Busyness is the new spirituality – Fred Smith

As I was reading chapter 5 of the book Mistakes Leaders Make (Re:Lit) by Dave Kraft, he discussed about how some leaders are good at being busy but not actually leading. In some cases with religious organization and churches, we tend to look for those who are available and ask them to lead the church, a certain ministry or a department in church. The problem with this kind of practice is we tend to attract people who are good doers but not necessarily great leaders.

I learned this principle when I started leading the youth ministry. As a volunteer, I was good at doing things. When my youth pastor wants something done, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen. I was a good doer. But when I was given leadership responsibilities – I realized that I need a certain level of leadership skill to make things happen. And as I look back, I realized the reason I was doing what I was doing before when I was a volunteer, is because my leader then was actually a great leader who inspired me to achieve greater things.

An unforgettable experience I had one time with my leader and pastor, Ferdie Cabiling, was during one of our meetings I told him how I was being invited left and right to speak in different organizations and churches. I wanted him to give me a pat in the back for doing something so “significant”.

But I thank God for his visionary leadership. He said, “great job Dennis” and then proceeds to take out a piece of paper and said, ” Can you list down the people you are currently discipling?”

I was schooled that day. Schooled for my own good. I was busy but I was not leading anyone. Since that day, I have reminded myself that a leader is a visionary. He talks about the vision, he leads with the vision and he energizes others with the vision of his organization.

Marcus Buckingham said in his book The One Thing You Need to Know: … About Great Managing, Great Leading, and Sustained Individual Success

“What defines a leader is his/her preoccupation with the future…leaders are fascinated by the future…Whenever a person strives to help others see a better future, there is leadership…you do it because you can’t help it. You do it because you see the future so vividly, so distinctly that you can’t get it out of your head.”