The Presence

Are you a present leader?

The presence of the leader changes everything. There is a story from the Gospels that illustrates this well. After a long day of work, Jesus had retreated for some alone time, and he asked his disciples to go on ahead of him across the lake. They had gone several miles out into the water when a storm popped up and the disciples began to struggle to row the boat. As they were rowing, Jesus walked out to them and approached the boat. The book of Mark says that Jesus was about to pass by them when they noticed him. Instead of continuing along, Jesus turned and stepped into the boat and immediately the wind died down…“they were completely amazed…”.

I love this story, because it is clear that the leader was in control the entire time; however, the situation in the boat was anything but calm and in control. Yet as soon as the leader got in the boat, everything suddenly made sense. There can be organizational chaos, the ship can be sinking, and prospects be dire, but when the leader is present, everything seems to be ok.

Here are the takeaways:

It’s healthy and reasonable for you to put your team in situations where you know they will struggle. They don’t know how things are going to turn out, and often they may start to panic as things get intense. Remember though that your presence as a leader must be visible and felt. You have to know the perfect time to get in the boat, because the presence of the leader changes everything.

Take five minutes and consider: Are you leading your team well by putting them in challenging situations? Are you present and keeping watch over the organization to make sure you can step in at just the right moment?

Now GO, Lead…