Bill Perkins

It would be easy to think the best leaders are those who have a track record of uninterrupted success. Accepting that as a pressing truth, many leaders feverishly work to cover up failures and magnify their successes.

If you’re a leader it may surprise you to hear that many of the people you lead think you know exactly what the future looks like. The problem is they don’t think you’re telling them because you’re afraid they won’t like the future you have planned.

In light of this amazing reality, it’s a good idea to tell everyone in the organization where you’re going. A failure to do so is a mistake you don’t want to make. It’s crucial you repeatedly share the blow your socks off vision. Fill in as much detail as possible, but be careful to only tell what you know while honestly admitting what you don’t know. If the picture is fuzzy, admit it. Tell them you can’t fill in the missing gaps or pull off the dream without their help.

A lot of men think the best leaders are those who have a track record of uninterrupted successes. With that in mind they feverishly work to cover up past failures and magnify every success. And yet, nothing inspires others more than seeing a man who not only won a few battles but lost a few as well.

Values are not practices. A practice is an activity or action. A practice that works in one situation may not work in another because practices apply to specific situations. Because my second son, David, loved to be with people, sending him to his room when he misbehaved resulted in a transformed attitude on his part. When I tried that same form of discipline with my third son, Paul, it didn’t work at all. Why? Because Paul loved sitting at his desk and playing computer games. Make no mistake about it, we’ve got to adapt our practices to the various challenges we face.

When we speak of becoming servant leaders we’re striving for something we’ll never quite grasp this side of heaven–like trying to grab a soap bubble as it floats away. Once in a while a bubble may momentarily land on our palm. In that moment we’ll experience the miracle of Jesus working in us, enabling us to serve. If we smile and become proud of ourselves then the wonder will be gone because our self-satisfaction will reveal that we served so we could see ourselves serving–like fans at a sporting event who realize they’re on television and so they wave vigorously so they can watch themselves waving on the jumbotron.