Better Not Call Saul

So I've started going back through 1 Samuel in my personal reading time. I've always liked reading about Saul and David in the Bible. If I were honest I'd tell you that I tend to always view myself as a David character in my story. I'm the dashingly handsome warrior that defeats the giant. I'm the hero of the story. Today was much different.

Today I couldn't help but notice how many of Saul's negative qualities are a regular part of my life and leadership. Saul is impatient...so am I. Saul is arrogant...so am I. Saul is stubborn...so am I. Don't get me wrong I can't begin to imagine the type of pressure that Saul was under as the first ever king of Israel. I'm sure that having that type of responsibility thrust upon you at a young age is hard to navigate. I've been in various leadership roles ever since I was 18 years old so I understand how easy it is to make a mistake.

Today I'm not talking about Saul's mistakes. Today I'm talking about Saul's recurring pattern of mistakes.

There's a difference.

Everyone has bad moments. This blog post would be considerably longer if I had to write every mistake I've ever made as a leader. Here are the first few that come to mind:

• I told a crowd of people they weren't faithful to Jesus because they didn't write their names on a sign up sheet.
• I got so angry with someone that was volunteering to help that I blew up (in a Christian way) and walked out in front of the team of volunteers. Bonus: I refused to work with that person again for weeks.
• I passive-aggressively called someone out on social media and then lied about it when confronted later.
• I argued with my wife over something trivial in front of a crowd of people that we were supposed to be leading.
• I've yelled at my kids for being too loud and trying to talk to me while I was practicing a sermon about love.

Facepalm!

Leadership Facepalm

Keep in mind that I only listed a handful of things that came to mind there. The list is definitely larger than those few bullet points. I'm just trying to say that I make more mistakes than I'd like to admit. I think that's something that we tend to hide as leaders. We shove our bad moments into the closet and hope that no one accidentally opens the door and lets the monsters spill out. The truth is we all make mistakes and we all have character issues from time to time as leaders. That's the beauty of the Gospel - God saves and makes us all new.

At the risk of sounding like the guru I want to offer a few leadership hacks to help limit the Saul moments that we have as leaders:

1. Be Honest - Don't try to fool people into thinking that you've got it all together. Be up front about your limitations. Have healthy transparency with people. Also: be honest with yourself. You're not as good as you think you are and that's okay. Lead from who you really are and not the caricature that you've convinced yourself that you are.
2. Give Grace - People are human. Far too often we expect people to be perfect and we don't give nearly enough grace when we find out that they aren't perfect. Give tons of grace to people. I can promise you that you'll need people to give you a lot of grace along the journey too.
3. Get Plenty of Rest - Rick Warren once said, "Sometimes the most spiritual think you can do is take a nap." Amen brother Rick! The truth is when we are tired we are jerks. Be sure that you are getting plenty of rest as a leader. Your body will thank you and the Body of Christ will thank you.
4. Have an Outlet - What do you do for fun? Seriously. Don't tell me, "Leading is fun!" I might slap you if you say that. When we lead we are like a pitcher of water pouring what is inside out into a class. If you don't take the time to refill the pitcher you won't have anything left to pour. Find a healthy outlet and schedule it into your week. 
5. Dance DON'T Duel - I've found that in most of my interactions with the people I lead I tend to come into the room like it's a wild west duel. I'm here to push my agenda and have my ideas rise to the top and anyone in my way is gonna have a bad day. The reality is leadership works better as a dance than a duel. In a dance there are 2 partners and there is plenty of give and take. Learn to view leadership as a dance where you let others take the lead occasionally. Dance DON'T Duel.
6. Try Again Tomorrow - Sometimes the most critical leadership move that you can make is to turn out the lights and start again tomorrow. One of my mentors says it like this, "You can quit all you want to as long as you start again tomorrow." Don't let leadership beat you up in one round. It's okay to come at it again at a later date with more energy and grace.

Those are some (hopefully) helpful tips to keep Saul at bay. Leadership is a long journey and you've still got plenty of gas left in your tank. You may have missed the mark today, but take heart because there are a lot more chances down the road.

There are a lot more chances down the road