1. Fear of Man.
See Prov. 29:25.) It is IMPOSSIBLE to please everyone (Gal. 1:10!) We know we are dealing with “fear of man” issues when we …
Feel the need to respond every time someone attacks.
Get more insight from @ replies and Facebook comments rather than God’s Word.
Allow the comments we receive (usually online) to dictate our mood.
Go home from the office and are more obsessed with our online audience than our wife and children.
Prepare a sermon and ask, “Is this going to make people feel comfortable?” rather than asking, “Is this really what the Lord is burning into my heart?”
2. Failure to Ask For Help.
One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to assume being a leader means you must have all of the answers … and when you don’t have the answers, then make something up.
WRONG!
Being a leader means surrounding yourself with people who know what you do not know and then creating an environment where they are free to say what needs to be said.
(Unfortunately, some leaders cannot do this because they are more obsessed with their image rather than actually doing the right thing!)
3. Fear of Making the Wrong Decision.
If you haven’t screwed up at some point … then you’re not leading well.
Leaders take risks … and with some risks come rewards, while others provide us with an “education experience.” The tragedy in making a wrong decision isn’t actually in making the wrong decision but rather in the unwillingness to admit a decision was wrong and then doing what it takes to make it right.
4. Comparison.
I cannot tell you the number of times I have personally been paralyzed as a leader because I would look at someone else and think, “I will never be as good as them—why should I even try?”
I honestly think this is one of the main weapons the enemy uses in his arsenal of WMDs! We should always learn from other leaders, but we must never allow the measure of our success as a leader to be based on how the Lord chooses to bless other people.
