Your Inner Circle, Will they speak hard truth?

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As leaders we are going to make bad decisions and suffer failures due to that. What we need around us, in our inner circle, is people who are willing to speak hard truth to us out of care and concern for us. To see an example of how not to be helpful to your leaders, see my post here. King David had made some bad decisions, his friend Nathan came to him to speak some hard truth. Nathan used a parable to get the point across.


In 2 Samuel, chapter 12, verses 1 thru 15. We are told a parable by the prophet Nathan. Now Nathan was sent by God to confront David for his multiple sins, including murder. Now that's some hard truth that I hope that I never have to confront anyone about. So, let's see how Nathan handled the situation. 


¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. ² The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.⁴ “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”⁵ David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! ⁶ He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”⁷ Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!  ( Nathan explains to David the consequences of his sin, Skip to Verse 13 ), ¹³ Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.. http://biblesearch.americanbible.org/NIV/2Sam/12/
Now David may not have listened to Nathan had he came right up to him and spoke the truth to him. Nathan was wise to tell David a story that he knew David would sympathize with and listen. 
We would do well to learn from this example when we are the one's who have to approach our leaders or friends. Yes, the truth has to be spoken, but it's the delivery that really determines how they will receive your truth and counsel. 
I also want to examine the fact that no failure is final, Yes, you will suffer the consequences of it. But, it is not final. How do we recover quicker from a major failure?

• Own up to your failures: Many leaders feel that they have to hide or conceal their failures. It's much easier to deal with a failure if you admit it and get it out into the open. Additionally, the consequences are usually less then if you try to hide it.

• Show forgiveness to your people: When we show forgiveness and grace to our people when they fail or make mistakes, we empower them to do the same when we fail. If your on your pedestal all the time, the first time you fall off it, not too many people will be giving you a helping hand.

• Be accountable and responsible for your actions: When leaders hold themselves accountable it's a great example to our people. It also adds creditability to the leader when holding others accountable for their actions.

• Be humble and willing to change: When we show our people that we are humble and teachable it empowers them to come to us and unleash their creativity. We allow them to see that we don't assume that it's our way or the highway.

• Learn from failure: Whether it's you or one of your people, focus on the failure and the dynamics of how it happened. Don't focus on the person and turn it into a witch hunt. Record and pass along your findings to others, so they can learn from it as well. 

Have you ever failed? How do we fail forward instead of on our backs? Please share your experiences, I get great delight in discovering others points of view. It truly helps me to learn and become better as well. Thank you. 

Related posts: Is yes, the only thing you know how to say? ; After the failure, now what? 

Forgive and learn from it ; Accountability, are you holding yourself accountable?

Wash your peoples feet

True Leadership, leading with a attitude of service

Jesus was the greatest example of a servant leader that we have to follow. Jesus consistently showed his people how to lead others, by example. In the 13th Chapter of John, verses 1 through 17. Jesus gave us a great example of servant leadership. It was the night before passover, Jesus and the disciples where together to eat the last supper. No one had secured the services of a servant to wash peoples feet, which was customary for that time. The disciples realized this, but instead of figuring out who was going to wash feet, they started arguing about which of them should be considered the greatest. (Luke 22:24)

Jesus seeing a need, lead by example and took on the role of a servant to wash feet. What can we learn from this?

• Servant leaders are motivated by serving. Jesus knew that by leading by example and playing the role of servant. He could show the disciples how serving others built a leader up, not make them lower in stature.

• Servant leaders are secure in who they are: Jesus was secure in who he was as a leader. He wasn't driven by titles or worried about what others thought. He didn't buy into the worlds definition that a leader is above his people. By embracing the role of a servant, he added value to his disciples.

• Servant leaders initiate action that passes on to others: The disciples seeing Jesus take the initiative gave them the example to follow. Jesus was teaching them that to be a great leader you have to take the lead and serve others. 

• Servant leaders stay humble: Jesus example showed the disciples that there is no room for pride as a leader. His example showed them that there was no job that was, "Below" a leaders ability to do.

• Servant leaders empower their people: By Jesus washing the disciples feet, he empowered them to do the same thing. He empowered them to serve one another and to understand the value of true leadership.

Hopefully, this gives you some food for thought when you are leading your people. The next time you have the opportunity to wash your peoples feet. Do it, it will send your followers a powerful message and empower them to serve one another as well. 

What are some ways that you can serve, your people, that sends a powerful message?