By Dan Reiland<\/p>\n
Good leaders are toughminded. They\u2019re able to take the heat. They can handle the difficult stuff comes their way.<\/p>\n
Leaders who are considered soft, weak, or indecisive are not respected.<\/p>\n
But there is another side of leadership. It brings heart into play. It balances out the tough side.<\/p>\n
Without heart, leadership can feel like medicine; necessary, but undesirable. Heart brings, among other essentials,\u00a0kindness<\/em>\u00a0into leadership.<\/p>\n Kindness is the #1 overlooked quality of a leader.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t talk about kindness much in leadership circles \u2013 at least in terms of what is required to be a successful leader. Intuitively we all know it\u2019s a Godly virtue, but it\u2019s rarely a quality we focus on.<\/p>\n Kindness is a basic human quality that allows trust, connection and genuine exchange to take place.<\/p>\n At the airport this week, I noticed a strong young guy jump off the rental car shuttle to help an older gentleman get his suitcase up onto the bus. It took less than a minute, but the expression on the older man\u2019s face was priceless. He was surprised, but his grateful smile said it all.<\/p>\n Kindness lowers stress in everyday situations.<\/p>\n Kindness brings peace and joy into pressure filled situations.<\/p>\n Kindness is not a new idea, but it\u2019s often undeveloped as a leadership trait.<\/p>\n God delights in kindness.<\/strong> You can see the balance. Justice, righteousness\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0kindness.<\/p>\n As I read through both Old and New Testaments it\u2019s easy to see that kindness is a consistent expression of God\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not complicated to be kind, but it can be difficult to practice on a consistent basis at the pace that most leaders run.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t believe that leaders generally lack kindness. In fact, I think most good leaders are kind at heart.<\/strong>\u00a0The problem is that there are things that steal a leader\u2019s kindness which in turn has a huge negative impact on any leader\u2019s effectiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n Which of these four unintentional thieves is most likely to temp you to be unkind?<\/em><\/p>\n The 4 Great Thieves of Kindness:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Pressure<\/strong> You are expected to produce results, and the demand for results can become an unintentional contributor to the lack of kindness.<\/p>\n It\u2019s counterintuitive, but an expression of kindness helps bring relief to the pressure you feel. It takes your mind off you and the load you are under and replaces it with joy from the experience of being kind to another human being. That joy lasts for a surprising amount of time.<\/p>\n 2) Busyness<\/strong> The encouraging truth is that kindness often does not require a lot of time, but it does need a mindfulness about its value.<\/p>\n Slowing down, at least a little, is necessary in order to create space for kindness. Then two things can happen. You can be looking for and aware of opportunities and the Holy Spirit can prompt you in a way that you will hear. The response is up to you.<\/p>\n 3) Impatience<\/strong> Leaders with Type A personalities are often driven, want things \u201cnow\u201d, and don\u2019t like roadblocks. If you can relate, here\u2019s the caution flag. We don\u2019t always see it. We can miss that someone needed a breath, a moment, a smile, a little grace \u2013 the little things that make a big difference.<\/p>\n Drive is necessary and good, but without patience, kindness may escape you. 4) Insecurity<\/strong> Kindness isn\u2019t weakness, it\u2019s the expression of strength from someone who has something to offer. Kindness is not automatic, it\u2019s a gift that you must choose to give.<\/p>\n You can be tough and kind, but weak leaders are often mean. They can be bullies. It\u2019s only through bluster that a weak leader appears strong. Strong leaders delight in kindness.<\/p>\n Kindness embraces 3 essential elements:<\/strong><\/p>\n 1) Genuine humility\u00a0<\/strong> Humble leaders live for others more than they live for themselves. Humble doesn\u2019t mean insecure. Don\u2019t confuse the two. Humility is an attractive virtue, insecurity is not. Humility is directly connected to strength, insecurity is tied to fear and our weaknesses.<\/p>\n 2) A desire to serve others<\/strong> It\u2019s not always easy and it can be draining, but the heart of a shepherd leader cares about and has compassion for the people. We can\u2019t serve everyone, but for those we serve it must be heartfelt.<\/p>\n 3) Personal peace and contentment<\/strong> Contentment understands kindness and seeks to pass it on.<\/p>\n All three of these naturally bring kindness into play.<\/p>\n Kindness from a leader demonstrates itself in nearly limitless ways such as:<\/p>\n Sometimes we need to stop and think to be kind. Hopefully, however, over the long haul, kindness becomes as natural and automatic as breathing for anyone who leads.<\/p>\n There are only nine words included in the cherished set of \u201cfruit of the Spirit\u201d found in Galatians 5:22-23.\u00a0Kindness made the list.<\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2024 Dan Reiland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Dan Reiland Good leaders are toughminded. They\u2019re able to take the heat. They can handle the difficult stuff comes their way. Leaders who are considered soft, weak, or indecisive are not respected. But there is another side of leadership. It brings heart into play. It balances out the tough side. Without heart, leadership can <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":81192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u00a0. . . but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who<\/em> exercises kindness<\/em><\/strong>, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,\u201d declares the Lord.\u00a0 Jeremiah 9:24<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe higher the pressure you\u2019re under, the more you are tempted to behave in an unkind way.<\/p>\n
\nKindness can\u2019t be rushed. It requires time, but when you are super busy and feel compelled to maintain speed, kindness may be squeezed out.<\/p>\n
\nI can be impatient. How about you?<\/p>\n
\nPracticing patience is difficult but necessary.<\/p>\n
\nThis is the sneaky one. It appears in reverse. Insecurity can cause you to want to please people, seek approval, even make unwise decisions that gain favor. These can\u00a0appear<\/em>\u00a0kind, but because it\u2019s not truly genuine, it\u2019s ultimately unkind. (It\u2019s more about you than them.)<\/p>\n
\nHumility is based more on the idea that you don\u2019t feel superior or better than others because of what you have, your status or power, and equally, it\u2019s not about feeling inferior to others.
\nHumility reflects the disposition of your heart.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s a major warning flag if a leader begins to consistently see people as annoying, an imposition or an inconvenience, rather than a joy to serve.<\/p>\n
\nIf we lack inner peace and contentment, it creates an uneasiness within us that makes it difficult to be kind. This restless disposition causes us to be consistently searching for our own needs to be met, rather than others.<\/p>\n\n