The Purpose of Elevation

TGIF Today God Is First by Os Hillman
Friday, December 04 2009

And the Lord said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you." (Josh 3:7-8).

Joshua had been a faithful number two man under Moses for 80 years. Can you imagine serving one man for 80 years? Now that is faithfulness! Even so, when the time came to pass the mantel to Joshua, God knew he needed to be elevated in the eyes of the people in order for Joshua to accomplish his purpose. That is the purpose of elevation - so that you and I can fulfill our purpose and our mission.

We are not called to elevate ourselves. If we elevate ourselves before our time we will short circuit God's plans for our lives. We will not have the same level of grace as we would have if it were in God's perfect timing. Moving into a job or responsibility before we are ready is a formula for failure. We may not be mature enough. We may not have the proper skill set.

Let God elevate you in His timing and you will be successful in the thing He created you to be and do.


Mike's Thoughts:

Patience is so hard to exercise in today's world. I struggle with it all the time. I'm sure that as Joshua served Moses all those years, he thought he would have done some things differently than Moses did. Yet, he served him faithfully. This is a great example to me as I have often struggled with serving leaders faithfully that I disagreed with. Joshua was rewarded for his faithful service when God elevated him to replace Moses when the time was right. Far too often, I have pushed and pushed to elevate myself only to end up frustrated in one way or another. I need to learn to serve diligently and with patience while submitting to the authority of my leader(s).


Mike's Action Points:

1- I need to pray for strength and wisdom to remain diligent in my service and loyal to my leader(s).
2- I need to provide an example of servant leadership to those around me or serving me who will be leaders in the future.
3- I need to pray for wisdom and discernment when elevating others to positions of leadership and authority.

Please see my Leadership blog: http://blogspot.legacycoach.com

Leadership Skills Today for Tomorrow's Leaders

John Maxwell's 25 Ways to Win With People:
14. Do for Others What They Can't Do for Themselves - Joseph
(Genesis 41)

Mike's Thoughts:
As a servant leader, I need to be cognizant of opportunities to help others in ways they can't help themselves. The key is to help in ways they CAN'T help themselves and perhaps I can. What is implied in this message is NOT to do for others what they CAN do for themselves. It is important for me to show tough love for those who seek to take advantage of my servant heart, even if they do not realize they are doing so. Perhaps they are capable of
helping themselves and just don't realize it. In this situation, it is my role to provide guidance and counseling so that they will understand how to help themselves.

Mike's Action Points:
1- When presented with an opportunity to help another, I should pray for discernment concerning my role in the situation. Should I "do" for them or provide guidance so they can "do" for themselves.
2- If I am led to "do" for them, I need to do so with a pure heart.
3- If I am led to provide guidance, then I should be prepared that this guidance may not be received by pure hearts.

Please see my Leadership blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com

Training God's Leaders Today

John Maxwell's 25 Ways to Win With People:
13. Keep Your Eyes Off the Mirror - Joseph and his brothers
(Genesis 50:18-20)

Mike's Thoughts:
As a leader, I need to keep my eyes off myself and focus on being and developing servant leaders for future generations.

Mike's Action Points:
1- I will pray for an humble servant's spirit.
2- I will focus on helping others to become servant leaders.

Please see my leadership blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com

Barriers to Generational Blessings

Today is the six year wedding anniversary of my daughter, Nina and her husband, Stephen, and so I will dedicate today's study to them.

From a Message by Paster Garrett Booth of Grace Community Church in Houston, Texas on 8/16/09:

Four Barriers to Generational Blessings:
1- Performace/Behavior: we are a performance oriented society and much too often our self-worth is wrapped up in our performance, whether judged by ourselves or others or both. God's acceptance and love of us is not based on our performance or behavior. He loves us regardless and encourages us to do the same. Romans 5:8 says: 8"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
2- Motivation: when guilt, fear and intimidation are used to motivate others, it creates distrust, disillusionment and dissatisfaction. Those who use such motivating techniques are insecure with themselves and have self-serving agendas. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says: 31"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
3- Playing Favorites: when someone is singled out as a favorite at the expense of others the result is jealousy and envy. Luke 20:21 says: 21"Then they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:"
4- Family Melt Down: divorce or disaster can cause family melt downs that affect generations to come. John 16:33 says: 33"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Mike's Action Points:
1- God loves us regardless of whether or not our performance or behavior is pleasing to Him. As a family leader, I need to distinguish between love for the person and dislike for their lack of performance or behavior. I should communicate this when confronting a family member whose performance or behavior is not pleasing to God.
2- As a family leader my personal motivation greatly affects the motivation of family members. If I show a servant attitude with love for the person and for God, then family members should be likewise motivated.
3- I cannot show favoritism towards one family member over another. Does this mean that I cannot draw closer to one family member than
another? Of course not! But it should be clear to all family members that there is love for everyone. Does it mean that every family member is treated exactly the same. No, it does not! Every family member needs to be treated according to their personal needs and personality.
4- The good news is that regardless of where I am or what has happened to me, by trusting in God I can, with His help, break the bonds of family melt down and create an awesome future for myself and future generations.

