Emotionally healthy leaders are leaders who have embraced their real self and are comfortable with who they are in Christ. They know they have weaknesses; they have made mistakes and are not perfect. They are honest with themselves, they don’t live in denial of who they are.

Family portrait of three generations. Mother, daughter and grandmother.

One of the biggest and toughest challenges leaders have face is the challenge of leading multi-generational organizations. And that challenge is probably most difficult within the church. The primary reason for this is that the church is the only organization whose niche market includes everyone.

One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples before returning to heaven was for them to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). Jesus did not discriminate in any way regarding who should or could be a disciple. This means everyone. Of course, this presents all kinds of challenges for church leaders, one of which is how to effectively lead a multi-generational church.

Written by guest blogger Rhonda Carrim

Recently our family visited the Waipoua Forest in the Northland of New Zealand. A must-see attraction in the forest is Tāne Mahuta, New Zealand’s largest known living kauri tree. Kauri, a type of conifer, are massive trees; only California’s Giant Sequoias are larger. Tāne Mahuta stands nearly 170 feet tall, with a trunk girth of more than 45 feet. Kauri also have longevity; Tāne Mahuta’s estimated age is between 1,200–2,000 years old.

A great challenge of leadership is the reality that we deal with broken human beings. The challenge is greater because as leaders, we ourselves are broken humans. But as broken human beings leading broken human beings, we are all trying to follow the Perfect One, our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am afraid that too many of us forget this fact when we are responsible for the department or the entire organization. Suddenly we expect everyone to do their part perfectly; and if they don’t, we get frustrated and wonder why people can’t be relied upon to get things done in a timely manner and in the way we want them done.

In working with leaders, one of the challenges I see that often gets in their way is their limitations. Too many leaders, myself included, struggle with accepting our limitations. As a result, limitations end up inhibiting our personal development and progress within an organization.

When leaders do not see and accept their limitations (which we all have), they drive away or frustrate the people who are talented in those very areas; others know they can do better if given an opportunity. Perhaps you know how to read a spreadsheet, but you may not be talented in accounting. Just because you are the leader does not mean that the accounting system must be done exactly as you remember (or not) from your college accounting course – which may have been a decade (or more) ago!

As in any great endeavor, not knowing what is required for survival or success is likely to lead to failure.

We often hear about wilderness survival adventures where the skills of surviving in the wilds are needed in order to return alive.

The same is true for leaders: without knowing the survival skills of leadership, the outcomes of failure or mediocrity are most likely. And no one wants to be known as a failed or mediocre leader.