Inevitably, once you've clarified your values and beliefs, you'll notice something: my behavior doesn't always match my beliefs. For example, I might say I value family but if my schedule shows I'm hardly ever home, there is a gap between what I believe and how I behave. In order to live authentically, something must change -- either my beliefs or my behavior. If I'm unwilling to change my belief because I feel it is non-negotiable, then my behavior must change.
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How does a person live with authenticity? For starters, it begins with clarity in terms of what you believe. What are your values? Convictions? Non-negotiables? Authenticity means being true to the real you. Once you've clarified your beliefs and values, ask yourself this question: Does my behavior match my beliefs?
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Over the last few days I've been watching online training videos from the Association of Related Churches. ARC exists to help start churches that start churches. The training videos feature Chris Hodges, senior pastor at The Church of the Highlands. Yesterday I watched a video entitled, "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work." At the end, the late Billy Hornsby spoke for a few minutes and said this: "You cannot be insecure and build great teams." That one line was worth the entire video. Effective leaders are not perfect nor superhuman. In fact, effective leaders know their strengths AND their weaknesses. Being secure in their strengths, they know better than trying to operate in areas of weaknesses. When a leader is insecure, it shows up in many different ways. Insecure leaders hold too tightly to things they should let go of. Insecure leaders have more answers than they do questions. Insecure leaders…
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Scott Williams served as a key leader and Campus Pastor for LifeChurch.tv. Now he is the Chief Solutions Officer for Nxt Level Solutions, a consulting company he founded to help businesses, non-profits and individuals with both internal and external growth. Here is an article he wrote -- "Four Reasons Leaders Fail" -- that every leader should take to heart. ********** Leadership is the most commonly used word when it comes down to the success of an organization, product, group, or team. No matter how you slice the success pie, the success pieces all boil down to leadership. There are countless books about how to be a successful leader, 21 laws of leadership, how to go from good to great, and the list goes on and on. People thrive on learning about leadership; the fact that John Maxwell has sold over 19 million books is a clear indication of such. There…
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I picked up a copy of Dave and Jon Ferguson's book "Exponential" yesterday. After reading the first fifty pages, my first question was: "Why didn't I buy this book five years ago?" Then I realized it hadn't been written five years ago ... so I felt a bit less guilty. In 2001, when Tonya and I were leaving the Churches of Christ, I interviewed for the Senior Associate Pastor position with Dave and Jon's dad, Earl Ferguson. The job went to the other candidate but I was honored to be considered. A large part of the attraction for me was the opportunity to apprentice for two years with Earl. Now, ten years later, I'm able to be a virtual apprentice to his sons through their writing. How cool is that!
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