Heart Shaping Leadership.

I got the opportunity to be a part of the Suncrest Christian Church leadership track retreat this weekend. Definitely a good experience; thought through some things that I was actually not expecting. Most of our retreat centered not around leadership techniques, organizational strategies, and the like. Instead, we focused on forming the heart of a leader; allowing our heart to be transformed into the image of Christ.

I've got to admit, I wasn't really sold on that first. Being a better leader by being a better follower of Christ seemed a little cliche to me at first. But after listening and talking to Don Green, our guest speaker for the weekend, I started to rethink things. I got a chance to talk with Don one-on-one, and noticed that he is 100% convinced this is the key to leadership. Don's a wise guy, and he's of that persuasion, then I think there's something we need to take note of there.

Somewhere along the way, I made ministry and leadership about doing and not being. There is certainly an element of doing in both, that is for sure. But it all stems from me being a follower of Christ who is working to grow in his relationship with Christ each and every day. I think I often forget that, and instead allow what I do to take the place/define who I am, when in reality, the two can be very different things.

As has been the case with me throughout my journey in Christian spirituality, I often focus on the exterior behaviors and forget about building the interior qualities first. That is an important, vital (and for me, at least), and often overlooked area of being a Christ follower and being a leader. If I build the heart, the rest is sure to soon follow.