All too often I have seen a lack of leadership leave people and organizations frozen, unable to act, and eventually failing. I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it, and we will continue to see it. Unfortunately, that is an issue that we are facing head-on today.

I usually don’t talk politics in my blog. When I do, it’s usually just a summary of a recent event. However, today, I have to raise issue with just that; the lack of leadership. I’m not even going to discuss political parties in particular. I don’t want to get into the whole debate. I want to look at it holistically and non-biased. Today will be just about leadership.

This Friday, we face a mini-crisis called sequestration. This is simply a series of budget cuts that are automatically triggered due to the lack of action on the part of the government. If you want to read more about sequestration, you can read the Budget Control Act of 2011. In this Act, the government is required to cut approximately $85 billion from the budget immediately. That sounds huge. It sounds like progress. It isn’t. That’s $85 billion from $16 trillion. Translation? A drop in the ocean.

Every political side is currently blaming the other. That’s not news. That’s not news-worthy. What is at risk in this high-stake gamble is of no consequence to either party, but rather to those who put them there. If you are like me, you’re tired of it all. You’re sick of the rhetoric. Here’s what we need:

We need someone to step into the gap to make something happen. This person has to be a leader that can get something from both sides. We need a leader. I have seen nothing at this point that would lead me to label anyone in our current political stable as a leader. When was the last time we were this divided as a country? When was the last time that we so polar opposite on so many things? Where is the leader we are looking for to get something done? That’s the question. We can skirt around it and blame each group for lack of cooperation. That’s fine, but it does nothing.

What does all this mean to the common man? It’s like not having a household budget, and having one spouse always spending the money, and the other spouse wanting to keep the money. It’s one spouse blaming the other, and finger-pointing is common place. The home begins to crumble from within, and all because there’s no leadership, no plan, no one to stand in the gap and be willing to make the changes or take action. Each spouse has their family on their side explaining why it’s not his or her fault. The result is havoc, hurt, and usually divorce. In the bigger picture, we can’t just divorce our country.

We can, however, change them. It’s time to demand that our leaders actually lead.  It’s not time to plan for re-election; it’s not time to posture for gain. It’s time to represent the people. It’s time to take action. It’s time to lead.

We don’t have that currently. Sure, you might be able to name one or two people who you think are representing a particular group. Has that changed anything?  Have they stepped up and brought a solution to all people? Have they managed to bring a bipartisan answer?

Let me answer my own question; no. No they haven’t.

It’s time to pray.

What do we do? In a moment like this, we have to ask the right questions. What do you plan to do? What’s the answer? I’m not looking for what party should do what. I’m looking for a leadership answer. Do you have one?

Category: Failure, Integrity, Stand Up, Work
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Ever had that road trip that feels like it just won’t end? You’ve been in the car for hours, you’ve driven through the middle of nowhere, except for the one gas station that looked more like a creepy service station in a horror movie more than it did a place to actually get what you needed. And as you are driving, from somewhere behind you, there comes that echo… “Are we there, yet?”

Life has been that way for so many of us. We’ve been in this car for way too long, and most of us are asking that same question. We have been in an economic nightmare for too long. We have been stressed out for too long. We have had no answers for too long. We have been following our leaders blindly without question, hoping and praying they had our answers in their campaign slogans.

It’s almost like we are with Moses, wandering through the desert. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, you can find it in the book of Exodus. Moses led the people of Israel through the desert for 40 years. Imagine that car trip! What makes the story so amazing is that God performed some pretty incredible miracles on this trip. Even so, the people continued to doubt both Moses and God. It was easier to focus on the problems and not put their eyes on the answer.

Is that where we are today? The problems will always be in the forefront because of our media. But, is that our focus? Have we become so tuned in to watching the rise and fall of the stock market that we can’t see the rise and fall of our faith? We are a country founded on the very principles of God. We are a blessed country, who is currently wandering in the desert. Are we being led by Moses? Obviously not. But like the people of Israel at the time, all we see are our problems, and we have forgotten who we are and, worse, who God is.

I believe our country’s status rises and falls with the economy. That’s sad. But, God is awakening the church. The church will be the light that shines during this time. We will be that example that makes others wonder what we have. It is the church’s role to do all the things that our government is currently trying to do with the entitlement programs. As the church awakens, you will see this role increase amongst the church. It is during that time that we will become what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:14-16:

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Until that awakening, we will wander. We will stay in the desert. Take the initiative with those around you. Apply Godly principles to your life, and yes, to your finances. This will change our country. Our leaders will change, but our God is always our God. Are we there, yet? No, but we are getting close.