See my Leadership blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com

Do You Know How to Hire Leaders?

John Maxwell's Commentary in His Introduction to Genesis:>"Because God designed people to lead - to "have dominion over" the earth(1:26,28) - we know that we possess a ruling capacity."

From Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges:
Servant leadership enables humility to overcome incompetence. Suppose someone who is not qualified accepts a leadership position. What will it take for this person to become effective and get the job done? This question was asked of Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God ..... Prior to this question, participants were asking Henry and Ken about whether you needed to always check if you had the proper strengths to take a particular leadership position. Henry's response was classic. In essence, he said,"That's an interesting concept, but it's not Biblically sound. Name for me one leader in the Bible whom the Lord called who was qualified? Every one of them, including Moses and Mary, claimed in one way or the other that they were the wrong person for the job. The reality is that the Lord never calls the qualified, He qualifies the called."

Mike's Thoughts:
These passages present quite a paradox for me, as a leader, trying to fit the right person to the right position. The authors above are telling me that we all have leadership capacity and it doesn't matter if we are qualified for the position, as long as we are humble we can overcome our incompetencies! I struggle with this. I can visualize situations where, in the right environment, an incompetent leader may be allowed to grow into his/her position. This assumes a definition of incompetence as "not being aware of one's capabilities". Therefore, a leader who appears incompetent, may grow into the position because inside they had the capacity to do the job, they just lacked the experience and confidence in themselves initially. The fact that God had divine knowledge of each person's capacity for leadership, whether or not that individual realized it at the time, allowed Him to "qualify the called". In effect, He did what all good leaders should do, is bring out the best in His leaders. For me, as a leader, I don't have the luxury of divine knowledge of each person's capacity for leadership. I can certainly pray for such revelation. Can I be certain that the Lord will answer each of my prayers for such revelation? Now that is a very good question and poses yet another paradox for me! If I answer that by saying "no, God picks and
chooses the prayers He answers", am I being unfaithful? If I say "yes, God answers each of my prayers", am I being untruthful and prideful because I know that God has not answered every prayer I've ever prayed? I want to defer to Ronald Reagan! I believe it was he who said, "trust, but verify". In other words, God wants us to have faith in Him, but we need to do our part, too.

Mike's Action Points when filling a position:
1- Pray for discernment and peace in regards to this candidate. If I receive a clear answer from the Lord that this is the right person
for the position then move forward with placing him/her. If I don't
receive a very clear answer then proceed with the steps below.
2- Verify the quality of the candidate by checking references and
verifying what the candidate has been doing the past few years.
3- Run a background check. However, issues that may arise as a
result of a background check should raise a red flag, but not
disqualify a candidate by itself. EVERYONE messes up sometimes, but in different ways and to different "degrees". Remember, to God, a sin is a sin, whether it is taking a pencil from the office or committing a third degree felony. Jesus died on the cross so that we can all be forgiven of our sins daily. So,it is more important what are doing about and since we messed up than the fact that we messed up, because we all mess up. How many great pastors and servants of the Lord have come from people who were incarcerated for years for crimes they committed? The answer is more than you realize.
4- Once I've done the due diligence as to the quality of the candidate, I should pray for peace as whether or not to move forward with the person.
5- Next I need to verify that the candidate has the talent/capacity to fill the position. We all have leadership talent, but a person may have the talent to lead in one area, but not another. This is
different from the skills and knowledge that a person has acquired thru study and experience. Anyone can acquire skills and knowledge, but talent is unique from person to person. There are excellent assessments that can be used such as "Strengthsfinder" by Tom Rath, and others.
6- If more than one candidate has made it this far in the process, and they are deemed equally capable for the most part, then go about assessing their knowledge and skills.
7- Pray for peace and a clear understanding as to which candidate is
the appropriate hire at this time, if any! If you don't receive true peace about the candidate, then the Lord is most likely telling you to start over with new candidates or to evaluate the position itself.

