Lessons for leadership drawn specifically from Scripture

, ,

Podcast Season 4, Episode 6: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – Wisdom Is a Choice

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it teaches us that gaining wisdom is your choice.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
, ,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Wisdom Is a Choice

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it teaches us that gaining wisdom is your choice.

My dad was known as someone with great wisdom. He was a very knowledgeable person, and knew a lot about many things. He was also highly intelligent, demonstrated by the fact that he was a self-taught electrical engineer. But more than those things, he had tremendous wisdom. When he passed away, a pastor that he had mentored spoke at his graveside service, and in his message he said that my dad was a man characterized by knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. He proceeded to explain the difference between those three things, and then talked about how my dad was one of the very few people he knew that had all three.

One of the ways that he expressed his wisdom was by often sharing profound and memorable statements in the appropriate situations. For example, he would say things like, “Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks”, or’ “If you’re good, you don’t have to tell people, they’ll tell you!“ It’s because of his wisdom that people were often turning to him for counseling and advice. As the years have passed, I have found myself quoting him all the time. That’s also why one of the pages on my website, www.LeadershipEzra.com, is a page titled “Quote Your Dad,“ where I share many of his various sayings.

The Bible has a lot to say about wisdom as well. When Solomon, the son of David, was to become king, God asked him what he wanted, and Solomon asked for wisdom. Because he had the wisdom to ask for wisdom, God gave it to him in abundance. It was Solomon who wrote the book of Proverbs, which is filled with practical wisdom. In fact, wisdom is the primary focus of much of the first few chapters. The book of James, sometimes referred to as the Proverbs of the New Testament, begins by telling us that wisdom is available from God, and all we have to do is ask.

The significance of these things, – the things that the Bible has to say about wisdom, as well as all the practical sayings my dad would share that communicated wisdom for living – is that they show us that wisdom is attainable. Anyone can cultivate wisdom, but it requires a few things:

  1. Humility: you need to be humble enough to recognize how much you don’t know. As my dad would say, “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.”
  2. Teachability: you need to be willing to hear and receive the council and correction of your teachers and experiences. As I often told my own children, “You learn most things from experience, but it’s usually less painful if it’s someone else’s experience.”
  3. Discernment: you need to be intentional about choosing your teachers. Some will be foolish, and some will be wise, so choose carefully. As it has been said, “If you show me your three closest friends, you show me the kind of person you are.”

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from the blessing of a father who was characterized by wisdom. Wisdom is something you can choose and cultivate, but it requires you to be humble, teachable, and discerning. Recognize that you don’t know everything and that others know things you don’t know, be willing to hear counsel and criticism even if you don’t like the source, and purposely choose who and what you are going to listen to and learn from. In the end, whether or not you develop wisdom is up to you.

/by
, ,

Podcast Season 4, Episode 5: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – Get Some Rest

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it is a reminder that you need to take some time to rest.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
, ,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Get Some Rest

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it is a reminder that you need to take some time to rest.

This reminder is one that God seems to have been giving me repeatedly lately. Earlier this year I read a book by Mark Buchanan called “The Rest of God,” which dove deep into what it means to rest in the way that God designed us to rest. Then, more recently, my pastor preached sermons on rest for two Sunday’s in a row. First he preached about how, in the past, God created us to rest; in the present, Jesus is our rest; and in the future, we have the hope of true rest. Then in the second message, he preached more specifically about how we rest in Jesus. In between these two sermons, I had an opportunity to get away with my wife and stay at a campsite right on a river. No one else was there while we were staying there, and it was a time of peace and quiet. So, while being reminded of the need for and value of rest, God provided a time of rest to me, and it came at a time when I really needed it.

This also reminds me of the story about Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Elijah had just experienced great victory in 1 Kings 18 by defeating the prophets of Baal and by bringing a 3-year drought to an end (both of which were done by God‘s power and with His direction). But then he was threatened by the king’s wife, and he ran away. Eventually he stopped, exhausted, and asked God to end his life, and then fell asleep. After a little time, an angel brought him food, he ate, and then he laid down to sleep some more, until the angel came back and woke him up and gave him more food to eat. Finally, refreshed and revived, he was able to keep going. As I once heard someone say about this story, sometimes you just need to eat a snack and take a nap.

One of the things this story illustrates, though, is the importance of rest and refreshment. Early in my leadership experience, my tendency was to see my value in my work to the point that I was putting my work before everything else, including my health and my family. With a smack on my head from God and wife’s help, I realized this and began to put boundaries on my work to protect and value my family, and to rest. However, it can still be my tendency, so every once in a while I need the reminder to reclaim those boundaries and have regular time for rest and refreshment. That’s what these recent reminders have been about, and why this recent time away with my wife was so necessary. It makes me think of an old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. ” To this I would also add that all work and no rest leads to emotional dysfunction and physical breakdown.

