No pain no gain leadership
Seth Godin said something that really struck me: “If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.” Say what? Aren’t we all supposed to be finding our sweet spot where everything is flowing comfortably? Isn’t that the purpose of all the assessments we go through to find our niches?
Yes…to an extent. But I put it this way: comfort is the enemy of progress. The more comfortable we are, the less we want anything to change. And therefore we become less willing to risk. After all, change could make things worse! And besides, we’re comfortable. Suggesting something new will undoubtedly upset some people. We don’t want to upset the apple cart!
Mark Batterson put it this way for preachers: “Don’t be afraid to throw a fastball, a curve ball, or a brush-back pitch.” In other words, don’t try to keep everyone happy and comfortable. Be willing to shake them up a bit for the right reasons.
Can you lead from a place of comfort? To some extent, yes. Godin didn’t say that you couldn’t lead that way, but that you would not be reaching your potential. You’re settling for less than you could be. You’re depriving those you lead of the best leadership they could have. Worse, you’re not being all that God gave you the ability to be.
Personal trainers aren’t always the most loved people in the world. They drive us to exercise harder than we wanted, lift more than we wanted, sweat more than we wanted…hurt more than we wanted. But they do that in order for us to achieve the results that we wanted. I’ve been the “personal trainer” for church leaders who didn’t like what I was pushing them to do. It was uncomfortable. It was going to cause pain. But it was also going to help them achieve the results that they wanted.
Of course you don’t want pain. But are you willing to accept some pain in order to be the best leader you can be?