Please see my blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com

We Are Our Own Worst Enemy

John Maxwell's Commentary in His Introduction to Genesis:
"Isn't most of history the story of conflict among people trying to lead and
rule one another, independent of God's direction?"

Mike's Thoughts:
This goes well and contrasts with my study of Esther on 8/5/09. When
leaders work together to accomplish God's will, good things happen!
Unfortunately, however this is more often not the case. In my opinion, one
of the two biggest problems we have in society are leaders who are only
interested in how short-term results make them look good and imposing
their self-serving agenda on others. Whether it is between leaders of nations, leaders of states or cities, leaders of business, leaders of homes
and, sadly, leaders of churches; it all boils down to short-term results and
self-serving agendas. While I may not be able to change all of mankind, I
have committed myself to help create Legacy Leaders who look beyond the
short-term to see how their decisions will effect future generations and help
them to create Servant Leadership agendas that will encourage and develop
Servant Leaders for future generations. Please join me in this quest!
Mike's Action Points:
1- I will pray for our leaders and for my leadership agenda.
2- I will look at the long-term effects of my decisions.
3- I will develop a Servant Leadership agenda and strive to influence
Servant Leaders for future generations.

See my new blog: http://legacycoach.blogspot.com

Will You be a Legacy Leader?

John Maxwell's 25 Ways to Win With People:
4. Create a Memory and Visit it Often - Joshua (Joshua 4:1-7)
6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.”

Mike's Thoughts:
THIS is why I'm launching my new company, Legacy Coach International
on 9/1/09, with God's guidance. To help people learn to become legacy leaders at work, at home
and in the community. A "legacy leader" is a servant leader who teaches
others to be servant leaders for future generations. A legacy leader lives on
in practice, application and story from generation to generation. Here Joshua is creating a legacy of what the Lord did for the people of Israel at
this time. I'm sure for many generations, when people came upon that
place by the Jordan river and saw the stones there, that many stories were
told about God and Joshua and Moses and the Israeli culture was passed from one generation to another. We seem to have lost the enthusiasm to pass cultures and traditions and knowledge and wisdom and spirituality from one generation to the next and this is causing all kinds of societal problems with the biggest problem being the deterioration of the family unit. The second biggest problem being business, community and political leaders who are only interested in short term results and self-serving agendas. Joel Osteen often talks about "generational blessings" and his family embraces legacy leadership. Are they perfect - no! Do they ever have family conflict -
I'm sure they do! But, the legacy of leadership has been passed from John
Osteen's father (and probably before him) to John Osteen and now to John
Osteen's children and I can see where Joel and Victoria are passing the
family legacy to their children. As a leader, I need to do everything I can to
create enduring legacies and pass them on thru my family, my work and my
community. Mike's Action Points:
1- Study Biblical leaders and how they created legacies for future
generations.
2- Ask God for help in being a legacy leader and creating legacy
opportunities for the current generation that can be passed to
future generations.

All that You Know May Not be Wise!

Ecclesiastes 1:17-18:
17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.18 For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Mike's Thoughts:
I get "burned out" sometimes and I'm sure you do, too. It is a natural
human emotion and I believe that Soloman was experiencing such emotions
in the book of Ecclesiastes. Rick Warren teaches that my life is not to be
about me, but it is ALL about God. It is obvious in the verses above that
Soloman has lost the focus on God in his life. God blessed Soloman as
the wisest man to ever live and unfortunately, Soloman in all his wisdom,
lost his focus on God and, in his pursuit for more personal wisdom, found
knowledge that depressed him. Many times in the Bible God talks about
seeking wisdom, NEVER does He ask us to seek "madness and folly".
These are pursuits of the flesh and not Godly pursuits. As a leader I need
to keep my focus on heavenly pursuits that are in line with the vision and
mission of my company, community and family. Of course, I must also
create visions and missions that foster heavenly pursuits. Please note that there is an important distinction between wisdom and knowledge. All wisdom is knowledge, not all knowledge is wisdom, just ask Adam and Eve!
Mike's action points:
* When feeling down or depressed or burned out, I need to ask
myself if my focus is on me or on God?
* Study 2 Corinthians 7:1 and 2 Peter 1:2-11.
* A friend of mine is writing a book to be released late in 2009 and in
this book he makes a profound statement: "Ask him (God) to
show you barriers and then help you remove them." I need to spend quiet time with God asking Him to do just that especially as it relates to maintaining my focus on Him.
* Check the vision/mission(s) I am pursuing to make sure I can
pursue them in a Godly manner. If not, change them.

