You've heard the phrase, expect the unexptected, I'm sure like a million times. But have you ever stopped to really take a look at who's saying it? Usually it's two types of people - those who plan and those who, well, don't. They use this phrase as their excuse when their plan fails but it usually comes because they've failed to make a solid plan to begin with. A leader will react to the unexpected opportunity or obstacle to maximize the situation, a manager will try to contain the disaster and slap on the excuse sticker trying to hide the mistakes or holes in the poor plan that was executed poorly to begin with. Visionary leadership requires both a long range view of opportunity and a short range plan to advance to the next level. This usually starts off with a goal or endstate in mind. So the questions I start to ask myself are: Do I have an ultimate goal in mind, do I know how to move to my next steps and have I covered all the details?
Leadership requires both action and reaction; the detailed planning to accomplish the endstate as well as the unexpected. Here's a key, if you have a vision and you've planned out all the details to ensure you have measure success, those "things that just pop up" are no longer huge kinks in your armor. You are able to knock down those quick pop-up targets when they show themselves because you have a detailed plan and can envision what the goal is supposed to look like. If you haven't done any of that, how can you expect to go any where in life. Here is where I'll admit that I've been lazy, sloppy and have pretty much gotten by on a lot of dumb luck. Up to a certain point in my life, I had absolutely no plan. It was pretty much a "comes as it may", carefree lifestyle that I led. Two major events changed all of that (in chronoligical order): my enlistment in the Army and the birth of my daughters. I quickly realized that I hadn't really planned for either and just figured that I'd be able to get by like I always did. Man was I dumb, I don't know how the good Lord let me make it this far in life without a seeing eye dog or some other sort of special helper (I've come to understand that I've had the "seeing eye dog" all along, you have too, He's called the Holy Spirit). And, for whatever reason, He's allowed me to shoulder all of my weight on Him until I was able to pull my head out of my fifth point of contact. So, now that I understand that I need to have a goal and need to make my plan (by, with and thru the Lord), what do I do now?
Well, we've all heard that, "the devil's in the details" but other than a catchy phrase, what does that mean? Here are two examples - 1. Read thru Exodus 25-40 and take a look at the level of detail God gives to build the Tabernacle. 2. Look at the Sistine Chapel. In both cases the attention to detail was so intricate, it's almost mind boggling. Here's is the warning though, unless you have your inner core (see how I'm tying this together), often times the only one who will know the level of attention paid to detail will be you. So, now we expand even further into this whole leadership lesson and ask, to what standard are you holding yourself to, what value and belief system do you exercise when no one is watching? That's for another time, but, here's another example of detailed planning inside a vision. Do you remember the colt (or donkey) Jesus talked asked his disciples to get him as he made his way into Jerusalem? What does the Bible say about it? Well, to paraphrase, he pretty much tells them to go into town, see this animal and tell its master that it is needed. THATS IT! Do you really think that a whole lot of planning wasn't done to ensure that the right piece to the puzzle was at the right place at the right time. WOW, that takes perfect planning, I mean, did you even hear about this anywhere else previous to that, anywhere? Maybe once by one of the prophets in the OT but that was it, did you hear Jesus talk about it, I can't find any place where he did. But that's what it takes, that's the level you need to be looking at when laying out the success of your vision. Jesus demonstrated His leadership abilities thru precision of planning in the lessons he taught and where he taught them. But it was also who he taught, from hostile crowds to those more friendly. The twelve (inner core) - whom He taught much; and finally to the three (inner-inner core) whom he taught the most. Do you think these lessons were by accident, that the opportunities just presented themselves...no. He made them happen because he planned for them.
Here's what I need you to do, assess your leadership style and then assess your goal. Ask yourself the following:
1. Do I have a plan thats feasible, acceptable (to the Lord), suitable (to those I affect) and complete (have I thought out all the details).
2. Does my style of leadership compliment the way in which I execute my plan?
3. Have I coverall my angles and planned all my courses of action to take me there and can I get that done with how I lead?
4. Who am I leading and who's leading me?
That's all I have for now, do yourself a favor and don't forget this lesson. As I've heard it said, "Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine".
This entry was posted
on 03 April 2009
at 16:46
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