Leadership has always been a favorite topic for authors, speakers and teachers.  But it can be so very confusing because everyone seems to have a different definition of what leadership is and what good leadership looks like.  Over the last year, I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking about a particular flavor of leader – one I refer to as the catalytic leader.  Such a leader can be defined as one who is effective at accelerating the pace of healthy change.

I’ve come to believe that while there are many important aspects to being a catalytic leader, they all seem to fit into three key behaviors.  A catalytic leader must be able to:

1. Identify meaningful change.  No individual, team or organization is perfect.  We can always improve our performance.  And even if we do achieve perfection in our chosen game, the rules will soon change to redefine the very nature of the game itself.  Change is inevitable and meaningful change is necessary for healthy growth.  The catalytic leader must keep on the lookout for meaningful changes that are needed – well before they’re needed.  Such a leader must also select those changes that will be meaningful from the sea of those that won’t.
2. Initiate meaningful change.  It isn’t enough to identify that a set of changes are needed.  The catalytic leader must actually initiate that change.  This may include assessing your options, planning your project and assembling your team.  This is about getting it all moving and building momentum for the desired change.  The catalytic leader must be able to translate vision into an actionable plan.
3. Deliver meaningful change.  It seems that any attempts to effect meaningful change into our lives or organizations are met almost immediately with obstacles.  Sometimes we get distracted with competing priorities.  Sometimes team members resist change.  Sometimes unforeseen setbacks make us doubt whether we can accomplish the goal.  And sometimes we begin to lose our commitment to the desired change.  The catalytic leader must keep their eye on the goal and push through all of these obstacles as they arise.  They keep the vision fresh and clear.  They ensure that progress continues and that the team remains unified in their commitment throughout successful implementation of the change.  And they celebrate the wins as they come.

When a catalytic leader doesn’t find themselves personally gifted or even competent in one or more of these key behaviors, they can overcome that deficit by surrounding themselves with those who are.  A visionary leader may be great at identifying meaningful change necessary to bring about a desired future reality, but may lack the wiring to develop a plan that can lead to that change.  The self aware leader will partner with others who have the necessary gifting to get the job done.

Which of these three key behaviors come naturally to you?  Which of these are most taxing for you as a leader?  What implications do your answers have for how you can improve your leadership moving forward?

There have some couple of very disturbing trends in the world of Down Syndrome:

• 92% of women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome for their unborn child choose to terminate the pregnancy.
• Mothers in the US who received such a diagnosis and chose to continue their pregnancy indicated that their physicians often provided incomplete, inaccurate and often offensive information about DS.
• In a survey conducted in 2004 of 2500 medical school deans, students and residency directors in the US, 81% of medical students report that they “are not getting any clinical training regarding individuals with intellectual disabilities”, and 58% of medical school deans say such training is not a priority.
• In a questionnaire completed by 532 ACOG (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) fellows and junior fellows in 2004, 45% rated their training regarding how to deliver a prenatal diagnosis as “barely adequate or nonexistent” and only 28% felt “well qualified” in general prenatal genetic counseling.

I don’t think these are disconnected.  I’ve talked to so many parents of children with DS and so many who received a prenatal diagnosis report that the doctors were pretty emphatic about urging them to terminate the pregnancy.

I want to make it clear that I am not judging parents.  To receive such a diagnosis is devastating to parents.  I would never presume to second guess what is an incredibly difficult family decision.  My concern is that parents are often making that decision with inaccurate information.

I also want to acknowledge that there are some excellent doctors that do a great job of educating parents after a prenatal diagnosis.

What concerns me most about this is that this is a perfect storm.  Poor training leads to poorly equipped physicians.  Poorly equipped physicians give bad information to scared parents.  And scared, misinformed parents are terminating their pregnancies.  This is a predictable sequence.

But beyond the statistics are people.  Thousands of them.  Little people that will never have a chance to learn, love and live.  It breaks my heart.

