In what ways are you sowing into and giving inspiration to your leaders? They have a crucial role within your business, guiding one of your largest investments, your people. Do they feel and observe your support? Is fuel being put in their tanks or being depleted from it? Are you preparing the way for them to soar? The way you lead, the vision and values you live by and the culture that has been established within your organization or your team matters. Are leaders within your organization expected and empowered to do the same for the leaders in their sphere of influence? The answers to these important questions may determine the motivation level of your leaders and the ultimate success of your company.
An Unstoppable Force
In 2 Timothy 1:6, the Apostle Paul is playing this role with Timothy. He is taking time to affirm and prepare the way for his leadership role. In doing so, Paul is encouraging Timothy to grasp this vision and potential for his life. This type of encouragement can be viewed as adding fuel to his leadership tank. It is like providing a little spark as a vision that can continue to be fanned and grow. God is doing the same in our lives. When we spend time with God by reading His word, in reflection and prayer, our leadership vision grows. As it matures, it can be an unstoppable force in our lives and the company in which God has set us apart to lead.
Consequently, our businesses can achieve great things. We can have the same inspiring impact on the leaders who are around us. In 2 Corinthians 9:6, Paul is making a correlation to reaping what we sow. Those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly. Those who sow generously will also reap generously. Although I believe the context of this passage is encouraging generosity in our personal lives, I believe it also has a similar application to the investment of the people in our business or on our team. If we sow sparingly into their development and future, I believe this will ultimately impact what we reap from the returns of their work. If we sow into their development and future, the return is significant. It is within our power to provide both the encouragement they need, as well as influence the culture that is conducive to healthy growth. As we do this, we can encourage them in their leadership journey and potentially see our team soar.
As a side note, in humility, we also need to be like Timothy and allow others to spur us on towards this calling. I encourage you to surround yourself with others who can fan the leadership gift you have been given by God. As reflected in this passage, 2 Timothy 1:6, who is the ‘Paul’ in your life?
At Our Business And At Home
Those we influence from a distance may only see the good. We can fool a lot of people from afar. As it relates to encouraging the leadership roles of those around us, I would suggest this should include the lives of those closest to us, including our families and others God has placed around us. If those closest to us see us encouraging others, but do not feel or observe this support themselves, we become a discouragement to them. This also touches on our integrity with those closest to us as they see us in action each day. They see the good, bad, and ugly. We are not perfect, nor does God expect us to be. However, God does desire spiritual progress in this area of our leadership growth. It should start with those closest to us as this provides the positive pressure and measurement of whether this spiritual transformational progress exists.
Monday Morning
I will touch on this more in future blog posts, but as a leader, it is imperative that we are guiding and developing a healthy culture within our organizations. A healthy culture would include one that clearly inspires, values and develops what is likely one of your largest investments, your people. A culture that fuels and reinforces desired results through the recognition and rewards of your leaders, as well as those across your entire organization. This should include down to the rank and file. In reflection, assess whether there is an expectation of all leaders to be focused on making others successful down through your organization. Ensuring your culture is healthy and aligns with your values and leadership expectations can help provide fuel and inspiration for accomplishing great and audacious things you did not think were possible.
God has called us individually as businesses to sow into and impact the marketplace for Him. I propose that we maximize our impact in the marketplace when we come together. We partially do this by investing time encouraging each other and our businesses collectively. As a community of business owners, CEO’s business leaders, We R Stewards has a desire to lead God-honoring businesses. This vision and desire is infectious. God can work through us and also through the lives closest to us. This happens as they see encouragement modeled and reflected in our lives, and in the organizational culture we have cultivated.
If you would like to go deeper on these subjects and ways to bring Glory to the Father, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at randy.earnst@we-r-stewards.com, or visit our website at www.we-r-stewards.com
