Leading is difficult in its own right. But leading in unpredictable times is even more challenging. It is easy to get caught up in the wrong things when the world feels like it has been turned upside down and inside out.  Whenever my world has felt like that, I have always been able to pull some life lessons from those difficult and often baffling times.

Here are a few takeaways I have learned whenever I am leading in unexpected circumstances:

1. Be intentional to adapt but don’t be hasty to adopt. Sometimes methods in one place do not translate in another. Adapting is about the willingness to change in the right directions. Adopting is about the willingness to copy for the same desired results.  Just because it worked for them doesn’t mean it will work for you. Use discernment for your unique situation.

2. Growth is relative. You can have masses and actually not have anything more than that. A cancer mass brings harm the bigger it gets. Just because you have more quantity-wise doesn’t make your “more” purposeful or good.  Don’t complicate your vision with wrong metrics. Distinguish your vision with depth of meaningful interaction and forward movement. Growth is always most successful when people see it purposefully and not just trendy. 

3. There is a difference between building versus maintaining.  Neither one have anything to do with physical spaces. Maintaining in certain seasons is natural and right but don’t allow that season to lull you into a permanent state of maintenance. 

Leaders who are not builders will never leave a legacy. If everything you build suits you and your own ideas and ego, that is an empire and not a testimony to God. All leaders must be willing to get in the dirt and build not for their comfort or gain but for the future generations! Push forward and keep building!