7 Guarantees in Leadership

By Ron Edmondson

“Every decision you make will produce a multiple of responses.”

I once had a leader who was an emphatic talker. He made statements with no reservation in them about things—honestly—I simply didn’t believe. He would say stuff such as, “There is no way this would ever work.” Really? No way? Maybe the chance is limited, but no way?

He impressed upon me enough I’ve always been hesitant about emphatic statements—unless they are biblical truths, of course.
But, I have some emphatic statements to make. I’m calling them guarantees. And, since I talk a great deal about leadership on this blog—these are leadership guarantees.

Here are seven guarantees of leadership:

Every decision you make will produce a multiple of responses.
Some will agree. Some will not. And, some will not care either way.
Change is inevitable.
You can deny it. You can attempt to avoid it. You can be afraid of how people will react to it. But, change is coming either way. It’s best to be on the side of change where you at least have some chance of helping the change be for the best overall good of the people you lead.
You will many times feel under appreciated.
This is especially true if you are looking for appreciation. Of course, we all want to be appreciated, but great leaders are not as concerned about what other people think as they are about doing the right thing. And, because of this, they aren’t necessarily seeking personal recognition or applause. These leaders are methodical in their pursuit of progress, but not usually aware of how much good they actually are doing.
You can never adequately predict how people will respond.
Even the people you felt were your best supporters will sometimes turn on you if the decision you make does not go in their favor. And, then there will be some people who will rise to your support you didn’t even know were in your corner.
You will seldom be 100 percent certain.
There is always a level of risk with every decision you make. If you wait for perfect conditions you will seldom do anything. You should ask good questions, get plenty of input and certainly pray for wisdom. Sometimes, however, you simply have to pull the trigger and get started.
Some days it won’t seem you’ve accomplished anything.
And, sometimes, looking back, these will be your best days. It might be because you spent all day investing in others—while other “work” goes undone. But, remember, if you are leading you are in a people business. People will always be your best efforts.
You will make mistakes.
And, you will make lots of them. But, you will learn from them even more than the things you do right. The best leaders I know do not hide the mistakes they make. They use them as life lessons and help others grow through them.
I guarantee these to be true. Emphatically.
Or, at least I’m 97.9 percent sure.

Ron Edmondson

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been helping churches grow vocationally for over 10 years.

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