“When one is to succeed in leading a person to a certain place, one must above all take care to find out where he is and start there.”
Soren Kierkegaard

Thanks for providing this forum… Allies like you are so valuable to all of us fighting the good fight!

Thanks for your thoughts and insights. I get what you are saying on an existential level, however I just find myself very stuck in the midst of the details. Good to know there isn’t/wasn’t something I am missing … sadly I find I know what “ought” to be done, it just seems that slips away from me in the practicality of things and I end up spending my day at the detail later.

I don’t think that’s leadership you described… in my opinion that’s laziness not leadership…

Leadership implies direction, vision, and example…

You can pretend to have a high vision, and really just be a lazy daydreamer…you have to have feet for your faith, and wings for your flight!

What you descirbed is a “hot air” balloon…

Leadership with vision gives direction and example… not just daydreams! That type of leadership needs wings… anyone have any red bull?

That’s my thoughts…

My 7 year old said,in her first airplane flight, from up here, everything seems smaller…our house…fights with my sisters…our tv…if we just look at everything from up here, we can only see how big God is!

Flights bring new perspective.

Gena said, “…it seems to me most of the leaders I know are always up in the clouds and rarely bother to think through the details and the mundane. The rest of us are down here trying to make the vision come together.”

This can be an issue as well.

Thoughts?

Anne, Well said. Thanks!

Avery, Thanks for preaching. Good message!

Ronnie, Thanks for the Covey quote.

Daniel, Thank you!

This really hits home…

I have seen a few leaders lately who are more like “one man” ministers…

Everything has to be under their control from table setting, to every little detail of everything…

In particular I know a ministry that as a result, is mostly ineffective in getting members to volunteer, to feel “involved” in the ministry,and is stunting growth… in fact most of the leadership has begun to leave and mostly due to this “leadership lid”…

I have personally seen God’s loving chastening, and training to relenquish control over to Him for this ministry… but some leaders and ministers are so busy controlling the details, they haven’t much face time with God to listen…

You know God picks leaders, (Like Moses, and The Apsotles, Pastors, etc)…and the biblical accounts of those leaders were that they didn’t have time to wait on tables but sought “face time” with God and His word…(Acts 6:2)

I think the way to get that “higher perspective” is to go to the tent of meeting and listen…

That perspective as a result might be so much higher that you have to put a veil on your face so you don’t scare people from the glory of God all over it (Like Moses did)…(Exodus 34:29-35)

It is an honor to be a leader…

Leaders need to lead, and be honest before God listening, and repeating what they hear…

God has a way of placing talented people to “help” those leaders he has called… their is no higher perspective than walking in that…

Thanks for letting me preach… I am passionate about this one!

I have learned a couple of things…one…I think that high level/details can be a cycle with each element feeding the next. High level produces the drive to accomplish the small details, and the small details can fuel new ideas and strategy, taking you back to the high level. Rinse…repeat.
Secondly (and probably most importantly) empowering people to take some of the details and run with them will give you the time to take a step back and refresh your vision. Much like what Brad said above. You will be able to find and keep your passion for what’s in front of you, and then pass that down to others, keeping them inspired to accomplish the details.

Because I’m in the very early stages of planting a church, your blog posts are like golden nuggets for me. I file them away under “LESSONS FROM SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND HAS THE T-SHIRT”

With the new plant I’ve thought a lot about how easy it is to slip into the role of the guy who has to pick through every detail. Being a creative person, I have a tough time with this because the little details mean so much to me.

I realize though that this will be a lid that will greatly hinder my ability to lead if I can’t control it. Even before I start I’m trying to learn the fine art of empowering others to work out the details so I can hang out more in the higher altitudes.

Thanks for the post. I look forward to reading the rest this week.

Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com

Right now, I have a big vision, and only a few little ideas. I’ll let God work out the ideas (the details) in His way - who he brings to the vision, what resources he provides, etc… I’ll work on the vision.

It just seems that when you are starting out you necessarily find yourself managing and asking those low altitude questions far more often than the more beneficial high altitude questions.

I would appreciate any input.