"Heisman" Leading

We will soon learn who the next Heisman trophy winner will be. This is THE coveted prize of players on every college team in the country, carrying with it hopes of making it in the NFL.

What has caught my attention about this trophy recently is the pose. It is one of a player with the ball under one arm and the other arm straight out in front, in preparation of a stiff arm to an on-coming player. The idea of the stiff arm is to push the defensive player out of the path of the offensive player in hopes of gaining extra yardage on the field. A tactic that works well when executed properly.

Have you ever noticed that we, as leaders, sometimes lead from the Heisman position? We say we're leading, but we're pushing people out of the way in hopes of gaining some extra ground somewhere. The problem is that we leave people in our wake bruised, reeling and confused.

We don't do it on purpose, but we do it nonetheless:
* We get 'protective' of our areas of leadership and sometimes frustrated when we get challenged on something.
* We push too hard in one direction sometimes, not knowing or even caring what impact it might have on others. We know it's the 'right thing to do' and so we do it - not realizing that people are being hurt in our 'pursuit' of that right thing.
* My favorite word is head-strong. Mom calls it stubborn. She's right. We don't realize that we need to hear a different perspective at times.
* For us in ministry, this is hard to swallow, but we sometimes will 'hide' behind what we are certain is a God-directed move. We don't seek good counsel, we don't have people we can bounce it off of, and we end up missing what God really intended because of our pride. I'm not saying this happens all the time, but we need to stop and look at our motives.

When God gives direction, I've found that people will be 'on the same page' to some degree when I present a thought or an idea. When it takes a ton of convincing, I have to step back and ask, "Am I leading from a self promoting position or a serve the King position?" What is my posture of leading in that moment?

As a leader, surround yourself with people who won't be afraid to tell you when you're leading from the Heisman position. Invite people that you trust to point out the times when you do it, and then seek suggestions on how NOT to continue to do it. It's never comfortable. But I've found it's ALWAYS beneficial for being the leader that I've been called to be.

See ya in church...