As a marketplace leader, you have power, authority and influence. Recently I enjoyed a fascinating discussion with a tremendous Christian leader on this topic. She’s not an ordained pastor in charge of an organized church. She’s a Christ follower, who was leading a secular organization much like you and I. She was responsible for 1,500 people, so she had ample opportunity to explore the domains of power, authority and influence. 

Early in our conversation she shared a concept with massive implications for Christian business leaders. She said, “When I accepted leadership over the organization, I asked for God’s guidance. I clearly heard Him say: ‘Wherever you have physical authority, you also have spiritual authority.’ So I began to exercise my God-given spiritual authority over everything I was in charge of, and it transformed every aspect of our operation.” 

How about YOU? Where do you have physical authority? Are you fully exercising your spiritual authority in those domains as well?

Before we explore some thoughts on how you might fully exercise spiritual authority in your spheres of leadership, let’s clarify three interrelated and often confused terms - power, authority and influence.

• Power. Power is the capacity to act or to produce an effect. It’s the energized ability to achieve change and generate results. It’s the potential to extend, exert or enforce our will and desires over other people, our surroundings and ourselves. Power can be used properly for good and desirable purposes, or improperly for evil. Power can be applied and exercised gently and gracefully, or forcefully and abruptly.  

Understanding where you have power, the extent of that power and where you don’t have power is an essential leadership consideration. This can eliminate much wasted energy, emotion and frustration. Take a minute and make note of areas you have power and where you don’t. Evaluate why that’s the case.

Since power is understood as the capacity to produce an effect, it is at the core of authority and influence. 

• Authority. Authority is a granted right to enforce laws, exact obedience, command, determine or judge. “Author” is the root word, so authority flows from a declarative and definitive word that legitimizes and provides for the use of power. 

God gave Jesus all authority, and Jesus delegated His authority on earth to you and me. Jesus specifically said: “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.” 

Authority is not only delegated and granted downward, it is also granted upward. Followers choose to follow, or not. Sometimes they choose to follow grudgingly, unwillingly and fearfully because of the power held by the leader. Sometimes they choose not to obey or follow the leader and are willing to risk the consequences. 

Sometimes they grant authority, obey and follow out of respect for the position the leader holds. Sometimes they follow because of the leader’s influence.

Authority can be rightfully exercised in any of these situations. Where do you have authority? What is the source of your authority in each area where you lead? In what parts of your life don’t you have much or any authority? 

Power-based and position-based leadership may have their time and purpose, but they are not sustainable long-term approaches. Used consistently, these approaches result in covert and overt resistance. Eventually, rebellion can be expected. In your efforts to lead and to produce change, where are you defaulting too frequently to power and position-
based approaches?

• Influence. Influence is the power to have an effect, either directly or indirectly, on someone or something based on the leader’s character, prestige, capabilities and trustworthiness. People are compelled, induced or persuaded to follow, because they trust the leader and want to follow, not because they are commanded to obey. They believe that following will produce positive and attractive outcomes. 

Discipleship, reconciliation, mediation, intercession, and Great Commission initiatives are leadership acts that all require the exercise of influence.

Most people would probably agree that leading through influence is the highest and most desirable form of leadership. It’s the most advanced evidence of true power...but it’s also the most challenging way to lead. Where are you influential, and why do people follow you in this domain? In what areas is your influence weak?

Your Spiritual Authority. Understanding and mastering the interworking of power, authority and influence is critical for all leaders. For a moment, let’s take  a closer look at authority, specifically the spiritual authority you’ve been granted as a Christ follower - spiritual authority to teach the Truth, to bring people to Christ, to teach them how to follow Him, and to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

You’ve been authorized to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse disease and drive out demons in Jesus’ name. You’ve been authorized to engage in spiritual battles against the dark powers of the world and against the spiritual forces of evil. And you’ve been given the power to do all this through Christ’s delegated authority and the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

You also have physical authority in the workplace that was delegated, granted and made possible by God. At this point, many business owners get their feathers ruffled. They say something like, “Wait a minute. It’s my talent and skill that made this business possible. I did it.” But truth is found in Deuteronomy 8: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

Where you have physical authority, you also have spiritual authority. With authority comes power, opportunity and responsibility. In other words, much is expected of those who have been given much. 

