The Most Dangerous Person on Your Team
This week I had the incredible opportunity to sit in on a workshop that focuses on non-profit leadership. The course the facilitator asked a reflective question that really made me think:
“Which relationship is most important to the success of your team?”
As the question tumbled through my brain I instantly thought of all the incredible people I had worked with over the years. The inspiring supervisors, or the teammates who went above and beyond. I spent some time thinking about the co-workers who weren’t a great fit, and almost in unison with the rest of the room we all came to the same conclusion:
The most important human relationship I need to manage when it comes to the success of our team is the relationship I have with myself.
I am the person that is in every conversation that goes well, or poorly.
I am the person that is driving the project I am working on to success or failure.
I am the person that can decide to have a positive or negative attitude as I enter the community.
If I am not stewarding the relationship I have with myself I am destined for organizational chaos.
The model of servant leadership that Jesus gives us in John 13 is one where Jesus becomes vulnerable and washes the disciples’ feet. It is a beautiful picture, and one every leader should imitate.
We should also be intentional about understanding what Jesus knew as we attempt to imitate his style of servant leadership:
John 13:3
3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
Jesus knew who He was. He had spent enough time with His Father to understand the role he could play in this situation.
If we are going to follow the example of what Jesus did for others, it would be wise for us to follow His example of what He did for himself.
Christ was able to be a servant leader that washed the disciples’ feet because He knew who He was to the Father. Look closely at verse 3 - “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power…”
Jesus’ identity in the Father was secure, and because of that, He was able to serve others out of that identity.
Jesus took the time He needed to understand who He was with the Father.
I wonder how many of us are making time in our calendars to do the same?
Far too often in my own life, I couldn’t serve the community I led because I was too confused about my own identity in Christ and not as secure as I should have been in the Father’s love for me. In my personal leadership experience, this most often manifests in feelings of anxiety around having my authority or vision undermined.
When I took a step back from the conflict and looked at my relationship with the Father, I was quickly able to realize - the conflict wasn’t about me, it wasn’t personal. A fresh perspective gave me the opportunity to serve my community in a more Christ-like way.
This week I want to invite you to wrestle with a variation of the question that the facilitator challenged me to wrestle with:
What are you doing to take care of your own identity with the Father, so you can imitate the Son?