On Thursday, June 19th I was driving on Alpharetta Highway, a very busy Atlanta street headed to a series of meetings. As I rounded a curve I noticed about 30 yards in front of me a deer sliding across the street, spiraling on its side. Instinctively I knew it had been struck by a car.
Once it stopped sliding, the deer stood and began to limp away. Sadly, the animal clearly had an injured hip or broken leg. I slowly passed the car involved which had pulled off the road. A young man was on the phone probably calling family, friends or his insurance company. The car had a significant dent in the middle of the front bumper and grill.
Reflecting back on this experience, I was reminded of three leadership principles which stood out regarding the deer, the man, and the relationship between the two.
We Learn From The Deer That Leaders Should Not Wander Off To Places Where They Should Not Be – Obviously, the deer wandered from the woods into a busy highway. And in doing so, the results were devastating. Sadly, I hear stories all the time of leaders who “wandered away” with devastating results. Men, when you get off work, rather than going out for drinks or with friends, go home to your family. When you are on business trips, do your job and then return to your hotel room. Do you have lunches alone or meetings behind closed doors with the opposite sex? There are countless other examples but place boundaries in your life. If not, you will wander off and experience devastating results as well.
We Learn From The Man That Leaders Should Build Margin – When the deer entered the street, the young man did not have time to stop or avoid the accident. Leaders should always build in personal, financial and emotional margin in their lives. Margin helps leaders avoid devastating results.
We Learn From The Relationship Between The Deer And Man To Not Expect Sympathy Immediately After You Wander Off – It was interesting the young man was already on the phone within seconds of the deer being hit (assuming he wasn’t on the phone during the accident itself). Though the deer was injured, the young man was not immediately concerned with deer but rather his own situation. Pastors and other leaders, there will be time for grace and restoration for you. However, the immediate response for your “wandering off” will not be for you. The following will be our immediate questions and concerns:
How is your family?
How will the church or organization need to move forward?
What is the communication strategy to the congregation, employees or shareholders?
What are the contingency plans?
Will we have to get a new job or move ourselves?
Etc., etc, etc… These are the questions those affected by your indiscretions will be asking. After addressing these issues, only then can we show you the proper sympathy and grace needed.
Don’t Wander Off. Don’t Expect Sympathy If You Do. Build Margin. Next time you see an animal who was struck in traffic, remember these lessons and avoid the same mistakes. Your leadership depends on it.
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