Learning while in the Lead

Learning while in the lead is one of the toughest things to do in the world. I am called by God to be the man in the lead, yet I learn every day. Everyday I learn more about who I am supposed to be as a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a boss, and a pastor.

Learning in the lead is difficult for several reasons…

· Everyone behind you can see that you’re learning.
· Some people behind you use your learning against you to say that you are not leading
correctly.
· Other lives are affected by what you are learning – both positively and negatively.
· Some people behind you do not love you enough to let you learn while in the lead.
· People “behind” you that are arrogant always think they know more because you are still
learning. But they fail to realize that the main reason they are not leading is because they
quit learning.
· People call learning instances failures and hold them against you.

How do you overcome the fear of learning while in the lead?

· You share what you learn and how you learn it and let God deal with the rest.
· You cultivate a culture where failure is not fatal. You teach people to fail forward.
· You speak clearly and confidently in to the lives that are behind with what you know and
you do not speak clearly and confidently about what you do not know.
· You listen to those who are behind you that do know, but not those who know-it-all. This
is simply the difference of pride and arrogance, not of knowledge. Often 2 people can
know the same thing and one person be useless with that information and the other a life-
changer.
· You pray and fast and then you pray and fast and then you pray and fast. And then you
get up and your run faster then anyone behind you.
· You never stop learning because you never stop running and because you never stop
running you will never stop falling. The goal is not to be failure free, it is to please God.
· When you fail – you fail forward. And when you fail again – you fail forward again. Then
you do not commit the same failure again. It does not mean you will not fail again, just not
that failure.

What I have recently learned from the lead.

· Leaders need information first, even if they have no vote in where you are going they
need to know where you are going so they can go with you and lead those they lead to
follow you. A leader can not lead if you do not give them the opportunity. All they can do
is be another follower.
· If you are a Spirit-led leader more people following you love you than do not love you and
will follow you than will not follow you. So lead without fear of learning as you lead.
· Leading is not for know-it-alls. Be careful that the way you present what you know does
not come across as knowing-it-all(especially when you know it is from the Lord).
· I am a better leader than I knew I was and at the same time not as good a leader as I
thought I was. Which probably means that God has me right where he wants me.
· Where you are leading is not negated by small mistakes in how you are leading.
· You will never please everyone, so quit trying. But don’t try to displease anyone.

So that’s where I am. I am in the lead. I am learning in the lead. Learning does not negate leading. It strengthens it. If you are in an organization that does not allow you to learn from the lead, leave. If you are, lead and learn as you do it and enjoy it, because I can testify that learning while you lead is a rare privilege granted to you only by those who truly love you and believe in you. And that is truly the privilege of leadership.

Some more great thoughts on these truths.
http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/03/10/failing-forward/