Being a Leader

Being a leader requires honesty in practicing what we preach. Honesty, that which comes from a place of inner percetpion, is an underrated value of leadership. Honesty, however, is not necessarily truth, nor does it is immediately create value all the time. But it is, though sometimes not particularly well aligned, still a place of passionate collaborative beginnings heart to heart. Honesty pushes us to a practice that propels self-motivation and the motivation of others in agreement or dissent.

It is so very easy to expound on the virtues of leadership such as valuing dissent, holding variables singularly, or collectively making decisions. But it is a true leader who does these things, even when what is believe is challenged. Preaching is not doing. The great Apostle Paul understood that he had to practice what he preached "lest, when I have preached," he said, "I myself should become disqualified."

Our not doing is often not by design. We often purpose to do exactly what we preach but internal and external voices of fear become our measurement of action, often inhibiting us from real progression, that of acting which means more than mental ascension. It has also become acceptable in our very politically correct world, where honesty of thought is muzzled and benign insipid ideology are heraled as civility and correctness, to merely speak what is in vogue, doing nothing, although our hearts rail against it.

The dishonesty of our own hearts sets in motion a far more devastating path than that of not speaking at all. It is far better to be silent. Words have creative power and if spoken dishonestly (I'm not merely speaking here of a lie, but of a perpetual way of being) it can create damaging dis-ease within ourselves and in others that brings on a kind of paralysis.

It's a mouth and meditation thing that leads to honesty in practicing what we preach. May our mouths line up with our meditations and our actions speak collective truth. As a leader, this is my prayer: "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."