Teachable...

I subscribe to a daily blog that LifeChurch sends out and this one came the other day and it presents some great questions...

Teachability Is A Must

LifeChurch.tv is a passion-filled, aggressive, ever-evolving organization. At LC, teachability is a must. Without teachability you probably won’t last 91 days at LC. Why 91? If you’re not teachable, during your 90-day review you might hear, ‘Thanks for coming, God loves you. And, thanks for leaving, God loves you.’ What we do is just too important.

Some people mistake experience for teachability. 10 years of experience + teachability = 10 years of experience. 10 years of experience - teachability = 1 year of experience, 10 times.

Here are some behaviors I’ve observed from those who are teachable:

1. They ask for adjusting feedback. What can I do better? What are my blind spots? How would you approach this situation? Etc. Those without teachability don’t look for adjusting feedback, they look for a pat on the back.

2. They live as a learner. They ask questions. They pursue knowledge. They make observations. They listen more than they speak (ouch!). They experiment with new ways of doing things. Those without teachability don’t live as a learner, they like to be the expert.

3. They are not defensive. They don’t make excuses when receiving feedback. They receive it, process it, and adjust. Even if they disagree, they look to become more self aware. Those without teachability are simply defensive.

Are you teachable? I know I need to become more teachable.

I'd love to hear your thoughts...

- Rainey

Submit

I know when I hear the word Submit I tend to think of images like the one above and/or I feel this urge to rebel, unless of course I’m the one asking for someone to Submit...

But as leaders we are called to do just that, Submit. Not just Submit to Christ, but to those who are leading us and those we are leading. This is Mutual Submission and it is an interracial part of leadership and often times it isn’t fair.

Let’s tackle this idea of fairness, which will only take a sentence... Fairness isn’t a Biblical idea (As we learned in Reset), fairness ended in the Garden of Eden. So as leaders we need to Do What Is Right, Not What Is Fair.

Here is what I mean... There are Three main things that must happen for Mutual Submission to be effective:

1.) Do for one when you can’t do for all.

It would be easy to say things like “I can’t visit everyone in the Hospital so I’m not going to see anyone. I can’t greet and/or say hi to everyone on Sunday, so I won’t say hi to anyone”. I think it is easy to see the fault in this idea...

So... Do For One/Some Like You Wish You Could Do For All.

Don’t try to be fair, fairness is the enemy of rightness...

2.) Systematize top down service.

Random acts of kindness aren’t enough in leadership. If we don’t have and/or build a system or structure into the rhythm of our lives then we won’t do it.

Here are a few examples of what I mean; If we don’t have a system, a way to remind us that it is someone’s Birthday then we will be very random in our wishing of happy birthday’s. If we don’t have a system, a way to allow people to speak into our lives then we will have very random growth patterns, both spiritually and emotionally.

3.) Ask “How can I help?”

As leaders we have a responsibility to help where we can, but it can feel overwhelming when there are so many areas that could use your leadership. So what can we do? How can we really make an impact?

Let me give you some hope... When there is a list of areas that could use your input, your leadership, your talents then tell that person “I can’t do all of these things, but tell me one thing, one activity that I can do to help”.

This will not only relieve pressure from you, but will also help that person identify what is the most pressing need.

Mutual Submission has to be modeled by the leader and anytime someone feels heard, especially from a leader then we communicate that we (Leaders) are here to serve them and not the other way around.

If we don’t create and/or have a system that gives us a sustainable pace then we won’t be a very efficient/affective leaders. A sustainable pace creates margin. If we don’t have the system we won’t have the margin.

* Where are you trying to be fair instead of doing what is right?
* What kind of system/structure do you have to help you be more proactive in your kindness?
* Where do you feel like there are too many things that could use your attention and where can you ask “what one thing, one
activity that I can do to help?”
* Is your leadership a fairness model or what is right model?


(From Andy Stanley's Mutual Submission Leadership Podcast)