Patience is a virtue but not one practiced by many leaders. I get it. The following are just some of the reasons why:
- There are deadlines to meet.
- People and shareholders are counting on us.
- Leadership also comes with vision. Therefore, they are already living mentally in their preferred future. As a result, leaders have to equip, encourage, cajole, and motivate others to hopefully get there as well.
- Leaders are always out front waiting on others to catch up.
- Leaders have to wait for others to develop.
- Leaders have to put up with a lot of people’s junk until they mentally and emotionally mature.
- Leaders have to handle complaints from their customers, constituents, and those they are trying to serve.
- Leaders must deal with issues out of their control like political items, pandemics (remember 2020), and market fluctuations.
- Projects are not always immediately successful.
- Leadership is mentally and physically exhausting.
Because of these and many, many more reasons, leaders must develop a significant level of patience to have sustained influence.
Last week, I wrote A Counterintuitive Look at Leadership Part 1: The Importance of Becoming a Gentle Leader. The content was provided from a message delivered by NorthStar Church’s senior pastor Mike Linch. This week he continued this series by discussing the subject of patience.
Mike’s focal passage was from Colossians 3:12-14 which states, “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” (NLT)
Now onto Mike’s insightful comments:
Introductory Comments
- Patience means being slow to get angry and having a long fuse.
- In relationships, we can get impatient.
3 Things Which Can Make Leaders Impatient
- Different personalities.
- The speed people do things.
- Other people aren’t as perfect as us.
How Do Leaders Develop Patience
Restrain My Reactions – “Make allowance for each other’s faults.”
- People are going to let you down.
- I’m going to let people down too.
- James 1:19 – ” let every person be quick to hear, slow(er) to speak, (even) slow(er) to anger;” (ESV)
- Be a good listener.
- Develop the skill of listening.
- How many problems could be avoided if we listened more?
Remember My Foregiveness – “Remember, the Lord forgave you”
- We develop a short fuse when we have a short-term memory.
- Forgiven people forgive people.
Release The Offender – “forgive anyone who offends you”
- When anger sets in, you have to know what to do with it.
NorthStar’s chief of staff Stephanie Ford provided valuable insight from a mother’s perspective throughout the message. One of her thoughts was telling us the following three causes of anger:
- Hurt
- Fear
- Frustration
Conclusion
Patience is rarely discussed but is a requirement for excellent leadership. I know I displayed a lot of patience to people and projects during my life. But more importantly, I have been the recipient of even more patience given to me by some very long-suffering leaders in my life.
You probably have as well.
Therefore, be patient with people this week and let them off the hook. As a leader, you will set the tone for your organization in this area. Model for your team this virtuous quality.
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