In order to lead, there must be some sort of system that you hold to, a way to manage the madness that comes along with influencing others. Most leaders function in multiple roles and carry different responsibilities. We understand that if we do not have the framework to carry those things, eventually we or the area will lead in will collapse. Systems are key, however, if we are not careful systems can sometimes get the best of us.
The more driven, organized, and passionate we are the more difficult it is to be flexible. I speak from experience! I am pretty intentional, carry a lot of vision, and I am usually well structured. When the structure does not play out right or when my expectations are not met, frustration can enter the scene. So something that leaders like myself struggle with is being flexible. In many cases flexibility is as important as structure. This is what I am learning about flexibility…. Hard things have to be broken. Stiff things have to be cracked. Tight things have to be stretched. Only flexible things can be molded.
Here are a few truths concerning flexibility:
1. Flexibility Keeps Us Healthy
Wether you are a parent, a volunteer leader, a school teacher, or a pastor, you know that things rarely go as planned. Murphy's law is in full effect when we lead; if it can go wrong, it usually does. Great leaders are able to roll with the punches and lead with confidence, we just figure out ways to make it happen, it’s what leaders do. However, sometimes that competence comes with a great deal of tension and frustration. And that is never fun for anybody. We know how hard stress can be on ourselves and those we are close to. If we are going to be emotionally healthy we have got to chill out! Some of life’s best moments happen in the margins! Enjoy and build memories on the unexpected. 2. Flexibility Increases Our Capacity I love Jesus’ teaching on wineskins. "No one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22(NLT) Old wineskins are stiff and their inability to be flexible causes them to loose their capacity to carry anything. No matter how experienced they were, their hardness killed their capacity.
3. Flexibly and Well Planned Work Together Flexibility is not the same as laziness. Organized is not the same as being high strung. In fact, I have found the more prepared I am that it’s easier for me to be flexible when the unexpected happens because I am not frantically and urgently planning at the last minute. After I put in all the hard work of planning I can relax and roll with whatever happens because I have already done all I can do. Planning actually helps us be flexible in the moment because the only things that get our attention are the issues we could not have dealt with until they show up.
Let us be passionate, vision filled, organized and structured. And beloved, let us be flexible!
Isaiah 64: 8(NLT) And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