Here’s the question again: In the places you hold physical authority (home, business, community, church, and school), are you fully exercising your spiritual authority? Beyond what you may currently be doing, what else is possible? What else might be necessary, and even imperative?

As you reflect on this, the implications are enormous. Let’s look at just one aspect of exercising your spiritual authority: getting rid of evil spirits; commanding them in the name of Jesus to vacate the spaces over which you have authority. About now, many people will balk. They’ll say, “Evil spirits? That’s just weird and crazy talk. It’s not even an appropriate “business” topic. Besides, there are no evil spirits. That’s just an irrelevant old Bible myth.”

But consider this: In any place where you have leadership and physical authority (family, business, community, church), do you ever encounter a spirit of dissention? A spirit of disunity? Of confusion? Of greed? Of envy? Of fear? Of hatred? Of pride? Of bitterness? Of gossip? Of criticism or condemnation? Of selfishness? Are those things consistent with the character and spirit of God? No. Are they desirable in the domains over which you have authority? No. Thus, they are not “good” spirits, they are “evil” spirits. 

Not everyone will agree. It’s easy to get hung up on terminology. It’s tempting to argue religious technicalities. Some will deny their authority so they can avoid the corresponding responsibility. Meanwhile, spirits of dissension and confusion reign, and the rest of the “spirits” have a field day. But you are the leader. You decide. Do you want this negative spiritual energy in your space or not? How long will you continue to tolerate it?

What if you went for it and exercised your spiritual authority right now, came against things that are not consistent with the character of God and dispelled them in the name of Jesus? You can cleanse your mental, physical and spirtual environment, cleanse your negotiations, cleanse your sales and marketing, cleanse your communications, cleanse your business dealings, and cleanse your relationships. But here’s the true issue: Are you willing?

You have the authority and Holy Spirit power to do so. You don’t ask or beg evil spirits to leave. You don’t “influence” evil spirits to leave. You command them to leave. They don’t go willingly. They go because they must go, because they are under Jesus’ authority. When you and I do this, everything gets better. When we effectively exercise our spiritual authority in the places where we have physical authority, we transform our world.

If you’re a leader, you face regular challenges. It goes with the territory. Problems arise. Timeframes are short. Resources seem limited. The stakes are high. The fallout from failure looms large. You feel the urgency to act. You fear what might happen if you don’t act. The people you lead are clamoring for a decision. Ignorant opinons abound. Seems everyone has a vested interest, ulterior motive and a slick argument. The crowd all seems to be stampeding in one direction. 

Sound familiar? Chances are you’re in that situation right now as a consequence of the decisions made by many state governors and some city mayors to lock down America, close businesses and restrict Constitutional freedoms in an ill-considered response to the corona virus. 

Elected officials were in a tough spot back in March. No argument, it was a challenging moment in time. However, the flawed decisions they made have crippled America. But this could have been predicted. They fell victim to TINA.

Beware - TINA Can Get You, Too. Who, or what, is TINA, you ask? Well, TINA is an acronym that stands for:

                                     “There Is No Alternative.” 

TINA strikes in moments of challenge. You’re stuck in the middle of a problem and desperate to get out. Fear rears its ugly head. Your stomach is in knots. Your pulse is racing. Someone suggests a solution. It sounds good. You don’t have a better idea at the moment. The pressure is on. Leaders aren’t supposed to panic, but, truth be told, you panic. You speak those fateful words that will come back to haunt you and those you lead: “We’ve just gotta do this...There Is No Alternative.” 

We just watched this happen with our elected officials. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Let’s presume there was no conspiracy, politics, personal aspiration, research-funding considerations or ill-intent. Let’s presume they are simply good people, trying to do good work. But, if that’s the case, I contend they panicked and TINA got them. When faced with the threat of the corona virus, they rapidly made the fateful decision that there was simply no alternative but to lock down America and handcuff business. That decision will have devastating and crippling consequences. Conse-quences that should have and easily could have been anticipated and avoided. But TINA got us. 

We’re all suseptible to falling victim to TINA. It could happen to you. There’s a good chance TINA is after you right now in the fallout we face from lockdown. Before we look at how to guard yourself against a TINA attack, let’s look at what happens after TINA strikes. These things are so predictable, we can call them laws. 

