Thoughts on Leadership

THOUGHTS  ON  LEADERSHIP

From

Lorne Sanny

I was privileged along with many others to hear Lorne speak about leadership on numerous occasions.  One of his messages was based on Psalms 78:72.  Lorne later requested small cards to be printed, capturing the key points of his message.  They are but another example of how the Lord used Lorne to provide us with “goads” and “nails” for our spiritual journey.  His thoughts contained on the cards are as follows.

LEADERS  BRING  VISION

FAITH  AND  COURAGE

TO  COORDINATED  EFFORT

Vision to see what

Ought to be done

Faith to believe

It can be done

Courage to persevere

Until it is done

Like many of you, I spend time weekly with individuals and some small groups.  I need to ask myself. What is my vision for each individual/group?  Do I have faith that the Lord will accomplish this vision in their lives?  Am I persevering until it is done? Unless I do the above, there is no clarity of purpose for our meeting, no change to be expected, and no commitment to persevere on my part. 

Lorne continues his thoughts with the following from the viewpoint of those to whom we are ministering.

What am I supposed to do?

Will you let me do it?

Will you help me when I need it?

Will you let me know how I am doing?

In these brief questions, we can see that the focus is on clear communication to others, not interfering with what we have asked them to do, being available to them, and being willing to give them direction when needed.

On one occasion as some of us sat down for dinner, Lorne turned to me and said, “I have discovered that people don’t care as much about what I think as they care about what I think about what they think.” 

As I have thought about this statement over the years, I have found that it describes three aspects of Lorne’s leadership. It communicates: 1) A willingness to relinquish his own agenda for that of others. 2) A commitment to listen attentively to others. 3) A desire to respond to others in such a way as to build them up in their faith (“-minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29)

All of us have different leadership roles and varying gifts, but we can all profit from Lorne’s example of leadership. 

The note card also contained the verse which inspired his thoughts.

“So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart;

and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”

                                                                                 Psalms 78:72 (KJ)

May the Lord grant us integrity and skillfulness as we serve Him. 

In Christ, Richard Spann

2 Replies to “Thoughts on Leadership”

  1. More thought-provocation from the lives of Lorne and Richard. I am presenting two lectures on leadership in the next few weeks; these simple, powerful truths I will try to integrate into my teaching.

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