Start With Yourself

John Maxwell's 25 Ways to Win With People:
1. Start with yourself - King Soloman.
1 Kings 3:9-14:
9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” 10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Mike's Thoughts:
God wants me to ask of Him not out of selfishness, but from a servant
heart, as did Soloman. God rewarded Soloman for his servant heart with
great understanding, riches and a long life. Sounds like a pretty good deal
to me! Mike's Action Points:
* I cannot be self-serving in my prayers. I need to seek His will for me
as Jesus did in the Garden. For example, if I'm suffering
financially, I should go to God in prayer and be thankful for His
blessings in my life and ask that His will be done with my finances and that He guides my actions in this area.
* I need to seek God's will in my life with a servant heart. Again, if I'm
struggling financially, I should go to Him in prayer and ask how
I can learn from this experience and use it to bless others.

Is Your Work Vanity?

Ecclesiastes 1:14:
I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Mike's Thoughts:
This certainly presents a paradox for me. As a leader I'm supposed to push
my people to stretch their comfort zones, embrace the vision and mission of
the organization and continually strive to fulfill them, to constantly be looking
for better ways to do things, to work hard on relationships and devote
themselves to on-going personal improvement. And yet, Soloman is telling
me that it is all "vanity and grasping for the wind"? Well, if I just look at these causes by themselves, then yes it is vanity. However, if I look at a
larger picture with God in it, it makes much more sense. Rick Warren, in his
book, A Purpose Driven Life, tells me that EVERYTHING I do should be
about God and EVERYTHING that happens is a spiritual event. God is very
interested in HOW I go about my life and not so much what I accomplish in
my life. Do I put God first in everything I do? Do I live my life to please Him
with everything I do? As a leader I need to work with my people to achieve
the above causes, but only within the parameters of pleasing God with their
work and mine.

Information Needs Application

John Maxwell's Commentary on Jude 17-23:
Jude doesn't close his message with mere points of information, but offers
points of application. Effective leaders give both information and application.

Mike's Thoughts:
Jude appears to be a book of "communication". Throughout the book Jude
is encouraging leaders to be effective communicators. I find the above
commentary simple, yet profound. Often I have been in situations
where my leadership gave me information and then dissappeared and I
was left with this half-full feeling of; "Okay, just what do they expect me to
do with this?" The problem is that they gave me the information for a reason
and I felt like they expected me to do something with it, but they didn't give
me the application and I was left to figure it out on my own, which often led
to ineffecient use of my time and a project or task that had to be re-worked
at least once. I have found that sometimes a self-serving leader would do
this purposefully, especially if they felt threatened by me. They obviously did
not understand or embrace the concept of servant/legacy leadership. Other
times they may not have thought the situation through fully and how
dissemination of the information would effect the receivers. Other times they
may have known the information was important but, didn't know how to apply it themselves and were just hoping that I would figure it out for them.
As a leader who wants an effective and efficient team and to set an example of servant/legacy leadership it is to my advantage and is my duty that when I
dissimenate information to also give application for it. I have a few
suggestions on this topic:
1- If I am the recipient of information from leadership without
application and I suspect this is with malicious intent, I need to recognize that this is the evil one doing his deeds in the work place. I need to stay calm, pray about it and then don't act on it until I receive clarification about the application either from God or from my leadership. I should go to my leadership and explain that I am seeking clarification on what they expect me to do with the information and wait for their response. It may not be wise to
offer suggestions until I have heard their response otherwise
they may attempt to use it against me.
2- If I am the recipient of information from leadership without
application and suspect it is because they did not think it
through or did not know how to apply it themselves, I must be careful about my own motives when asking for clarification. Again, I should be calm and pray about it. Then I should look for possible applications without acting on them and then go to my leadership with a servant heart and explain that I am seeking application for the information they shared and ask for their feedback and guidance on the possible applications I came up with.
3- As a leader, I should strive to never disseminate information
without offering application for it. I should always share
information with pure motives and the attitude of a servant/legacy leader. If I feel the need to share information and
I don't have an application for it, then I should ask the recipient
for their prayer and/or thoughts on the information and how we
should apply it.

Will You Change Eternity?

John Maxwell's Commentary in His Introduction to Ecclesiastes:

Why we do something ultimately determines what we do.
.... all earthly goals and blessings, when pursued as an end in themselves,
lead to dissatisfaction and emptiness.
All good leaders operate from a personal and corporate mission statement.
Vision drives them.
.... leaders ought to wrestle with how they might change eternity through
their leadership.

