Focus Factor

A deeply profound leadership truth emerged in devotional time this morning. I realized why I like fishing so much.

Okay, I know that doesn’t seem very significant, the profundity of it may be obscured. But it really was an eye-opening revelation.

Let me explain.

When I fish, all I do is fish. All I think about is fishing. I read the current in the water; I focus on picking up the bait. I think through the next cast, the next presentation. I’m focused on fishing.

But what hit me this morning, about why I like fishing was this: I really like fishing because of what I’m not thinking about. I’m not thinking about the church I lead, the staff I lead, the people, and the ministries I lead. You see one of the costs of leadership, one of the prices we pay, and one of the sacrifices we make is this: Leaders lose the right to think about just themselves. Leaders are constantly thinking about the organizations they lead, the people they lead, the ministries they lead. With leadership come increased responsibilities, and that increase in responsibilities call for a leader to think differently.

The impact of being a leader on how we think is not a bad thing. It’s just that, we cannot escape it. Leaders think for more than themselves.

We all need the moments of distraction but when The Day on The Bank of a Pond is done, the round of golf, the run of night, or whatever it is that you do to disengage, leaders pick up the responsibility to think for more than themselves.