The Leadership of Moses, pt2
Leadership in Context with Keith Tucci
Episode 152
In our last podcast, we discussed how Moses got frustrated and it cost him entering the Promised Land. All through his life, we see a passionate, justice-oriented person. Moses has a great plumb line of right and wrong. Sometimes he did really well--he had passion under control, and sometimes he didn’t do as well--he had passion out of control. When he exploded with legitimate passion, it got him into trouble and he made mistakes.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, that just wasn’t me”? Or have you watched someone do something out of character? As I have reflected on my own leadership and the leadership mistakes I have made, I have been able to understand myself more and get revelation on where those mistakes came from.
DEMEANOR
When you are a leader (the head of a family, head of a business, small group leader, pastor, etc.), people read your face. The way we posture ourselves affects the people who are listening to us, but also is a channel for what we are going to do next.
If we let our posture get out of control, our thinking will get out of control, then our actions or reactions will get out of control.
There is a place in God where you can sanctify yourself. For example, when people share heartfelt things with you or things from their secret life, you can’t act shocked. You can’t let your jaw drop and stun them. That’s demeanor control. That’s legitimate, not false. That’s sanctifying yourself.
There are times when things happen that just by controlling your demeanor, it will affect your disciplines. Tony Dungy, a Super Bowl winning NFL coach, notes in his leadership book that he made this statement to his new players, “This is how you are always going to hear me talk. You are not going to hear me raise my voice. So you need to learn to listen to this voice because this is the only voice you are going to hear.” I don’t think Tony Dungy lacked excitement or energy. I think what he was communicating, especially when things were going bad and he was frustrated with the players, was that his demeanor was not going to change.
One of the responsibilities of leadership is to not lose your demeanor, especially in a crisis. When something goes sideways, people are reading you. If the demonstration of your body language is greater than your words, that is what people are going to remember. They will remember your facial expression, your body language. They will remember not what you said, but how you reacted.
DISCIPLINE
Once you lose your demeanor, that’s when you begin to lose your disciplines. Sometimes I ask leaders, “Why didn’t you get some counsel from someone?” When they look back, they see that they had blown their demeanor, and that led to a breakdown of disciplines.
Losing your disciplines can look like the following:
· Not adhering to personal or ethical convictions
· Not following Scriptural mandates on how you should act or respond
· Not praying before you answer or respond
· Not following through
· Not checking with your team
· Not doing your due diligence
· Not getting all the facts you need
· Skipping over things, etc.
When you keep your demeanor, you have a better chance of sticking with your leadership ethics and the disciplines you teach to others. If you find yourself losing your disciplines, it might be that you’ve already lost control somewhere. I saw this in the life of Moses, and I saw it in my life.
DESTINATION
When you lose your demeanor and you lose your disciplines, you lose sight of your destination. You are just responding to what is happening, focused on the moment, focused on what needs to be done, therefore, losing focus on where you are going. When you keep a focus on where you are going, it gives you a greater parameter of understanding and you are able to put things in the context of what is happening, not just how they are affecting you.
Join us next week as Keith Tucci continues to put leadership truth in the context of the local church. And as always, please like, share, rate/review, and invite others to listen. See you next week!