Mike's Thoughts:

As a servant/legacy leader, my motives behind my actions are important to
God and may have a profound effect on those I lead. It is my job to lead
people with a mission and vision that honor God and not earthly goals. As
I become involved in projects and activities and assume leadership positions, I should always seek to serve others in such a way that they will
be so inspired to "pay it forward" for future generations. This is Legacy
Leadership!

Bigger Leadership

John Maxwell's Commentary in His Introduction to Ecclesiastes:
Our leadership must be about something much bigger than us. If our
leadership advances merely our own "kingdom," only increases the profits
of our company, or only benefits ourselves - we have failed the higher call
of leadership. All leadership must bring honor to God, serve and benefit
others, and utilize the gifts of each team member to their fullest potential.

Mike's Thoughts:
This paragraph really speaks to me as a leader and a coach. In my opinion,
one of the two biggest problems we have in society today are business,
community and political leaders who only strive to advance their self-serving
agendas and short-term profits to make themselves look good. Our
leadership service must be about creating leaders for future generations and
leaving strong Godly legacies that will not wilt under the pressures of the
world. Leaders are to serve to benefit others, not themselves! Finally, this
paragraph ends with one of the biggest challenges leaders face and that is
to utilize the gifts of their people to their fullest potential. How do we do that? Well, the following steps may make a good start:
1- Identify their individual gifts/talents/strengths.
2- Encourage and help them to develop and use those talents.
3- Help them to understand how to work around their weaknesses.
4- Give them the foundation to grow in the areas of their leadership
strengths.
5- Help them to grow in their Spiritual walks.

Are You a Confronter?

John Maxwell's Commentary on Jude 3-4:
Confrontation: Jude Admonishes People to do Right
Confrontation is a necessary evil. No one enjoys it, but it must be
done in order to rectify, purify, and unify the organization. When
leaders refuse to confront wrongs, the atmosphere can become
lethargic and unfocused. When leaders don't stand for something,
their people will fall for anything.

Mike's Thoughts:
As a leader, I must have courage to confront wrongs and set the ship on
the right path. Sometimes wrong happens innocently, sometimes
purposefully. Regardless, it must be confronted and dealt with. As a leader
I must reflect the values and vision of my organization/family and
communicate such frequently to the people so that they may stay focused
and not stray from the course.

Are You Good at Pictures?

John Maxwell's Commentary in his Introduction to Jude:
Lessons in Leadership:
* Leaders must use pictures to capture the hearts of their people.
* Leaders must express certainty when possible, but clarity at all
times.
* Effective leaders don't demand, but exhort, appeal, and urge others
to act.
* People need both negative and positive reinforcement.

Mike's Thoughts:
I have always struggled with the first point on using pictures to influence
people. I have just bought a book called, "the Power to Write" by Caroline
Joy Adams and I hope it will help me in this area. It is advertised as "a
writing workshop in a book" and has "Seven Keys to Discover Your Writer
Within". Isn't it interesting how virtually every modern leadership philosophy
that is worth its salt can find its basis in the Bible? I believe the above
mentioned traits are just as important in the family, if not more so, as they
are in the work place.

Do You Act When You Should?

John Maxwell's Commentary on 3 John 3-12:
Initiative: Leaders Are to Host the People in Their Lives
I his last letter, John uses the picture of a host. Hosts take initiative
with their guests. They do what is right by others, make them feel
comfortable, give direction to conversation, and provide for others.
Leaders, like hosts, don't react; they act. They go first and risk
whether the other person will respond positively. It is part of being a
leader. Consider what this letter teaches us about the leader as
"host." Leaders take initiative ...
* In their lifestyle (vv. 3,4)
* With others, especially strangers (vv. 5,6)
* In owning responsibility (vv. 7,8)
* In doing good, by acting and not reacting (v. 11)
* In modeling for others (v.12)

Mike's Thoughts:
Sometimes I find myself hesitating when I should be "going first" in a
leadership situation. I often justify my non-action as showing respect for
another or other leaders that are present at the time. I pray for wisdom to
know when I should act and for the courage to do so. (fmd)

How Do You Equip Your People, part 2?

3 John 1:6b:
If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well,
Mike's Thoughts:
Yes, same verse as yesterday... I feel like I needed to add to my ideas of
how to equip the people that I lead; especially in a secular environment:
4- Love the people.
5- Show them respect.
6- Listen to them.
7- Be a Christ-like example without beating them over the head with
Christianity.
8- Exercise tough love when necessary. (fmd)