The Law of False Dichotomy. A dichotomy is a polarizing contrast we construct between two ideas, approaches or values. The false dichotomy asserts there are only two mutually exclusive and opposing alternatives, and we can only choose one. This leads to the flawed conclusion that There Is No Alternative. Often the choices presented are emotionally charged, values-driven and passionately argued, such as those  presented to us in the COVID crisis: Life vs. Death. Health vs. Money. Safety vs. The Economy. The scarcity mindset (or un-seen agendas) behind a false juxtaposition limits our ability to seek broader, more global solutions that could provide approaches to address all considerations, producing unity and collaboration, instead of division.

The Law of Commitment. Once a TINA driven decision is made, there’s an emotional commitment made. We become invested in the chosen course of action. The language of commitment is familiar: 

“There’s no turning back. We just gotta do what we gotta do. Hell or high water, we have to keep going. After all, a leader has to stick with her decisions. Quitters never win. Besides, what will people think?” 
Unfortunately, the Law of Commitment often keeps us from seeing our mistakes and recognizing the adverse consequences as a result. If we do see our decision is bad, we often won’t admit it. We pridefully die on a hill we should’ve abandoned long before. 

The Law of Consistency. Closely related to the Law of Commitment is the Law of Consistency, which requires us to act in accordance with the case we’ve declared. Once we’ve made our case for a course of action, including declaring there is no alternative, we feel immense pressure to act in integrity with our declarations, even if our decisions and declarations are wrong. 

​CYA - The Law of Justification. The more apparent it becomes our decision was wrong, or that the negative outcomes of the decision are too great, the more tendency there is for us to justify our character, position and decision. There’s a scramble to Cover Your Ass-umptions. 

The Law of Unintended Consequences. TINA driven decisions usually have unintended consequences. Sometimes they are good, sometimes bad, but because we failed to engage in a rigorous decision making process, we end up surprised by the consequences. But most of them could have been anticipated, avoided or designed around. The results of lockdown in response to COVID-19 are: massive fear, staggering unemployment rates, economic depression, countless bankruptcies, mental illness, addiction, heartbreaking abuse, suicide, anxiety, divisiveness and a welfare mindset. All these terrible outcomes could have easily been predicted with just a little thought. Instead, the most flawed public policy decisions in American history were mandated. TINA got us. 

There is Always an Alternative. As leaders, we can’t allow ourselves to get TINA-fied. The ramifications of flawed decision making are simply too damaging for those we lead. So, how do we avoid this pitfall? Here are a few suggestions. 

First of all, whenever you hear the words: “There is No Alternative.” or “We have no choice,” huge red flags should go up. There is always an alternative. There are always options. Part of a leader’s job is to look for options, to seek clarity and to cast proper vision. An ancient proverb says: “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.” Succumbing to panic is an example of casting off restraint. Let’s seek wisdom before taking rash actions. 

Beware the Dichotomy Trap. Step back from the right vs. wrong, either/or, false choice arguments and look for a larger solution that encompasses all concerns.
​
Slow Down. My cabinetmaker father used to say, “If you won’t take enough time to do it right, you’ll waste a whole lot more time cleaning up your messes.” Closely related was his instruction to always: “Measure twice...cut once.” Rushing critical decisions leads to tragic mistakes. 

Deliberate. One pronounciation of deliberate means “steady and measured.” Another means to seek wise council and to discuss problems from a variety of perspectives. The pressure to succumb to TINA causes us to forget that: “To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Likewise, to an epidemiologist, everything looks like an epidemic. Deliberating on diverse viewpoints in a steady, measured way produces the creative options that TINA blocks. 

Ask Better Questions. The quality of an answer is always dependent on the quality of the question. Here’s an example.

Question: “How much is government willing to spend to defeat the corona virus?”

Answer: “$4 Trillion.”

Question: “What’s the best way to use that $4 Trillion?”

Answer: Most of us could think up many options superior to wasting all those tax dollars in a futile attempt to clean up the devastating mess caused by lockdown. 

Proceed Pragmatically. Pragmatic leaders deal in conversations of cause and effect, actions and likely reactions. They evaluate each potential course of action in light of its possible consequences. The pragmatist is interested in taking actions that produce optimum outcomes. Pragmatists know TINA is a lie. Now that we're all in a tough spot, instead of TINA, let's embrace the truth of TIAA. 

​TIAA: There Is Always An Alternative. Let’s find the best one.

