Seven Reasons Leaders Fail

An interesting blog post from Thomas Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources.  Why do leaders fail?  He lists seven reasons.  A good thing to read and contemplate if you are in leadership or ever plan on being in leadership (hint: if you are every going to have a family, you are going to be in leadership, so READ THE POST!).

Some points are obvious; some are not as obvious.  One of the points that I am thinking through was number 3: They fail to grow.  Here is how Mr. Rainer puts it: Some of these leaders were great – in the past. But they fail to change and failed to grow. They are leaders from another era that is no longer relevant. They are analog leaders functioning in a digital world.

We live in a world of change, so if you are going to lead, you're going to have to grow.  What I'm wondering is what this looks like.  What does it look like if you are leading, or help leading a church? 

My answer would be that first you give attention to growing as a leader, for growth will certainly not come by assumption.  Growth would also seem to include the ability to change and adapt to an evolving situation.  This takes a lot of conscious effort because first you have to realize how a situation is evolving, before you can adapt to it.  I guess I would think of this as recognition and then action; understanding how a situation is changing and then acting to lead the organization as it faces change.