{"id":1805,"date":"2015-04-06T19:55:04","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T01:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2015-04-06T19:55:04","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T01:55:04","slug":"4-questions-you-should-be-asking-yourself-if-you-want-to-grow-as-a-leader-pt-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/?p=1805","title":{"rendered":"4 Questions You Should Be Asking Yourself If You Want To Grow As A Leader, pt. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Here’s what all effective leaders have in common: They are accountable to someone.<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you want to grow fast, ask someone to hold you accountable for\u00a0the areas in which you want to grow.<\/h1>\n

<\/h1>\n

Here’s the 3rd of 4 questions you should be asking yourself if you want to grow as a leader (if you missed them, here’s part 1<\/a> and part 2<\/a>):<\/h1>\n

\"4<\/a><\/p>\n

Question 3: Who am I asking to hold me accountable?<\/b><\/h2>\n

When I hear the word\u00a0\u201caccountability\u201d I tend to\u00a0hear only the negative. \u00a0My mind resists it. \u00a0I feel like asking someone to hold me accountable is like hiring a private policeman to keep me in line.<\/p>\n

However, being accountable is the best way to find encouragement for what\u00a0we really want to be about. \u00a0Leaders need accountability because leading in the church is difficult on a good day. \u00a0Just because we envision a future reality that is good and healthy doesn\u2019t mean it will be received with open arms.\u00a0 If people grumbled against Moses, who was the greatest leader ever, people are going to grumble against your leadership.<\/p>\n

Being accountable is the best way to find encouragement for what we really want to be about. – Scott Vermillion <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

So what do you do when you meet resistance to your leadership?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h1>\n

No doubt there will be two distinct temptations you will face when you encounter resistance:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/h3>\n

1. The first temptation is to shrink back from your vision of a preferred future.<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When you face resistance to your leadership, you will be tempted to settle for some form of mediocrity instead of passionately continuing to lead others to a good goal.\u00a0 The resistance you face in your leadership will effectively act like cold water thrown on your recently stoked fire. \u00a0When you face resistance, you will want to turn from leading others toward your good goal to managing the resistance you feel from others.\u00a0 The end result is that your ministry stays in the same shape it has always been in except now it is led by a discouraged leader.<\/p>\n

2. The second temptation is to fight back against the resistance you face.<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When we feel that we are right, it\u2019s easy to buy into the temptation that might-makes-right.\u00a0 We stop listening to the people who are resisting our leadership, and focus our attention on removing them.\u00a0 We stop seeing those who resist us\u00a0as people God has called us to love, and only see them as obstacles to what we want (or worse what God wants).\u00a0 The end result is that your ministry is divided and loses its unity because of an\u00a0\u201cus v. them\u201d mentality, and it leaves you feeling angry with the people who oppose your vision.<\/p>\n

What we\u00a0need is accountability, so that when we face resistance we can keep moving forward in a healthy way.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Paul gives us many examples of how he kept the church leaders accountable.\u00a0 One example I love is found in 1 Timothy 1:18-19. \u00a0Paul writes, \u201cTimothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith\u201d (NIV11).<\/p>\n

Paul’s accountability helped Timothy avoid both temptations leaders face when they encounter resistance by refocusing his attention.<\/p>\n

First, Paul’s accountability refocused Timothy on to God’s work. \u00a0Paul reminded Timothy\u00a0that God called him to leadership in the first place. \u00a0Instead of being discouraged by the resistance, Timothy was to take heart in the work that\u00a0God was doing\u00a0to shape\u00a0him to lead\u00a0the church.<\/p>\n

Secondly, Paul’s accountability refocused Timothy on his purpose to lead well. \u00a0Even though he was meeting resistance, Timothy\u00a0was to fight the battles he was facing well. \u00a0There was no room for a might-makes-right attitude. \u00a0Paul encouraged Timothy to press on and lead in faith even when the going got rough.<\/p>\n

When someone holds us accountable, they are refocusing\u00a0our attention. \u00a0They help us take our eyes off managing the resistance we face, and help us\u00a0refocus on what God is doing and how we can lead others\u00a0on to his agenda.\u00a0\u00a0We need accountability’s refocus to help us press\u00a0ahead when the going gets rough.<\/p>\n

If we are going to thrive as leaders, we need to ask people to hold us accountable.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

here\u2019s how you find someone to keep you accountable:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Find someone outside your ministry.\u00a0<\/strong>It is nearly impossible for people within your ministry community to hold you accountable because they are stakeholders in your leadership.\u00a0 I like to encourage people to find a C.A.T.\u00a0 Find someone outside your ministry who is C<\/span>onfidential, A<\/span>vailable, and T<\/span>rustworthy.<\/p>\n

2. Be specific about the relationship.\u00a0<\/strong>Ask if this person will hold you\u00a0accountable for a year.\u00a0 Don\u2019t agree to hold one another\u00a0accountable. \u00a0Make it a one-way relationship because it is too easy to give each other understanding instead of real encouragement when leading becomes difficult in your ministry. \u00a0It’s okay to be selfish on this because you are not the only one who will be directly effected by your leadership. \u00a0There are others who are counting on you to lead them well. \u00a0Define exactly when, where, and how you will meet.\u00a0 Define what you want the person to hold you accountable for in your leadership and life.\u00a0 Tell the person which temptation you are most likely to fall into when you face resistance in your leadership.\u00a0 Go so far as to write down all this information and have each of you sign it. \u00a0That way the one holding you accountable won\u2019t let your growth slip through the cracks when life gets busy.<\/p>\n

3. Tell the person exactly what you are trying to move others toward in your ministry and why it is important.\u00a0<\/strong>This way, the person you are accountable to will help you by reminding you often of what\u2019s at stake when you encounter resistance in your ministry.\u00a0 He or she will encourage you to shoot for the best in your leadership, not just the least common denominator.<\/p>\n

How does\u00a0accountability encourage you to lead when you face resistance?<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s what all effective leaders have in common: They are accountable to someone. If you want to grow fast, ask someone to hold you accountable for\u00a0the areas in which you want to grow. Here’s the 3rd of 4 questions you should be asking yourself if you want to grow as a leader (if you missed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1807,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.theawakenministry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/4-Questions-You-Should-Be-Asking-Yourself-If-You-Want-To-Grow-As-A-Leader-3.001.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1825,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions\/1825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theawakenministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}