I’m flipping the pages of the May 4, 2020 Time Magazine, which offers up the opinions of Time’s selection of 100 thought leaders, all of whom were tasked to share their perspectives on how we are to find hope in this season of health concerns and economic devastation. Included in the roster of wise messengers are Angelina Jolie, Shawn Mendez, Misty Copeland and Lil Nas X. 
​
Although I don’t know any of the 100 notable contributors personally and have nothing against any of them, I was struck by the sheer hopelessness of the submissions purportedly offered to produce hope. Somehow a recommendation to “watch the Great British Bake Off as a welcome distraction during these difficult times,” seems uncompelling. Obviously, Time Magazine is a secular publication, but I looked in vain for the voice of hope available through Jesus’ Church. His voice was absent. As are we, His disciples.

The voice of spiritual leadership across the country is strangely missing from the public dialog. Unfortunately, that’s consistent with the observation my non-Christian friends make, that the Church is invisible, irrelevant and impotent. Enough. It’s time to change all that.

How, you ask? Here’s my answer. It’s time, and past time, that we reopen the local churches. 

The Arguments. I know this is controversial. I expect pushback. I know the arguments against opening the churches. Some come from government. Some from cultural sources. But most of them we made up ourselves out of fear of man, or fear of a bug, neither of which are Biblical.
 
“It’s hopeless. Mainstream and Social Media control the messages and are biased against Christianity.” Forget it. The early Church did not have media. It was grievously opposed. The message of the Gospel spread person to person. At the time of his death, Jesus had a few followers. 400 years later, approximately half the Roman Empire was Christian. That’s thirty million Christians in 400 years. The Good News spreads faster than any virus…assuming people are exposed.
 
“Turn the other cheek. Submit to rulers and authorities.” I’m sure that there are learned theologians that can make a case that Christians are to not make waves, not antagonize the government and should simply stay quietly in our prayer closets waiting on God to make all things new. I don’t buy it. Passively ceding the power and authority given to us by Christ to the world is not the message of the Bible. 

“It’s not loving or Christian to willfully infect people with the virus.” That’s a false construct and strawman. It’s a trick question. Jesus got asked trick questions. When asked if it was right to pay taxes, He responded, “Give Caesar what is his and give God what is His.” In the last few weeks, we gave what is God’s to Caesar. Opening the doors of the churches for people to choose to enter, or not (the same as always), is not willfully infecting people with the virus. And who says that a virus is more powerful than the Spirit and Presence of God? Certainly, not us. Let each person prayerfully take responsibility for their own life. Attend or don’t attend. The doors should always be open for those who need us and want to come. 

“If we open up against a governor’s orders, we might get arrested. We might lose a tax-exemption or our church.” Those things might happen. They might not. But if they do, then let’s stand on our State and Federal Constitutional rights of speech, press, religion, assembly, equal treatment under the law, and due process. We must retake the ground we gave up. We will prevail. As we should. It might get uncomfortable for those of us in the battle, but it’s a fight worth fighting. The reason that churches are closed right now is because we closed them. If they were open, people would come. 

“The Church is not a building.” This is another smoke screen and cop-out. There is enormous value in gathering together to worship and pray in person. Online TV church is not the same as real community, any more than video calls with my 90-year-old mom substitute for a real hug.
 
Bottom line - we’ve been duped, fooled, and distracted. The enemy’s most insidious and effective arguments contain just enough elements of plausibility to twist the Word of God slightly, and plant the seed of doubt: “Did God really say…?” 

Enough. It’s time to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It’s time to open the churches. It’s time for the Church to lead the recovery of our confidence, our courage, our culture and our economy. Someone must break the pervasive grip of fear. Someone must go first. That’s us. 

Benefits of Leading. There are at least four outcomes we can expect from the reopening of our churches. 

1. Highlight the real battle. The battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Make no mistake, when the Church moves to reopen, the battle will rage. So, we put on the full armor of God and go to war. 

2. Preserve our rights. Founding fathers established a Biblically-based Constitution and Bill of Rights that we have fought hard to preserve. We must not abdicate now. If we don’t speak up and defend our rights, who will? None are better equipped to fight for freedom than the millions of Americans who remain Christ followers. They just need our leadership. 

3. Do what the Church is called to do. For thousands of years, in times of plague or any other trial, the Church stepped up to serve and care for the broken and hurting, frequently at great personal risk to the people ministering. But we stepped back. It’s time to get in the ring.
 
