Don’t Let Things Get Weird

“I tell my staff everything has a season. One day we’re not going to be the coolest church. Nothing is forever. As soon as somebody thinks forever, that’s when they close their hand. Now they have to control, maintain and protect it…Things get weird.” – Andy Stanley

This is a powerful quote from a man who is as well known for his leadership expertise as he is his giftedness in preaching. That “nothing lasts forever” includes our influence. We’re not always going to possess the loftiest title, lead the most employees, or be the most knowledgeable. No matter how good we are, we won’t remain on top forever. Eventually, someone else will be the go-to guy. Someone else will be chosen to lead. So how do we avoid focusing on forever and closing our hand?

• We give our influence away instead of hoarding it
• We build others up instead of tearing them down to make ourselves look better
• We share what we know instead of keeping the information to ourselves
• We encourage collaboration instead of domination
• We celebrate our colleagues’ wins instead of focusing on our own losses

We do these things because leadership isn’t about us. It’s about others.