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from my recent reminders about rest. It is easy to work ourselves to exhaustion, but in the process to lose sight of the most important things and dimish our capability of functioning at our best. When that happens, it hurts you, it’s hurts the people around you that you love, and it hurts your work. Our bodies and our minds need rest, so it is important to not neglect that. So please, take some time to get some rest!

/by
, ,

Podcast Season 4, Episode 3: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – Rejoice In the Growth of Others

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it’s an important reminder to rejoice in the growth of others.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
, ,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Rejoice In the Growth of Others

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it’s an important reminder to rejoice in the growth of others.

My grandson is diagnosed with autism, along with a sensory processing disorder. He is an amazing kid with tremendous gifts and abilities, but there are some things that he struggles with. He has a difficult time with large crowds, loud noises, heights, and confined spaces. But he also loves solving puzzles, figuring out locks and doors, and learning how things work. So a year ago, when we went to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, he loved learning about planets and rockets, and about how doors worked in space. But when it came time to walk through the 747 and its attached Space Shuttle that were outside, he would not do it. He would not go up the stairs, the crowd was too big, it was too noisy and too confined, and he could not get himself to take the first step.

But fast forward one year later, a couple of weeks ago, when we returned to the space center for another day trip. Once again, he thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the science and technology, but this time, one thing was very different. When we approached the plane and space shuttle exhibit, he turned and looked at us and said “Let’s go! We have to see all of it!” We had not asked him or pushed, but the growth that he had experienced over the previous year was obvious, and we were so happy about that that we could hardly contain it. It thrilled us to the core to see how much he had grown.

This made me think about how we respond when we see growth in others in our places of work and professional networks. Often the response is impacted by a sense of competitiveness, feelings of jealousy, or a perceived need for self-preservation. In some way or another, we see others succeed and grow, and we view it as a threat to our own success or as a reflection of our own inability or failure. Ultimately, this kind of response stems from our own selfishness and insecurities, and all it does is foster misery and bitterness.

In contrast, the healthy response is to rejoice when others grow. It reminds me of a line from the televison sitcom, “Everybody Loves Raymond,” when Robert said to Debra about Raymond, “I know; his success is his success and not my failure.” It also makes me think of Romans 12:15, which says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” True successes come out of a combination of gifts and abilities involving more than one person, not a single individual accomplishment, so when others grow, it can help us grow by extension (you have likely heard the cliche, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”). Beyond that, true kindness and love celebrates with and on behalf of others. When someone else grows, it’s not a reflection of you, it’s a reflection of them. Rejoice in that, in the same way you want others to celebrate your growth.

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from seeing the remarkable growth in my grandson from one year to the next. I know that you want to grow, but so does everyone else. So when they do, when they take steps forward or achieve new milestones, celebrate with them. When they grow, it’s not a statement about you. It’s your own growth that makes a statement about you. So, for the good of everyone, including youself, rejoice with others when they grow.

/by
, ,

Podcast Season 4, Episode 2: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life – Stay Aligned To Your Purpose

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it serves as an illustration of the importance of maintaining alignment to your purpose.

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
, ,

Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Stay Aligned To Your Purpose

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. When we see or hear or experience something from which we can learn, it is that example and experience that often helps us remember the lesson. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illusutrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. And so I am sharing examples of circumstances and stories that I have experienced in my everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories, and it serves as an illustration of the importance of maintaining alignment to your purpose.

One of the things God allows me to do is mentor students who are pursuing a PhD in organizational leadership. That means I get to be a guide for them as they go through the process of conducting a research study as a dissertation. Before they write a single page of their paper, they must first craft a single sentence – their problem statement. Then they must identify several key components that will drive their study – their purpose statement, research questions, theoretical framework, and methodology. At this particular university, these pieces are referred to as “The Golden Thread,” and they form the basis of the study to which they must stay aligned. Part of my role is to help them stay aligned to that Golden Thread.

For me personally, this illustration connected in my mind as a result of my own thought process at the time when I am beginning another year of the Leadership Ezra website. Almost every week for the last three years I have been writing and posting articles and podcasts related to the focus of this website: “Faith. Wisdom. Leadership.” The purpose has been (and continues to be) to connect biblical truth with wisdom for leadership). However, after nearly 150 episodes and articles, I struggled this week with the next one. I found myself thinking about it as a chore that I had to do again this week. And I struggled with the purpose.

Then I had a student I was mentoring who was drifting from the alignment to his Golden Thread within his paper. I had a conversation to redirect him back to the focus and purpose of his study, to get his dissertation back on track. It’s for this reason that recently, early in their process, I started having my students write a 1-page outline of the key components of their study as their touchstone to periodically refer back to, to help them maintain alignment to their purpose. As I was directing this student back to his 1-page outline, it reminded me to go back to the beginning of my work on Leadership Ezra, and see again what I was doing and why I was doing it.