4. Demonstrate our faith through action. People are watching. If our behavior is indistinguishable from non-believers, we forfeit our influence. We can model courage and faith, instead of fear. We say God has the power to protect us. Let’s trust it. We say God has the power to heal…and has given it to us. So, let’s heal. We say our destiny is secure. Let’s show it by bringing rationality to the COVID discussion. Chances are, we won’t get the virus. If we do, it’s probably not going to be a big deal. If it is serious, it’s likely we’ll recover like we have from other illness. There is, of course, a tiny chance we might die. But there’s a 100% chance we are going to die anyway in God’s timing. If we’re saved, we know we get to be with God for eternity. What’s to fear? But talk is cheap. Faith and confident assurance is revealed by our actions. 

The Church is Essential. The Church has never been more essential. The people we are called to serve are hurting. They are lonely, anxious, depressed, abused, and suicidal. They’re worried, scared and downright terrified of the virus. They are living in deep fear of losing their jobs, income and businesses. They are questioning their identities and the meaning of life. They are coming face to face with their own mortality and the question of, “Then what?” The government can’t fix this. The private sector can’t fix this. Our country desperately needs what only the Church can lovingly deliver…the message of the peace and hope of Jesus Christ... face to face. In person. The fields are ripe. 

Let’s reopen the churches and together do the work of the Church.

​It’s time.

“Just because I’m big of heart, doesn't mean I am slow of mind or weak of hand.” 

That’s the somewhat offhand comment Patricia Asp made to me in a recent 10 Talent LeaderTalk Podcast interview (ForbesBooksRadio.com/10x) when I asked her about how she reconciled her Christian faith with the demands of senior leadership. Pat’s had a stellar top executive career in the public and private corporate sectors. She’s President of Compass Executives (CompassExecutives. com) and also a independent board member of 4WordWomen.org, a nonprofit organization providing leadership training and mentoring to women in the marketplace. And she’s a devoted follower of Christ. 

Her comment prompted me to reflect on the three most essential components of leadership, regardless of your faith, but certainly for Christ followers.

Leadership is Tough. Anyone who says leadership is easy, hasn’t done it. Leaders are charged with the three-fold challenge of learning from the past, assessing the present and declaring the future. The risk of being wrong in making those distinctions is enormous. Lives, cultures, organizations, and economies are at stake based on the competence, character and actions of our leaders.

A leader’s greatest challenges and opportunities involve the wise deployment of assets and resources: people, money, equipment and tangible goods. Deployment involves the anticipation and projection of how and where resources can best be placed and how they must be employed in order to achieve the highest and best outcome. Excellent leadership requires a broad, big-picture, global view, with a rightly motivated desire to assess the full consequences of any course of action or inaction. Delivering on that leadership challenge requires us to engage all three of the core attributes of truly wise and effective leaders: heart, head and hands. Let’s take a look at how they work together and how an absence of any one of these attributes diminishes the others.

Guard Your Heart. Job number one for a leader is to guard your heart. By heart, I don’t mean the physical organ. Heart is also more than emotion, although emo-tions and feelings are part of it. Your heart includes your mind, will and emotions. It’s your soul. It’s the very essence of who you are as a human being. So, the state of your heart is at the center of your leadership.

One version of an ancient proverb reads: “Above all else, guard your heart...” Ano-ther reads, “Above all else, guard your affections, for they influence everything else in your life.” Your affections are what you desire, the things that you most deeply care about. They inform the motives that direct your actions. Unfortunately, our hearts are fickle. In Jeremiah 17, the Bible discusses the deepest motives of leaders and says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.’”

When leaders fail to guard their hearts against the inherent human tendency to drift toward deceitfulness, their hearts become shallow, hard or evil. Followers will suffer and the leader’s declared outcomes will be thwarted or diminished. Each of us is not only a leader, we are also followers. Therefore, to be wise followers, and thus the best leaders we can be, we must look closely at the heart and the motives of those to whom we would grant authority to lead us.

​For Christ followers, the motives and heart of Jesus are proven. They are true, pure, righteous, loving and noble. Therefore, Christ-following leaders must hold, as our deepest motive, the desire to be like Christ. And the evidence of that is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...modeled for those we lead. Without the component of a good heart, a smart leader becomes shrewdly manipu-lative. An action-oriented, but hard-hearted leader is just a bully.

