Leadership is a journey fraught with peril. Numerous traps await even the best of pastors and business leaders. In today’s episode, John and Jim explore three of the most common pitfalls that threaten to ambush a leader, and what he/she can do to avoid getting entangled in them.

Here are the show notes:

3 Leadership Traps:

1. Wanting everyone to like us
2. Wanting everyone in our church or business to be rowing in the same direction
3. Wanting everyone to love our vision, playbook, and values

What’s a leader to do to avoid getting entangled in these traps?

1. Wanting everyone to like us – Not being constrained by the obsessive need to be liked is not the same thing as carrying an obnoxious attitude. Jesus had deep compassion for people. He dealt with them gently, carefully, and at the same time often pointedly. The unhealthy drive to be liked is rooted primarily in identity fracture.
2. Wanting everyone to be rowing in the same direction – Not needing everyone to be rowing in the same direction in order to have organizational momentum is not the same thing as letting work be a free for all where every person does what is right in their own eyes.
3. Wanting everyone to love our vision, playbook, values – Don’t allow the inability of the few who don’t get it to discourage you from casting a bold vision, running a simple yet powerful playbook, and holding true to your values.

Final Thoughts:

1. You don’t need everyone to like you to accomplish your assignment. Just don’t use that as an excuse to remain underdeveloped in your people skills.
2. You don’t need everyone to be rowing in the same direction to get where you’re going. Just don’t allow yourself to ignore obvious warning signs that your leadership team is fragmenting
3. You don’t need everyone be passionate about your vision, committed to your playbook, and living out the core values for you to reach the end zone. But don’t use that as a reason to stop casting vision, stop being simple, and stop using values to shape the culture you want and need.