A few years ago a friend was telling me about stopping at a junkyard to get a part for his car. (Today they are called “recycling centers,” but back then “junkyard” was still an acceptable term!)
As he was making small talk with the owner, he asked him where he got his inventory, assuming most came in as a result of automobile accidents. “I get a few of my cars from wrecks,” the man said, “but most of them end up here because they are just worn out.”
That story made me realize the same is true with people. When I think about the leaders I know, good leaders who are no longer leading, I realize that a few of them had been in wrecks of some
kind. But the vast majority had just worn down.
Life seems to grow increasingly difficult, and none of us escape the daily grind. However, I’ve noticed that people tend to respond differently to identical pressures. That has led me to this conclusion:
Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds you down or polishes you up depends upon what you are made of.
There are several skills that, if cultivated, will allow you to face the same stressors you face today and be better for the experience.
The Ability To See The Big Picture
If you can’t see what you are doing now as part of a long-range goal, you’ll wear out. Imagine how long an athlete would be able to endure the pain of practice if they couldn’t see the game in their mind’s eye. Imagine how long a farmer would endure the hot sun of summer toil if he could not envision the harvest of fall.
The Ability To Defuse Worry
I’m convinced that it’s not the work of life, but the worry of life that robs so many of their strength and breaks down their resolve. The only sure-fire remedy for worry is confidence.
Worry consists of creating mental pictures of what you do not want to happen. Confidence is creating mental pictures of what you want to happen.
Any golfer who has ever stood on one side of a water hazard thinking, don’t hit it in the water, don’t hit it in the water, can describe the result of the former. You’ll be going wading very shortly!
Good golfers have learned the knack of shaking off the last shot, good or bad, and approaching the next one with confidence. The same goes for leaders.
The Willingness To Quit Seeking Security
A ship that never leaves the harbor is safe, but that’s not what ships are for. Too often we are devastated by failure that could have almost been predicted. The willingness to make mistakes, lots of them, is one of the prices we must pay for the advancement of a worthy cause.
The Ability To Gauge When Enough’s Enough
No one expects their car to run forever without stopping to fill the fuel tank, but when it comes to our physical body, we foolishly refuse to stop when its time to rest, refuel, and recreate. I believe that too much of the wearing down I see is self-inflicted.
The Wisdom To Choose Your Associates
Most of us have far more choices than we think when it comes to the company we keep. Even when we must work with negative people, we can choose to avoid being reduced to their level.
Life is hard enough without having to go through it with negative, critical, or lazy people.
Ground down or polished up? The choice is really yours to determine.
monthly e-newsletter: Leadership Wired available at www.INJOY.com.
John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.