Gabby’s birthparents could have chosen to terminate her life.  I praise God that they made a decision to let her live and put her up for adoption.

As Jeff Griffin pointed out during last weekend’s message, a runner in a race keeps his attention on the finish line.  Doing otherwise could lead to disaster.  In our walk with Christ, it is equally important that we focus our attention on the prize, which is growing closer to Him and becoming more like Him.  Just like a runner, disastrous things can happen when we lose that focus.  It is not surprising that the enemy so often uses the tactic of distraction to oppose us.

It seems that the enemy’s most effective means of distraction in my life are:

1. Unexpected Problems – just when everything seems to be going so well, it seems like the bottom falls out.  The dryer breaks down, the car engine light goes on, the kids get sick, and the dog eats the remote.  I don’t know about you, but my eye are diverted from the prize to the urgency of solving the problems.
2. Attractive Opportunities – sometimes distraction comes packaged as a killer chance to get involved with something or be positioned for some type of impact.  The struggle with such opportunities is that they so often resemble a God-given open door.
3. Heavy Responsibilities – Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Yet, so many of us are so weighed down with the heaviest of responsibilities.  There are so many good things to involve ourselves in and dedicate ourselves to, and we keep adding and adding until we are almost crushed under the load.

Of course, straining past this deception involves the same activity as moving past the enemy’s deception, disconnection, and discouragement.  We really do need to keep our focus solely on Christ.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 3:12-14

Together, let us keep straining toward what is ahead.

Whenever we attempt something that we perceive as difficult or demanding, our success is based largely upon our courage.  Courage is the ability to press through, even when something is hard.  We intuitively understand that difficult endeavors bring a certain degree of risk.  Our personal degree of courage will often determine whether or not we will even attempt something that is tough.

Let’s face it, the journey of walking with Christ is not an easy one.  It is full of perceived risks and we need all the courage we can to embark in earnest upon that journey.  It’s not surprising, then, that one of the enemy’s most effective forms of opposition is discouragement.  To discourage means to cause someone to lose confidence or enthusiasm (another way to say courage).  And it makes a lot of sense that he would use this tactic.  If the enemy can discourage us, we might stop ourselves from walking, without any further intervention needed.

The enemy uses two particular assertions in trying to discourage us:

1. Change is Impossible – on one hand, we feel God prompting us to change certain areas of our life, to grow in particular ways to be more like Him.  But the enemy seems to be lurking around just waiting to remind us that we’ve tried to change that area before and failed miserably.  While we might argue that we’ve made progress, he is quick to point out that we’ve actually made pitifully little real progress.  He’ll remind us of all the time and energy we’ve expended and he’ll soon have us asking what the point is in even trying.  And even if we do try, there is that nagging feeling that we all know how this is really going to turn out (again).
2. Excellence is Impossible – Sometimes we feel God calling us to big things, to make a big impact for Him in some way.  But then there’s the enemy creeping around looking at what we’re doing and forever asking that condemning question, “Couldn’t you have done that better?”  That’s such an unfair question, because the answer is always “Yes!”  No matter how well we accomplished something, we could ALWAYS have done it better.  The question is loaded in the first place.  It makes us pause to take on something new, because if we aren’t excelling now, what is the point of taking on something else at which we won’t excel.

These assertions are so discouraging to us for two particular reasons.  First, the enemy’s argument for each assertion contains some degree of truth.  We have failed to make the kind of progress we desired.  We have not always been as excellent as we would’ve hoped.  The problem is that we make a quick mental leap that if any of the argument is true, the whole assertion must be true.  Second, both of these assertions and the arguments that support them are effective at taking our eyes off God so that we can focus upon ourselves.

The most powerful thing we can do to combat the enemy’s discouragement is to focus all our attention on God.  Answer his assertions with some of your own:  Change is possible with God! Excellence is possible with God! God has all we need for all that He wants, including helping us to be more like Him.

Where do you feel like the enemy is trying to discourage you right now?

Next time:  The last post in this series will about straining past the enemy’s use of distraction.