Session 2 – Leaders Need Help

Action Steps

1. In what 3 areas can you use help today?

2. Who can help you in each of these 3 areas?

Session Transcript

Welcome back to a new session of Guidestone University.

Today we’re going to be talking about Leaders Need Help. Every single leader needs help. In fact, we’re talking about in this module three things that I learned as I was going through a challenging time in my life and my career. And there are three keys for leading through challenging circumstances.

They’re relatively simple, the first one we’re talking about here on this session is, Leaders Need Help. I think we all understand that, but our behavior at times doesn’t always align with where we are in our mind or where we are in our thinking. And no matter how successful you are or how successful you’ve been, you’ve likely discovered that you can’t do it all on your own. We know you’re good and I’m good and all that, but occasionally, we need somebody to come alongside us and we can benefit from the assistance of other people. Right?

When we behave in a way that demonstrates to other people that we don’t need help, what we’re really telling other people is that they don’t matter, or that their influence doesn’t matter and we don’t believe that. We know that we need help from people. We know that we need assistance. The truth is, all of us together are smarter than any one of us. And all of us together are smarter than all of us apart.

Collectively, we’re together as a leadership community, as colleagues, as peers, we’re better together than we are apart. So why is it that we’re so afraid and why am I so afraid that somebody’s going to figure out that I don’t have it all together? That I don’t know it all or that I don’t know how to lead in this situation?

As we start this course and think about our life and our work and how we can see dramatic improvements in our life and in our work. How we can take steps forward, we need to think about what areas can I benefit from the assistance of other people? And who are those people that I’m allowing to speak into my life and my work and my leadership that are helping me to grow? No matter where I am in my career, no matter where I am in my life stage, who is speaking into my life and my work?

See, we live in a way – we want everybody to think that we have it all together. But when we reflect this flawless persona, we miss opportunities to connect with people who can help us on the journey. And when we miss those moments, it’s impossible for us to make a difference in our corner of the world. It’s hard for us to see the needs of others when we’re so focused on ourselves and our own self-preservation, when we’re so focused on our own self-image.

Maybe you were like I was in my raft. We talked about the illustration of the raft in the last session. I wanted my raft to look new and shiny and for people to look at it and say, “Man, that thing looks amazing!” but the reality is when we go through rough waters, when we go through the white water of our life and our work and our leadership, things get beat up, and our raft looks something more like this. We often want to keep our raft looking all shiny and nice, but that’s just not reality. We want people to think that we’re cool and everything’s good and everything’s awesome. But that’s not reality. We mess up. Things get beat up a little bit.

Maybe you’re like I was during this chaotic time in my life and my work, paddling so hard against the opposition trying to make progress, getting in a hurry when I didn’t need to be.

Sometimes we just need to let the current carry us in order to be effective, in order to keep from capsizing, from turning over or making things worse. Sometimes we need to learn to value the progress more than whether or not it’s being done our way or the way that we think that ought to be done or at the speed or within the timeframe that we think that it should be done within. Sometimes, we just need to learn to value and celebrate that progress. Let somebody help you so you’re better equipped to help other people.

So, here’s what I want us to do, here’s our actions steps. Number one, list three areas that you need help in today. Maybe something you need to hand off, maybe you need to ask somebody to come alongside and help it. I’m not talking about with the small project or task, I’m talking about things that are sizeable, significant that you’ve been stuck with. Three areas that you need help today. Write them out, write them down right now. Okay?

Then number two, make a list of people who can help you accomplish those things. Alright?

And then number three, I want you to post the items that you’re going to get help with and when you’re going to get somebody to help you with those in the Guidestone Leadership Community, all right? And I’ll let people give you feedback and that’ll be super helpful to you.

And then we’ll see you in the next session of Guidestone University.[/text_block]