John Maxwell once said, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."
Leadership matters to God because He uses leaders to get things done. Sometimes we find that just like a worn-out computer, our leadership needs a reboot to bring us back into the right spirit and sense of being a leader.
Scripture shows us a lot of stories where God reboots leadership. Sometimes God would reboot leadership by renewing a person as He did with David after he committed adultery and murder (Psalms 51). Other times, God would reboot leadership by removing the person and replacing that leader with someone else.
Every now and then, our churches, companies, organisations and communities needs a leadership reboot – a move of the Holy Spirit to refresh us and realign us with God's heart for people, so that we can fast-track God's work today.
Here are five signs that your leadership needs a reboot:
1. Leadership has become about your skills.
When the success of a ministry, business, project or family becomes about the ability of one person, you know that it's time to reboot and rewire your thinking. Leadership is first and foremost about trusting in the grace and ability of God and secondly about trusting in the ability of the people who work with you.
2. Your followers can't be honest with you.
Every leader desires transparency. But sometimes employees and teammates will not be as honest as you would like them to be about their mistakes and concerns. There's a big possibility that it has nothing to do with them, but everything to do with you as a leader. As a leader, do you go out of your way to be open and trustworthy so that people will be comfortable being honest with you?
3. Things don't happen when you're not around.
When you're at the office, everyone is moving at top speed getting things done. But when you're out on vacation or on leave, everything stops. This is a sure sign that your leadership needs to be renewed.
4. Fear is the motivation.
When people are more motivated by consequences, setbacks and termination from team play, leadership is not at its finest form. The leadership Jesus intends to impart is one that moves by compassion and drives towards a common goal.
5. Wins bring more relief than celebration.
We might have seen this more often than we should: Employees heaving the biggest sigh of relief when something goes well because now the boss will be happy. Instead of bringing joy that the goal has been met, it only brings relief that they won't get scolded, berated or embarrassed. This is not how leadership should be and should be a sign that a reboot is more than long overdue.
Reboots are more common than you think and every leader will need a reboot every now and then. It doesn't mean you shouldn't lead. It just means that you shouldn't lead until the process of refreshing and renewing leadership is finished to innovate the way things are done.
The best format for leadership is best found in Jesus Christ, who stood by His people and who always got Himself rebooted and renewed because although He was God, He humbly depended on the work of the Holy Spirit to guide Him as a leader. We can learn to do so as well when the time comes for a leadership reboot.
