Leadership 106
Scripture Reading - Hebrews 4:14-15 KJV
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Greetings fellow believer in the Mighty Name of Jesus in today’s lesson we will continue our conversation on “Leadership”. In our first lesson Leadership 101 we taught on the three principles that every good leader should be and they are 1) Open to Hear, 2) Quick to Adjust and 3) Slow to Step. Stating that a “godly leader” listens openly to hear what the group is saying to leadership, then that “leader” quickly adjusts to all good advice that was shared and after that the “godly leader” shall proceed with a clearly communicated safe pace knowing slow and steady typically gets the job done. In Leadership 102 we mentioned that a “good leader” must have “vision”. We stated that spiritual insight is a must because spiritual insight allows the leader to see some distance into the future which is necessary to see exactly where you are going. We also discussed in Leadership 103 three qualities of a Godly leader in reference to honesty, being full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. In the Leadership 104 lesson we highlighted the importance of being meek. Specifically pointing out that biblical meekness includes humility of mind and gentleness of heart. In Leadership 105 we discussed the “leadership” quality of operating in faith and patience. Declaring that we must operate in faith first to get the ball rolling in God’s direction and then use patience to stand strong until the complete fulfillment of God’s Will (the promise, the blessing) is manifested in our life. In today’s message we will focus on operating in the virtue of “empathy”. This word “empathy” isn’t found in the KJV of the Holy Bible but we do have a reference scripture that states the Lord Jesus was also touched by the same thoughts, feelings and emotions that caused us to sin, therefore He “empathizes” with us. The word “empathy” generally means to take upon yourself the feelings, thoughts and emotions of another person going through a particular situation or a challenging circumstance. This quality of “empathy” is usually implied when speaking of something negative. Like, I had “empathy” for the poor because I once was poor or I could “empathize” with the person in prison because I too have been in jail. This is a side of “empathy” that is genuine and real however, we are speaking of “empathy” in a much broader context for “leadership”. What we (ihlcc) are hoping to convey in this article is that “empathy” has a critical place in “leadership” simply because you cannot “lead” from a position of ignorance or being impersonal. The “leader” needs to clearly understand what his or her workers are going through to help navigate them through their own personal troubled waters. This is why we (ihlcc) firmly believe the “leader” who has performed your job before can have “empathy” and those who have not simply cannot. In this context “empathy” is not being looked at in the negative sense but rather as a positive quality to help the leader better understand their workers. We know for a fact that “leaders” who have no heart for the sick can never properly identify with the sick people under their leadership. Likewise, those leaders who have never cleaned a floor could not clearly understand what it takes to have the floor cleaned by a worker under their “leadership”. These examples and the thousands more like them call for explanation so we will voice our findings and observations. First, always put in “leadership” a person who has already worked in at least one or two positions they are “leading”. We have heard the more recent business doctrine that we don’t need good “leaders” just good managers because it is all about managing people. Baloney, hogwash, it is not at all solely about managing people it is rather about helping people. Just remember managing is typically about resources whereas “leading” is about the advancement of a group of people all together. Only teams need “leaders” so the thought that the experience of the “leader” doesn’t matter is false and confusing. We believe that the “leader” must have “empathy” so that they can make decisions on facts and experience as opposed to just human reasoning and speculation. When someone has “empathy” which some could substitute the word “compassion” they can accurately look into your eyes to read your soul, thus making a spiritual connection to help a hurting or hunting spiritual heart. This is God’s Way and this is right. Remember God the Father sent Jesus into the world to become one with the people on earth (humanity) so that He could identify with us and properly “lead” us out darkness and into victory by following His “Divine Leadership”. People in general have a greater respect for those who walked in their shoes (so to speak). This is why we can follow Jesus into any situation or circumstance because we confidently know that wherever we need to go He has already been there. Yes, whatever we need to conquer He (The Lord Jesus) has already conquered it for us in advance. Simply put, Jesus has been everywhere and done everything so He alone qualifies as the “best leader” any man could have. Yes, Jesus has “empathy” because He emptied Himself of God’s Glory for a short season to take on Himself the weak (frail) and fallen nature of flesh. Since Jesus is our ultimate example of a “true leader” from God shouldn’t we take notice of the fact that He identified with us first by taking on our pains, weakness, failures and troubles. Then He defeated the enemy of our souls to further qualify Himself as “the solely leader” for all mankind. It only makes sense that His sacrifices made to gain “empathy” are extremely important such that we too must make the necessary sacrifices to be “empathic” towards our team members knowing that without “empathy” you are not clearly understanding the personality of your workers. Thus, in those moments you are not “leading” a united team but rather you are showing the workers a diluted team member. God forbid that diluted teammate is the “leader”. It is said that, “A leader is known by their “empathy/compassion” and those “leaders” that don’t have it are not really known!. (Selah – pause to think about it) Amen!