Leader Prayer
Do you pray?
That might be a strange question. It may event launch you into a diatribe of keeping religion and business separate. So let me ask it a different way.
Do you long for things secretly in your mind and heart and call out to God at times?
I just did. Sitting at 33K feet on a Delta airplane I cried out on the inside this prayer:
“God, thank you so very much for my bride. She is a gift from you, God. And these kids you’ve given us, bless them. Protect them and give them the best of you.”
This prayer went on as I began to pour out what I wanted.
“And God, you know what I am about. Would you please help me reach the things I think I want? Better yet, would you just show me what you want, clearly. Can I just know that I am doing what you want me to do?”
Now I don’t know about you. I am not really concerned about your words as much as the fact that I know you pray, but do you? What is the utterance in your heart that as a leader needs to come out?
That is simply how you pray. You start talking to God.
I have never known a good leader that doesn’t do that a lot.
Posted on March 12, 2010 in Personal Growth
1 Comment
Stan Ward said...
Ah - but that begs that question of “good” leadership, doesn’t it? The issue of defining “good” leadership is what inspired James Burns to write his book _Leadership_. His book is the foundational work for the concept of “transformational leadership” (which he called “transforming” leadership).
Jeremie - this is exactly what I appreciate about your work. You define “good” leadership as more than “effective” or “change-causing” leadership. You want leaders who are motivated by something transcendent that benefits both self and society (something akin to Robert Greenleaf’s “servant leadership”).
Keep up the good work.
Comment by Stan Ward - Mar 12, 2010 @ 11:12 AM