served instead of serving others, they develop an
entitlement mentality that can lead them to pride, arrogance and eventually to
destruction.
May God help all of us who serve the
kingdom as leaders to glory only in knowing Him (Philippians 3:7-11; Jeremiah
9:23-24)!
Source: Joseph Mattera is in demand
internationally as a speaker and consultant : His mission is to influence
leaders who influence nations : to order one of his four books or to subscribe
to his weekly newsletter go to www.josephmattera.org
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