I have been a leader for a very long time, and over the years I have noticed certain patterns.
One of the easiest ways to spot a reactionary leader is to watch what happens after something goes wrong.
Maybe the organization has a bad month financially. The concern is real. Costs need attention. But suddenly every meeting becomes about cutting expenses. Every decision is filtered through that one concern. Before long, people become so focused on saving money that quality begins to suffer.
Then the pendulum swings.
Now quality is the crisis.
So everything turns in that direction.
That is not really leadership. It is simply chasing fires.
Good leadership requires perspective. It means knowing the difference between what is important and what is merely loud.
Some things get stuck in our craw. They irritate us. They stay with us. And if we are not careful, we begin giving them more weight than they deserve.
That happens in organizations, but it also happens in life.
A criticism. A disappointment. A bad week. A mistake. Something goes wrong, and suddenly it becomes the lens through which we see everything else.
Proverbs 19:11 says, “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.”
Wisdom is not ignoring problems. It is putting them in their proper place.
Not every fire deserves the whole fire department.
Some things need correction. Some need patience. Some simply need perspective.
Whatever gets stuck in your craw, be careful not to let it become the thing that leads you.
First Light
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