Sharpen Your Mind. Having a big heart is not sufficient. You must also be capable and smart. I’m sure you all know sweet, delightful people with a great heart, who are incompetent to lead. It’s also not good enough to just be willing to take action. Stupid actions, no matter how bold, are still foolish. In the memorable words of Forrest Gump: “Stupid is as stupid does.”

If we aspire to lead as Christ-followers, we must do what He commanded: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind.” Thus, we must continually strengthen our minds, build our skills and develop our competence to lead. What are the components of a sharp mind? First, we must pursue, as the Apostle Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians, “the mind of Christ.” We must desire and seek the reve-lation of the plans, purposes and perspec-tives of God. Since leadership involves the anticipation and projection of how and where resources can best be deployed in order to achieve the highest and best results, we need to discern God’s desires and His highest outcomes, which only happens by seeking the mind of Christ.

Simultaneously, we must build leadership skills: critical thinking, analysis, planning, communicating, delegating, hiring, firing, promoting and demoting...all toward the achievement of the highest and best outcomes for all we serve. 

Strengthen Your Hands. Finally, the job of a leader requires work. We must act, not just talk. A softhearted person who’s unwilling to act is not a leader. A smart guy who’s unwilling to act is simply a hypocritical blow-hard, not a leader.

We’ve all heard the saying, “Talk is cheap.” Our true heart is revealed by what we actually do. The Apostle James said, “... faith that doesn’t involve action is phony...faith without good works is dead.” To lead effectively in challenging times, we must build the habit of effective action. We must act out of good motives. We must act wisely. And we must act courageously, promptly and decisively.

Hard Times. Clearly we are living and leading in hard times. Consequently, we must make hard decisions about the wise deployment of assets and resources: people, money, equipment and tangible goods. It’s a time for exceptional leaders. Leaders who guard their hearts; who temper tough decisions with love and compassion. Leaders who sharpen their minds and grow in competence. Leaders who go to work with strong hands and an indominatable will to serve others and to help all we serve to come out the other side of this challenging season better in every way: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, relationally and physically.

People all over the world are social distancing, sheltering in place and huddling in their homes, motivated by five things: fear of the corona virus, fear of the government, fear of social pressure and the judgement of others, the great excuse we now have to do nothing, and the simple shortage of places to go, with everything closed.

The purpose of this article isn’t to debate the pros and cons of social distancing and sheltering in place. It’s to point out that, as we shelter, we run the risk of being infected with a disease that’s much more dangerous and long-lasting than COVID-19. Little attention is paid to this risk, even though it’s more pervasive and devastating long-term than the corona virus. Here are three manifestations of the disease and ways to protect yourself against it.

Symptom: Stinkin’ Thinkin’. My grandmother used to quote the Book of Proverbs when she’d say, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece.” Whether you believe in the devil or not, I’m sure you’ve experienced that idle minds don’t stay idle for long. They’re actually not idle, they’re just not occupied with productive purposes like work, worship, service, prayer, learning or relationships. Instead, an “idle” mind soon runs rampant with unproductive thoughts. 
Unfortunately, for most of us, when our minds run rampant, we don’t start actively focusing on positive outcomes, we chase after negativity. We tell ourselves negative stories about the past, complain about the present and establish a mood of resignation and despair for the future. The outcome is what a sales manager of mine used to call “stinkin’ thinkin.’” You know what I’m talking about. It’s that treacherous path that leads us into a nasty, stinking pit of self-pity, blame, victimhood, anxiety, depression and hopelessness. That’s the disease we must guard against. 

Antidote: Guard Your Mind. Be careful what you read, what you listen to, what you watch and how you allow people to speak in your presence. Everyone knows that the news media feeds on negativity, yet we read and watch TV and social media posts religiously. Stop it. You might be stuck in the house with Negative Ned, but you don’t have to listen to a stream of negativity. Establish boundaries. Here’s great way to guard your mind: start each day in prayer and meditation. If you are a person of faith, read and contemplate spiritual things. Consider meditating on the ancient wisdom literature of Proverbs and Psalms. This is not the first time of trial, and we can learn from how people have navigated wars, plagues, poverty, betrayal, abuse and persecution through the ages.  If you do not hold to a particular faith, then read and contemplate inspirational and uplifting things to launch your day. Plant positive seeds in the morning and they will grow throughout the day.

