3. I must prove myself constantly.
Ask yourself this: To whom are you trying to prove yourself? To God? To others?
If it’s God, you’re already approved. That had something to do with a cross on a hillside out of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
And we all know leaders (even Christian leaders) who are constantly trying to prove themselves.
You know what happens?
Leaders who try to prove themselves lose themselves. You actually never discover who you are because you’re not comfortable enough to look inside and discover what’s already there.
My favorite leaders are those who have developed a quiet confidence. They know what they’re good at and what they’re not, but they’re not loud about it. They consistently and humbly play to their strengths and have no difficulty admitting their weaknesses (see point 1).
If you can’t admit you’re wrong because you’re always trying to prove yourself, remember: People admire your strengths but resonate with your weaknesses.
When you can accurately (and even quietly) lead well and admit your mistakes, people trust you.
4. My follower’s success is a threat to me.
So many leaders feel threatened by the success of the people around them—even the people they lead.
Big mistake.
You shouldn’t feel threatened by the success of your followers. You should celebrate it.
A leader’s success is ultimately tied to the success of their followers.
Great leaders don’t build great platforms; they build great people.
So how do you do that?
Well, start by murdering your insecurity.
Brian Houston had one of the best answers I’ve heard on this subject. When I interviewed him on my leadership podcast (you can listen to it here), I asked Brian how he’s managed to keep so much talent around him over the years.
I loved his response. He said, “You raise the ceilings.”
Raise the ceilings, and you’ll eventually be surrounded by giants.
If you want to learn more about developing a great leadership pipeline, the team at LifeWay Leadership (where Todd and Barnabas serve) has developed a number of resources to help you begin developing a generation of new leaders at your church.
• Free E-Booklet – Developing Your Leadership Pipeline
• Free Leadership App – featuring blogs, podcasts, training videos and more
• Pipeline – A Conference for Church Leaders – October 13-14 in Nashville, Tenn.
I’ll be delivering one of the keynotes at the Pipeline Conference in October in Nashville. Join me and 6,000 other leaders this October.
5. I emphasize mission, vision and values enough.
On the podcast, I said this one is perhaps the only statement of the five lies that doesn’t arise out of insecurity.
As I’ve thought about it further, now I’m not so sure.
You know what insecure people are? They’re self-focused.
Their needs end up trumping the needs of the organization.
And here’s the truth: You will get tired of casting vision, talking about the mission and celebrating values.
So the question becomes, do you do what you feel like doing or do you do what’s best for the mission?
Great leaders never only do what they feel like doing: They do what furthers the mission of the people they lead.
An insecure leader will flit from feeling to feeling. A secure leader will wake up and do what’s best, even if she thinks she’s done it 1,000 times.
Secure leaders can focus on something bigger than themselves because they’re over themselves.
What Do You Think?
I’m a huge podcast fan. I hope you listen to the 5 Leadership Podcast Questions podcast.
I also host a weekly leadership podcast you can listen to for free every week. In fact, if you subscribe for free, you’ll never miss an episode and have access to my back catalog at your fingertips.
I interview today’s top leaders like Brian Houston, Craig Groeschel, Andy Stanley, Jenni Catron, Mark Batterson, Louie Giglio, Ravi Zacharias, Kara Powell, Chris Brown, Jon Acuff, Lewis Howes and many more. You can subscribe here.
On Episode 61 of my podcast, Josh Gagnon, pastor of one of the fastest growing and largest churches in the history of New England, and I have a gut-honest conversation about how even successful leaders struggle with insecurity.
I’d love to know if there are other lies you’ve noticed that insecure leaders believe.
