Resilience is a key to strong and long leadership

 

There is a quality that every leader who is going to lead over the long haul must have. That quality is resilience. Webster defines resilience this way: "The ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens." I would define leadership resilience as the ability to deal with hard situations and difficult people without becoming overly emotional, angry, or cynical. It is also the ability to live with a soft heart but very thick skin and not to be discouraged by the inevitable challenges and personal attacks that leadership brings.

Leaders who lack resilience:

• Become easily discouraged
• Feel threatened and deflated when attacked
• Become emotional when things don't go their way
• Can become subject to depression and moodiness
• Are often fearful
• Can easily overact to situations that seem out of their control
• Crack under pressure

I am an avid reader of biographies and would suggest that individuals like Winston Churchill, FDR, Ronald Reagan, or Margaret Thatcher were individuals who personified resilience. Each of these was able to overcome regular difficulties, keep their cool, and continue to lead. In the New Testament, Paul certainly has this trait.

The test of leadership is not what happens when all is well but when all is hell. That is when the mettle of our souls and resolve is tested and where our resilience or lack of it becomes critical. When I hear leaders complain and feel sorry for themselves and express significant emotions, anger, and frustration, I often wonder if they have the resilience to lead well. 

Resilient ministry leaders usually have the following characteristics:

• They have thick skin and have learned how to weather personal attacks
• They take the long view and know that the irritations of the moment will pass
• Their self-worth is not wrapped up in their leadership role, and they realize that leaders are often targets
• Their focus is on the mission of the organization rather than on themselves 
• They have learned to see the tough times as leadership challenges 
• They are generally optimists and communicate hope to their teammates
• They have a good team around them
• They have a high view of God's sovereignty and, therefore, are able to trust Him
• They have learned that anxiety is wasted energy and manage it well

Resilience can be learned and should grow over time as we recognize that the crises of the moment do pass, life does go on, the world does not fall apart, and the worst possible case does not usually come to be. It has much to do with our perspective on God, on life, and on ourselves. The more we focus on ourselves, the less resilient we will be. The more we focus on the mission and on God, the more resilience we will have.

Perseverance when times are hard

Discouragement is one of the prices of ministry leadership. Coupled with fatigue it is even deadlier. It is Jonah sitting under a tree wanting to die, Elijah the same having escaped from Ahab or David hiding out in a cave from Saul. It is Timothy taking shots because he was young. It is the grind of ministry with the demands of people situations, arrows that come, conflicts to be mediated that place us in seasons of tiredness. This is equally true for vocational or lay ministry leaders.

There are times in life when our primary assignment from God is simply to persevere - to gut it out in the face of discouragement, adversity, illness, or issues of life that leave us tired, used up and emotionally and physically drained. The very act of perseverance can be a huge act of obedience in those tough times. Sometimes perseverance in the face of adversity is the one thing we must concentrate on above all others.

When we choose to throw in the towel – many do, the evil one wins. If we get angry – it is easy – the evil one wins. If we ignore it, we do so at our own peril. If we go into self pity, we surrender to others or our situation.

One thing I have learned is that one should never walk through times of adversity and discouragement alone. Our perspective and judgment is impaired by the circumstances and fatigue we face. This is when we need our most trusted friends and confidants who will speak truth to us and provide us with perspective we don’t have at the moment.

The second thing I have learned is the absolute necessity of rest – whether we think we have the time for it or not. Lack of rest leaves us dangerously low on reserves that we desperately need. Fatigue over a long period is dangerous.

Finally, this is the time to really press into God. Not necessarily looking for justice or resolution but looking for His presence to minister to us personally. To be with us. To experience His love and grace and mercy in the midst of our pain. Too often our pressing in is for resolution and justice when what we really need at the moment most is Him: to be still and know that He is God.

Discouragement and fatigue are seasons of ministry. All of us face those seasons, not all make it through. To make it through one needs a strategy: key people, rest and seeking the person of God for no other reason than we need Him. Remember there always comes a new dawn with new promise. As Jeremiah reminds us as he stood in the rubble of Jerusalem, His mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness. That is true in hard times and good!