Ascending Leaders

by Tom Toney

 What is it that causes a leader to get stronger? What pushes leaders to keep improving and growing in their leadership?

Over the past 20 years, I have had the opportunity to serve some great leaders. I have been able to watch how different leaders lead and navigate important moments. I have seen leaders miss it and I have seen leaders nail it. One of the most remarkable traits that has been consistent in every significant leader is that, to this day, they are still growing. I remember one leader in particular, who is now in heaven, and a moment of interaction with them that shifted my mentality as a leader.

I was sitting in staff meeting and we were going through our normal course of updates and discussions. As we were talking, we heard the door to our room open and a familiar, commanding voice quietly ask if our executive pastor was in the room. Everyone recognized the voice of our ministry’s founding father, and the room grew silent. It was not typical for him to be at staff meetings, especially to arrive unannounced. He was the grandfather of our executive pastor, and the father of our lead pastor. At the time, he was around 80 years of age and had just returned from Sophia, Bulgaria where he and his wife were running an English Speaking Academy they had launched. They had been there for a couple of weeks checking in on the ministry and the school and had just returned.

I will never forget his body language as he walked into the room, nor will I forget the sense of awe and respect EVERY person in that room felt for him. He sat humbly in a chair and said, "Go ahead, you can keep having your meeting." We all just stared at each other. Our executive pastor didn't miss a beat, "No, Grandpa, this meeting is yours. Is there something you want to say?"

In his deep, authoritative, yet graceful voice he said, "I just want to apologize." Again, we all looked at each other with bewilderment. He continued, "I haven't been around here much lately, and I don't feel like I'm doing enough for this ministry. So I want to say how much I appreciate all that you are all pouring into this church, and I am committed to doing my part."

I will never forget the rush of emotion that I felt in that moment. I wanted to cry and burst out in laughter at the same time. I could see that smiles were being held back by many of the staff members because we all knew that the collective accomplishments of every person sitting in that room did not add up to even a portion of what this amazing leader had done in his lifetime.

I began this post with two questions to which I would like to offer some insight: What is it that causes a leader to get stronger? What pushes great leaders to keep improving and growing in their leadership?

Consider these thoughts:

Ascending Leaders are leaders that . . .

Don't Assume They Have Arrived. This is such a huge challenge. Most of us in leadership can easily recount everything we've done throughout the last 5 years of our leadership. I am convinced that very little ever escapes the attention of great leaders. So remembering the details of actions and decisions and outcomes is a natural part of being a great leader. This ability often offers us the opportunity to feel like we've done A LOT and to rest in the fact that we are really working hard. But the great leaders I have observed have this similar quality about them of denying themselves the right to rest in their accomplishments. If anyone on that day in our staff meeting had the right to chill out and take the day off (or the year) it was our founding pastor. But he was still climbing, still reaching, and still desiring to go higher. Why?  Because he did not assume he had arrived.  Being an Ascending Leader requires that we must keep improving our leadership.

Do Heavy Lifting: It is critical as leaders that we build a strong team around us. A team that is capable of handling heavy loads and navigating difficult seasons. It is equally critical that we continue to do some heavy lifting of our own. I often have said that one of the challenges of being around great leaders is that we lean so much on them that we don't build enough of our own muscle to stand when they're not around.  I believe the same is true of leaders who depend so heavily on their teams that when the team is not around they don't know how to function.  Our teams need us to stay strong and to KEEP ascending as leaders. You can only imagine how the brief, impactful thoughts of our leader that day served as a very pointed reminder of how insignificant the issues we faced actually were. I can tell you that our senior leader was still ascending, and it caused me to want to do the same.  Being an Ascending Leader requires that we must continue to do heavy lifting.

Lead with Power AND Humility: There were two possible scenarios in the moment I have described. The first is that our leader could have walked in the room and demanded that we all "STEP UP"! "GET IT TOGETHER"! "DO SOME REAL WORK"! None of us could have denied that he had earned the right to say those things, nor could we question the accuracy of the challenge. Those words would have been powerful. But I have to admit, they would not have been nearly as powerful as the humility with which we were challenged. I believe his apology was entirely sincere. But it was the combination of his POWER (authority) and HUMILITY (servant hood) that has made it such an indelible leadership moment for me. As leaders, we have the responsibility of guarding the gift of leadership that God has given us and the power it represents. We are also accountable for harnessing that power and authority and channeling it for the good of those we lead. POWER without HUMILITY can become destructive. Being an Ascending Leader requires that we continue to lead with humility from our position of authority.

One of the most eye-opening realizations for me in that staff-meeting moment was understanding that great leadership is a life-long pursuit. That even at nearly 80 years old, this leader was continuing to ascend. He had not given up, decided he had done enough, or become content with his place on the leadership mountain. Just because a leader might say, "I have a long way to go," does not necessarily mean they are moving up. I determined that day that, however, with God's Grace, I would live out my life always ascending as a leader.

How about you?  Are you an Ascending Leader?

Lead Strong