That’s what I needed this week. I needed a reminder of the focus and purpose of what I am doing. Leadership Ezra came about with a purpose that God had given me, and for a purpose that was an outcome of what God has done in and with my life. What God does with it is not up to me, it’s up to God. My purpose is to be His vessel and to share what He has given me to share. And what He has given me to share are these lessons on leadership. I needed to be reminded of that, and to reorient and refresh my mind back to that purpose.

That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from helping a doctoral student get back into alignment in his research study. When we have been doing something for a while, sometimes we end up walking through the trees so long that we lose sight of the forest. That’s where I felt like I was, and I needed to step back for a moment and remind myself of what I was doing and why I was doing it. I needed to realign with my purpose so that I could renew and refresh my work. Periodically, you need to do the same thing. If you have been doing something for a while, it may be time for you to pause, step back, remind yourself of your purpose and focus, and make sure you are still in alignment.

/by
, ,

Podcast Season 3: Year In Review

Year 3 is ending, and year 4 is ready to begin, and I will be continuing the series called “Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life.” What’s in store for the next year is in God’s hands, but beyond that, what I would hope for is that God would bless this work and put it in front of more people who would benefit from what He has given me to share. So, if you have read the book, followed the website, or listened to the podcast, and have found any of those to be good for your leadership, would you tell at least three other people? With your help, I believe that God can use these resources to better equip leaders who will make an impact for His Kingdom.

Thank you for following and listening! On to the next year!

Here is the link to the podcast.

/by
, ,

Year 3 In Review

A little less than three years ago, I had embarked on a new (and scary) journey. For the needs of my family, I had stepped away from over 30 years of ministry in Christian education, with 24 of those years as a principal or superintendent/head of school. I wasn’t retiring, but my personal family circumstances necessitated making a change so that I could be at home every day. So, I stepped down from my position at the place where I had served for 8 years as the Head of School to start a new journey using my experience and abilities to serve God and develop people. And that led first to this venture at www.LeadershipEzra.com. I did not know what would come of this, but I was looking for a way to give my experience and wisdom to the Lord to be used for His purpose in reaching and developing other others.

At the same time, God was gracious in providing work to teach an online graduate course on leadership and an undergraduate online course on education, and to mentor doctoral students in their dissertation and research project work. What made all of this scary was that I was starting something completely new in my life, while still needing to provide for my family, with no idea of what the outcome would be. Along the way and in the process, I accumulated what I began to call “Joshua Stones,” those unique and specific events that were clear evidence of God at work, events that would stack up to become my personal memorial marker that served to remind me of God’s divine presence and leading in my steps. Ultimately, where God primarily directed and placed me was in working for two different universities, one (Gracelyn University) with a focus on education, and the other (Columbia International University) with a focus on organizational leadership.

My desire with the website, though, was that God would use Leadership Ezra in a much greater way to grow others in their leadership. The initial idea for this had come about out of a lot of prayer, and in that process, what the Lord had made clear to me was that I needed to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that would help other followers of Jesus grow in their leadership and make an impact. That original dream of an idea turned into three things: the self-publication of a book on Amazon (Leadership Ezra), the creation of the Leadership Ezra website, and the initiation of a corresponding podcast, streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The overarching theme became “Faith. Wisdom. Leadership.: Connecting biblical truth with wisdom for leadership.” As an added bonus, I included a weekly feature on the website called “Quote Your Dad,” where I simply shared wisdom-filled quotes that I would often hear from my dad.

In the first year of both the website and the podcast, I shared leadership principles and ideas that I have learned, but primarily in standalone articles and podcast episodes. They were important ideas, but initially each was its own idea, not necessarily connected to others. As the year progressed, I started grouping ideas together to form series. By year two, I had shifted to communicating with series, and I shared three different series over the course of the year. The first was called “Who’s in Charge Here?” and it was a review of the ideas I covered in my book, Leadership Ezra. The second was called “The Five Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership,” and it was about five groups of attributes that are essential to good leadership. The third was called “The Character of Leadership,” and it was focused on identifying a character trait representative of a biblical character, and learning valuable lessons about leadership from it.

By the time year three got underway, I had moved into a year-long series called “Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life,” where I would share a typical, everyday experience or life event, and connect it to a leadership lesson. They were usually personal, every day experiences, but they would serve as analogies or illustrations of leadership lessons. As the year progressed, this settled into a rhythm that worked well, so, moving forward, I am going to continue with the same idea. I don’t know if I will return to any of the other original series or ideas, or initiate something new, but for now, I am enjoying sharing everyday stories that teach us something valuable.

As always, what’s in store for the next year is in God’s hands. Beyond that, what I would hope for is that God would bless this work and put it in front of more people who would benefit from what He has given me to share. So, if you have read the book, followed the website, or listened to the podcast, and have found any of those to be good for your leadership, would you tell at least three other people? With your help, I believe that God can use these resources to better equip leaders who will make an impact for His Kingdom.

Thank you for following and listening! On to the next year!

God Bless,

Jeff McMaster

/by