This post is part of our Sunday Series titled “Articles of Faith.”
We investigate leadership lessons from the Bible.
See the whole series here. Published only on Sundays.
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Management Question:
Do you approach each new day with a set of logical convictions in your head that help you reach your goals? Are you focused intently on achievement, winning, and gain? If so, bravo! You have a great sense of objective management skills and behaviors. You are being important.
This is needed for results.
Leadership Question:
Are you also checking that “gyroscope” in your heart to see if you are being an actual caring, empathetic, and understanding human being while you achieve your results? Are you getting your results through healthy relationships? If so, then even better! You have a great sense of subjective leadership skills and behaviors. You are now being influential.
This is needed for excellence!
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By definition, leadership is interpersonal. However at its core, leadership is personal. It is personal to you and to the people who you lead.
So, if you accept that leadership is personal, then here is a bigger question for you. It has to do with your leadership stability and your long-term effectiveness in getting things done with the help of others.
The question is this: Do you lead with PEACE?
Do you lead with these elements:
- Purpose
- Excellence
- Accountability
- Certainty
- Equipping Others?
Actually, more importantly than an acronym of P.E.A.C.E. is the real meaning of leading with peace. It means leading with calm waters on the inside while it is rocky waters on the outside. It means being able to keep your cool under feast or famine conditions. Peace is the fulcrum in leading with balance.
Would you rather follow someone who had internal peace and displayed it on the outside, or follow someone who didn’t have that calming effect on their leadership?
Challenge Question:
So how are you doing on finding the peace to lead your team most effectively? Do your followers feel the comfort of your internal peace as you lead them, or do they feel the turmoil, stress, and discomfort that you may have coursing through your veins?
Take a good loooooong look in the mirror and ask yourself this question:
“What do I do to recharge and get peace in my life and in my leadership?”
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About the Author :: Tom Schulte
As a Christian leader in business, I get my peace from living my faith in Jesus Christ. Specifically, I get it from Philippians 4:4-9. It works EVERY time for me. Check it out:
4-5Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!
6-7Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.
8-9Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:4-9, The Message)
A Peaceful Death
When I learn to die to self and let my trust in Jesus take over me and focus on the good things in my life, I instantly calm down and experience a tranquility and peace that I cannot even describe. It is promised to me and I have never found it to fail me. Not once.
When people say “count your blessings,” this is what they are talking about. And for me, this is not just a daily thing. My goal to die to self is a moment-by-moment undertaking. And yes, it is difficult.
If you don’t have a source for peace and are not sure about the way I go about it, here is a tip to help you find peace: Seek Truth. When you find it, you will find your peace.
Expressing your faith in a business environment can be difficult because it is so personal and many people are just uncomfortable with it. If you feel that you want to learn more about incorporating your faith in your business life, simply look to the many resources available to you. Simply google the subject and you can tune into many resources.
Wanna’ see where I recently experienced a great sense of peace and freedom? I had the pleasure of spending a weekend last February at a Souly Business conference for men in the North Georgia mountains. Above is a great video that expresses how I recharged my soul with other business men.
Imagine being able to display true inner peace to the ones you lead. Find that peace and watch your personal leadership effectiveness skyrocket!
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Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership &
CEO of Recalibrate Professional Development in Atlanta, GA USA.
Email | LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Web
Image Sources: themastershift.com
Great post Tom!
Great to see someone taking a step up and discussing leadership in the context of Christianity. Liked the idea of the gyroscope and checking your authenticity regularly.
That’s my take away point.
Look forward to seeing some more great discussions.
Regards
David Andrews
Interesting read, Tom. I’m looking forward to this series unfolding.
I have a magnet in my office that sums this up perfectly, I think:
“peace. it does not mean to be in a place with no noise, trouble of hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.”
People may find that peace from a variety of places, but certainly the Christian faith is at the top of the list for many. It is this interpretation that Christ meant (in my opinion) when he said, “Peace be with you.”
I hope you have a peaceful week!
Being bold with your faith in the workplace is often a misunderstood concept to many Believers. What I enjoyed about your post Tom is that it brings the simplicity of Faith to the age old question.
When we Seek Truth from the great I AM, all things fall into place and our Faith is simply the expression of that truth.
Walking it out means to seek it daily, have a spirit truth and boldness firmly planted on us to that we can stand strong in what we know. There peace will find you, even in the workplace.
The Bible is filled with leadership lessons that were true over 2000 years ago that still apply today.
Imagine living out 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 in the corporate environment, which says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (NIV).
Leadership that is based in love would go far in releasing the hidden potential in every person in that environment. There would be peace in the work environment and there would be outstanding results as well.
Very well said, Dan!!! Great way to think!
Tom, great post and all those things you say are very true. Peace of mind can only be found through Christ and by spending time with him. This serves as a great reminder to me. The more at peace I am, the better the team will perform as well as myself personally. One question,how can you “die to self,” and put more trust in God?
You know I feel so much joy knowing that there are great Christian leaders out there who are challenged as much as I am. When my organization hired me I dont think they anticipated that my style would be deeply rooted in Christ. So last year they demoted me and one of my VPs indicated clearly that he was not comfortable with my faith or so how I expressed it. But am encouraged in my God knowing that He who watches over me nether sleeps nor slumbers. He had a godlet on his dashboard of his car. But at the mention of the word God bless, they all ganged up against me. Am still standing. Hey am so inspired.
I love this too. But why no women?
Hi Elissa, thanks reading the post! I am glad you like it.
As far as the Souly Business retreat, it is designed specifically for the issues that men face at work, home, and in the marketplace. These issues are best handled in an environment where men can be vulnerable in front of other men without having to have any filters in place. It is very powerful.
This is the same for women’s retreats. Having men at a women’s retreat wouldn’t be as rich or authentic experience for the attendees. They do have an affiliated retreat for women. See here for more details: http://www.trueidentityministries.org/
~Tom
I love that we have a chance to start or end our day on the note that we choose. I have come to learn that the day is full of a balance of our thoughts. The things we thing become the actions we take. I have shared this with several of those who enjoy my books: today is an opportunity for you to take a small step in to a big directions. so too is every morning an opportunity to take a step in to an emotional place because there will always be negative and trials, its how we view those that determine our joy. http://www.terrencejwhite.com