Now is the Time to Rise Above
Dear Weary Leader,
I know you are exhausted, burned out, and ready to throw in the towel. Making a strategic plan feels impossible because everything is so unpredictable.
Your team is out of sorts and frustrated.
Your constituents are coming at you with gloves off and filters removed. The vitriol is poisonous, caustic, and nasty in ways we have never witnessed before.
The weight of a world without dignity, decency, and respect is draining the last ounce of energy and vision that once bubbled over.
You possess a set of choices and the power to decide where this leads you and the organization you serve as leader. Yes, you have a decision to make.
You can be a peacekeeper and do everything within your power to avoid the fight coming at you. The risk is an inner turmoil you will not be able to turn off at night. The anguish and dread will greet you when you wake. Burnout or depression will be inevitable.
You can go low and get dragged down in the fight. Engage in tit-for-tat, eye for eye, and a steady habit of punching back. The culture will become combative and uninhabitable for your employees and members. You will not like who you have become.
You can self-medicate with a little too much alcohol, painkillers, or by looking for some tantalizing and risky personal excitement. In a moment of weariness, you will destroy your career and potentially lose the people that mean the most. What feels good for a moment can lead to a whirlwind of destruction.
You can move on. Quit. Go in search of greener grass. Sometimes engaging a new set of problems is more energizing than dealing with the same old ones. You will have to decide what kind of legacy you want to leave at your current institution.
There is another way. You can rise above. You must figure out how to do it ASAP.
TODAY is the day to begin rising above the chaos and the vitriol that threatens to undo the good work of our institutions.
YOU must lead. You must become the bigger person. You must refuse to be dragged down to despising your attackers. When they go low, you must go high.
You, dear leader, must cast off fear. Uncertainty is crippling but it does not have to immobilize you.
Every organization needs a north star, fixed, immovable, shining light into the darkness. You have been vested with the call and authority to dispel the chaos.
You must be renewed to be a lover. Learn to love your mission again, to love the people you serve, to love and care for your team. They are weary too.
Today you must figure out how to rise above. Your people need the light, life, and love of leadership to restore hope and vitality. You cannot afford to wait for it to flash in like a beam from heaven. God has placed you in the seat of leadership.
How do you muster the energy and resources to lead in a time when you are exhausted and ready to give in?
You must carve out space in your calendar for self-care.
Stop making excuses that you don’t have the time. Refuse to find a new rhythm and you will have made the choice of self-destruction.
What is the status of your inner life? Are your thoughts full of doubt, criticism, fear of confrontation?
Healthy organizations are led by healthy people. What are you doing to care for yourself?
Perhaps you are so worn out that you need to figure out how to take extended time off. If that is impossible, you will have to find another way.
Practice a weekly sabbath. God gave us one day out of seven for rest and renewal. Go for a walk with a loved one. Play a game. Pick up an instrument or a new hobby. I started learning calligraphy to force me to slow down.
Now that we are all finding ways to work from home, the lines are getting blurry. Set boundaries. Turn off your phone and put it away. Don’t linger on social media or get dragged into unnecessary drama.
Eat meals with your family. My wife and I don’t allow phones at the table. I tend to be the offender of this rule and quickly get warranted rebukes from my children. Have conversations at the table. Care for that little precious flock under your care at home.
Leaders who have a chaotic home life will have an organization that mirrors that dysfunction.
Embrace some mystery, look above, and worship. It should be abundantly clear that a God-less world is a dark world. Yes, there are plenty of examples of bad religion, but as Ross Douthat said, we don’t less less religion, we need less bad religion.
This universe is a massive mystery, full of things unknown. Don’t be prideful and hardened to the prospect that God exists. Consider what Blaise Pascal said, “Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.”
Worship turns our hearts away from the chaos of the world to meditate on the God who loves us. Daily and weekly worship in community lifts my eyes, causes me to express gratitude, checks my motivations, and gives me hope that this life is not meaningless.
You, dear leader, are not alone in this universe.
Now is the time to rise above.
The organization God has gifted you to lead needs to be united and uplifted. People are paying attention to your attitude, words, and manner.
You CAN rise above.
You may have to confront a caustic bully.
Standing your ground on a wise, caring decision might be the order of the day. A line might need to be drawn in the sand, lovingly, clearly, and boldly.
You should winsomely open the door of invitation for others to join your cause.
You will also need to be prepared to open the exit door to ask stubborn and defiant people to move on.
You will need a spirit of sacrifice to put the needs of other people ahead of your own.
You must be the organization’s north star. Shining with bright and persuasive clarity will only be possible if you have an inner life that looks, not like the tumultuous seas, but smooth like a glassy sea.
Out of this calm, inner peace, you will lead with light, life, and love.
One final suggestion: I do my best to nurture a deep, loving, spiritual inner life through daily self-reflective practices early in the morning.
I read Scripture because I need to hear God’s voice in the noise and find reminders of His love.
I pray because I need to voice my troubles to God and need divine assistance. Prayer helps me remember I have limited control. I pray for difficult people lest I try to angrily control them myself.
I confess my sins because I fail often, don’t want to be a hypocrite, and desperately need the grace offered to me in Jesus Christ. This empowers me to be a person who shows grace in a world that has become punishing and unforgiving.
I listen to music of all kinds but frequently have worship music on. Music is very spiritual for me and finds quick access to the recesses of my heart. The movements, progressions, and beauty does something to me.
I keep a daily journal because I need to reflect on my own thoughts. I write down how I am feeling, what is occupying my mind, my prayers, plans, and other random ideas.
Nothing is worse than a leader who lacks self-awareness. Don’t be that person.
About every 30 days or so, I go back and read through my journal. This single exercise helps me to see personal trends. It is like seeing a visual map of the journey my heart and inner life have been traversing.
And the most powerful thing about this exercise is that God speaks to me through it. I see patterns of issues that need to be addressed that I may have avoided. I hear a symphony of daily whispers where God has been calling for me to have courage to make a hard decision or to remember that hope is not lost.
You are not alone my friend. God is with you and there is a large community of friends and people in this world who are resisting the chaos.
Take heart. Today is the day to rise above. May God be with you and give you His peace.