Category: Stand Up
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It has been a long, long dry spell. We haven’t had relief in a long, long time. Everywhere you look, in all faucets of life, things are drying up. Rivers and lakes are symbols of current leadership. we look everywhere for relief, and up till now, none can be found.

If you are like me, you are probably as worried about our future as you have ever been. I feel as though there is no real direction in the way we are being led. The “bipartisan effort” does not exist, and in fact, has become an oxymoron. It’s a fight for power, not answers. It’s an effort to prove the other guy wrong, not accept the situation and do something about it.

Leaders don’t and can’t have a victim mentality. Elected leaders are put into their positions to be servants of the people, to act on their behalf to do what is right, and to do it in a way that creates not a void of leadership, but an example. To continue blaming one party or the other takes the fingers off the pencil and instead points them in other directions. This is not a blame game. This is not a high-stakes poker game. This is the greatest country in the world that has and is being run down into bad late-night talk show fodder.

I pray for the wisdom of our “leaders.” I pray that a true leader would emerge at a time like this and show us what it is supposed to look like. The time is right. This leader needs to emerge with sleeves rolled up, head high, and thumb pointed at his chest. This leader has a task that very few will have faced or will ever face. But, that’s why you are a leader. You fix problems. Whether you are answering to the board, the stockholders, or the American people, you fill that position to get the job done.

Or you are replaced.

It’s that time. Pray for that leader to come forward. Pray that this phoenix rises from the ashes of fallen leaders. Pray for wisdom.

“Where there is no leadership the people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”(Proverbs 11:14)

“Leadership is action, not position.”
Donald McGannon

“One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.”
Arnold Glasgow

“Leadership is an opportunity to serve. It is not a trumpet call to self-importance.”
J. Donald Walters

“True leadership must be for the benefit of the followers, not the enrichment of the leaders.”
Robert Townsend

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”
John C. Maxwell

Category: Stand Up
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When I was growing up, there was one thing that I knew at an early age, and that was you were expected to work hard. No one took it easy, at least very often. I was surrounded by hard workers, and I was expected to do the same. There’s something to be said about a job well done, and it feels great to finish. I wonder about those who don’t work hard. Solomon has a word for those; “foolish.”

In Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon gives us a few words of wisdom (of course) for parents, as well as those in leadership positions. He says that the foolish are easy to spot, and that they can ruin a lot of things that the wise have worked hard to accomplish.

In verses 1-3, he says,
1 As dead flies cause even a bottle of perfume to stink,
so a little foolishness spoils great wisdom and honor.

3 You can identify fools
just by the way they walk down the street!

At first thought, I wondered if it was rue that the foolish wwere so easy spot. I think, at times, it is. Of course, if you watch the news you see it nightly. But then there are those times that your spirit tells you, warns you, that you are around or dealing with someone who is foolish. I pray that I don’t have to deal with that when my daughter one day introduces me to her boyfriend!

On the leadership side, certainly there are times that we have to deal with those who are less motivated than we want them to be. In verse 15, Solomon puts it this way,
“Fools are so exhausted by a little work
that they can’t even find their way home.”

Again, I go back to my childhood. I was raised knowing what hard work was, and I honestly believe that is a rarity in today’s society. There aren’t many I have found that come into the “real world” with an understanding of how to work. That falls on us parents.

There’s something to be said about experience and qualifications. Too many people believe God is just going to give them the six-figure income and corner office, for no other reason than being themselves! As leaders, we need to make sure that we are choosing and making wise decisions on those we put into leadership positions. As parents, we need to choose wisely when it comes to rewarding our children.

Solomon actually admonishes those things he had witnessed up to that point. In verse 5-6, he says
“

There is another evil I have seen under the sun. Kings and rulers make a grave mistake 6 when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth.”

See exactly how Solomon describes this? He says it’s “evil.” He says it’s a “grave mistake” when the wrong people are in the wrong places. It’s a mistake to just put people or reward people with position, status, or any other form of award without merit. This is much different from blessing someone who has a need in their life. What Solomon is referring to here is that “good old boy” network, or illegal kickbacks and preferences.

We have a lot to consider! Solomon has definitely challenged us as parents, leaders, managers, or wherever we are in life. If it’s dealing with coworkers, employees, or our kids, he has given us some words to teach.

Category: Stand Up
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