Leadership is first about those you lead and secondly about the results you achieve. So, are you focused on the task to be accomplished or the people under your leadership who accomplish the task? Many successful leaders will tell you that it was only when they became people-focused that they were able to achieve the success they did.

Some leaders hold to a popular idea which says, “When you show up for work, leave your personal problems at the door.” If this was possible you would not have embezzlements, affairs, fights, drugs and alcohol abuse in the workplace. Many leaders who hold that point of view do not want to know about the personal struggles of those they lead. Very often these same leaders are seen as uncaring and demanding.

It is unrealistic to expect the employee whose child is home sick, or who found out over the weekend that their spouse is having an affair with their best friend, to show up to work and check their personal problems at the door. Yet too many leaders expect those they lead to respond like this.

How prepared are you to deal with opposition?

Too many leaders, when facing opposition, leave their responsibilities and move on to a place of less opposition. In some cases, this is because they are not prepared to deal with the hardships they come up against. Some leaders believe that leading should be without opposition because they have the authority and power to lead and make decisions; they believe people should follow them, not oppose them.

Being a leader in God’s Kingdom is never without opposition. In Matthew 5:11 we read that Jesus

Often, in the busyness of life certain important areas of our lives get neglected in pursuit of the urgent. While this may be true of most of us, it seems especially true of leaders in general, and in particular, those called to lead the church of Jesus Christ and her institutions.

The truth be told, God does not want us as leaders to neglect the important areas of our lives in pursuit of building of His Kingdom. Instead, He desires that we learn how to balance doing His work with taking care of the important areas of our lives, because in His economy of things, they are not separated.

We often think of a new day as a new beginning. We also have new beginnings in relationships, careers, or when moving into a new house or another state or country. In some ways we face new beginnings daily. Some of these are good, others not so good, and some really great.

Today let’s focus on new beginnings in areas you may have been neglecting in pursuit of things that are all good, but if you do not begin anew in these areas, the price will be costly.