Symptom: Bitter Words. Idle lips rarely turn to gratitude, encouragement and affirmation. The default is negative talk and gossip. That’s why stinkin’ thinkin’ is much more infectious and fast moving than the corona virus. The incubation period is about 30 seconds. You get sprayed with ugliness and you can almost instantly be infected and sickened. The tragic thing is that those it attacks the most are the people nearest to us, our family and closest friends…those “safely” sheltering in place with us. Bitter words quickly contaminate a whole household and neighborhood. The next thing you know, everyone is hooked into a downward spiral of griping, snarkiness, blaming, judgement and victimhood. Corona does not infect everyone, but all of us can be sickened by negative talk.

Antidote: Guard Your Mouth. The words that come out of your mouth reveal your heart. They also inform your own mind and affect everyone else who hears…for good or for bad. Although most people would agree Jesus was a masterful teacher, many haven’t heard or don’t know much about his brother James. However, James was also a man of great wisdom. Here’s something he had to say about the power of words: ”Out of the same mouth we pour out words of praise one minute and curses the next. My brothers and sisters, this should never be! Would you look for olives hanging on a fig tree or go to pick figs from a grapevine? Is it possible that fresh and bitter water can flow out of the same spring? So, neither can a bitter spring produce fresh water. True wisdom is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form and it always bears the beautiful harvest of righteousness! Good seeds of wisdom’s fruit will be planted with peaceful acts by those who cherish making peace.” So, guard your mouth. Don’t spread bitterness and relational death. Always speak life.

Symptom: Acting Out. Have you noticed we abhor a vacuum. When we’re bored, frustrated, anxious and fearful, we are going to do something to fill the space. Unfortunately, rather than taking positive action, often people (not just kids) “act out.” For adults, acting out looks like: temper tantrums, lashing out, anger, criticism, sarcasm, alcohol, drugs, pornography, abusive behavior, gambling, overeating and binge TV watching. I’m sure you’d agree that sheltering in place with someone who’s “acting out” is neither fun, nor safe for anyone. Don’t you be the one acting out. Make better choices.

Antidote: Attend to Your Emotions. Emotions are a part of life. They come and go. Ironically, the less you pay attention to them, the more control your emotions have over you. Be aware of how you’re feeling, good or bad, so you can capitalize on the positive emotions and not get trapped in the negative ones. Share how you’re feeling with others, not to bring them down when you’re feeling low but to alert them and to request their help. Then control your emotions. You do not have to be a victim to your own emotions. Controlling your thoughts and speech is a great start. Then take positive action. Work. Learn. Create. Clean. Fix. Build. Invent. Exercise. Find a positive outlet. Your actions must lead your emotions. Don’t allow your emotions to lead your inaction. 

Symptom: Self-Focus. Isolation and quarantine often leads to self-focus and self-indulgence. We think about our situation, our problems and what the current situation might mean to us. We worry and fret about ourselves, as we hear the instructions from everyone to “stay safe” and “take care of yourself.” We act out…after all, we deserve that extra bag of chips,  stiff drink or deep drag. However, there’s no true joy in self-focus, and self-indulgence leads ultimately to despair. 

Antidote: Serve Others. Pay attention to those around you. What’s going on with them? What are they feeling? Invest time in listening. Ask good questions. Build your relationships. Care. The Apostle Paul wrote: “God has called us to live a life of freedom. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an opportunity to set up a base of operations in self-love. Freedom means that we become so completely free of self-indulgence that we become servants of one another, expressing love in all we do. For love completes the laws of God, which can be summarized in one grand statement: ‘Demonstrate love to your neighbor, even as you care for and love yourself.’”

​Fortunately, the corona virus will eventually go away, a vaccine will be developed, and COVID-19 will cease to be a problem. However, as long as we’re alive, we’ll always be at risk of infection from disease of the mind, and the current situation requires us to guard against this more rigorously than we do the virus.

