In my part of the world it is winter, and I have a longing for spring! Spring when things are starting to grow, leaves are coming
back on the trees and warmth is in the air.

I have a longing for spring. Have you ever felt like being stuck in winter? Where I live now there is hardly any snow, there is a cold wind and a bit of gray. So when I think about spring, it is like someone turning the light on.

But here I am and it’s winter.
Dreams always start somewhere, and winter is a good time to dream about what is to come. Leaders are dreamers, they see things not yet there! It’s call vision! Without leadership we don’t get vision, and without vision the people perish.

So are you leading people? Good. Are you building teams? Even better. Are you releasing people? Then you are on your best form!

Leadership in my business is all about that; releasing people and building teams. In teams we need all kind of personalities and talents, or ‘giftings’ if you want. We need the people that are good managers, they like management and organisation and we can call them ‘operational’. We also need those that are more people focused, pastoral and love working with others. But leadership is not the same as management and caring for people, it’s about making a way forward, vision, drive and taking people into the unknown… called future.

You will never hear a leader say “I don’t know where we are going!”. He or she will lead the way, because the inner dream, vision and drive is showing him how it can look like. That is enough, that is what makes him a leader.
The 10 second rule, is when a leader says “I don’t know where we are going” – and for the next seconds people are wondering where are we going? Leaders don’t to that, managers do! Leaders lead because that’s their DNA.

‘Do first then lead’ is close to one of YWAM’s values, ‘do first then teach’. But the principle is the same: Do first than lead. I have too often seen leaders getting a position without growing into leadership. They speak well, they network well, and in a relationship based mission as ours this counts. But we forget one thing, what have they accomplished locally? Who is their team, who have they recruited and who have they released? You can not lead more than what you have accomplished locally, but when you do lead locally and your team is flourishing, then you are at your best.

I have a dream for spring, a time when we see new leadership being released, because that means new vision, new dreams and waves of young people!
I have a dream of spring, a time where the grass is growing, leaves popping out of gray and naked trees, and in the same way I have to put seeds in the ground so I can have faith I can harvest in the fall. I have to clean up after the winter, turn the soil, put compost and fertiliser on and before I know it, it’s all a full grown garden overflowing with fruits.

I have an urge for spring, but a long term calling. Let’s dream about what is to come, but more importantly – leaders, lead what is to come!

till next time – lead

Rune Sæther

Missioninnovation.info