A thought by John C. Maxwell from his
book, Leadershift (p. 15). HarperCollins Leadership. Kindle Edition. (Click
on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the
Have you found that true?
John says, “When leaders fail to make a necessary leadershift
because of fear or uncertainty, it only increases their fear, which results in
frustration. The greater the inaction of the leaders, the more opportunities
they lose because opportunities are always surrounded by uncertainty. All good
things include uncertainty, and overcoming uncertainty requires courage.”
He goes on, “I like what Brad Lomenick said about courage in his
book The Catalyst Leader. He quoted my friend Andy Stanley, a wonderful
leader who founded North Point Church. Andy was speaking to Catalyst leaders,
but his words also described leaders who leadershift:
“Many, many
great things have begun with a single act of courage, throughout history and
today. A person steps out and makes one courageous decision and that one domino
starts many other dominoes falling. We have to step out and take that first
step, and we may never know the ripple effect of that one courageous decision.
Catalyst leaders—your decision to do something courageous may result in
something greater than you ever imagined. Step out. . .
“Fear in
leadership usually is connected to the uncertainty about the future. But
uncertainty about the future is never going to go away. I tell leaders all the
time—uncertainty is why there are leaders. Uncertainty gives you job security.
Wherever there is uncertainty, there will always be a need for leaders, which
means always stepping out into the unknown, always requiring courage.”
John then says, “Betty Bender, former president of the Library
Administration and Management Association, said, ‘Anything I’ve ever done that
ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death.’ When faced with
uncertainty, as leaders we need to move forward courageously.”
And that is the truth, isn’t it?
Comments
Post a Comment