Opening with a blinding flash of the obvious - we’re living in truly turbulent times. As a leader, what will guide your actions in the days ahead? How will you calm, encourage and inspire those you lead? You can help people gain fresh perspectives by using analogies and metaphors. Your life story holds experiences that can serve as solid reference points for your leadership message of hope and empowerment. Perhaps you’ll find grounding in military, sports, business, family or faith experiences. Over the last 65 years, I’ve accumulated a lot of those reference points. Especially relevant right now are the many experiences I’ve had rafting and kayaking down raging whitewater. Perhaps you can relate. Even if you’ve never directly had the experience of blasting through a violent stretch of rapids and emerging victorious, the following nine lessons from the river will prove useful in navigating the challenges you face today, because leadership in turbulent times is a lot like navigating rough water.

Remember How You Got Here. When you face a terrifying rapid, it’s tempting to ask, “Why me...what am I even doing here?” But this is not a useful question. No one forced you to launch. You knew when you hopped in the boat to begin with that there would be challenges. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons you got in the boat…to intentionally stretch yourself and experience the tests that were sure to come. The same holds true for leadership. Regardless of whether you volunteered, or have been thrust into a position of leadership, you accepted the responsibility. You are here, because you made a choice to be here. Now make the best of it. 

Don’t Paddle Alone. Anyone who attempts to tackle a stretch of serious whitewater alone is an idiot. You need a capable team. You can guide and coach each other. You can encourage each other. You can save each other when you inevitably flip. Just as on the river, a lone ranger strategy for leadership in turbulent times is deeply flawed. Ancient wisdom says, “For by wise counsel you will wage your own war [run your own river]. In a multi-tude of counselors there is safety.” Are you surrounded by a group of wise and trusted counselors? If so, take maximum advantage of this. If not, gather a team immediately. The tests ahead demand it. 

You Came to Run the River. If you had wanted to float on a placid lake, you’d be somewhere else. You’re here for the adventure. You also didn’t come to hang out in a slough. You know what a slough is? It’s that miserable, stagnant, bug-infested false channel off the main river that goes nowhere. It’s a bad place. Neither do you want to circle and swirl endlessly, around and around in a big back-eddy. When you study the history of the Israelites, they spent 40-years stuck in the Old Testament desert-equivalent of a back-eddy, lacking the courage to tackle the challenge before them. Have you ever found yourself in a leadership slough or an organizational back-eddy? Paddling, but going nowhere? Get out of there. Now. 

Recall Why You Trust. Plunging into whitewater requires trust. Trust in your gear. Trust in your paddling partners. Trust in yourself. Trust in the skills you’ve honed. Trust in the evidence of past success. And then there is faith and trust in something bigger than you. There are no atheists in foxholes or when trapped underwater in a big, sucking, re-circulating hole; when you’re hypothermic, out of breath and struggling frantically to live. As you face today’s leadership challenge, in what will you place your trust?

Deal With the Rapid in Front of You. On the river, you can only handle one rapid at a time. Worrying about all the other rapids ahead, feeling sorry you’re there, wishing the rapid wasn’t so big, fretting about past wrecks, even reflecting on your previous “glory runs;” all that is useless. There is a job at hand. That’s the one that must be tackled successfully. Right now. As a leader, ask yourself, “What is the single most important challenge I must address right now? Then do that. 

Find the Line. There is always a way. Before every big, treacherous rapid, seasoned guides gather on a vantage point above the river to scout the obstacles. They find the line and set a strategy for a successful run. Only fools paddle blindly into turbulent water or dangerous business situations. Pause. Gather smart people. Climb above the crashing waves, get a clear look and set a sound strategy. Find the line. 

Commit and Go. Turning back is not an option. Paddling back upstream doesn’t  work. There comes a time for decisive action. You must point the bow of your boat directly into the fearsome waves. If you back in, you’ll flip and die. If your sort of slide in sideways, you’ll flip and die. If you choke and try to back away at the last minute, you’ll have no power or momentum and you’ll flip and die. Success lies only in committing, powering forward and punching through. Is it time in the crisis you face to simply commit and go? After all, it’s the leader’s job to say, “Follow me.” 

Eyes on the Prize. Once you’re in the rapid, there’s danger in fixating on the rock or the hole immediately in front of you. However, you go where you look. If you focus on the jagged rock, you’ll hit the rock, flip and die. If you focus on the monster hole, you’ll get buried in the hole, flip and die. None of those are desirable options. The prize is arriving upright, dry, breathing and exhilarated in the calm water just downstream of the maelstrom. If you’ve ever skied, ridden horses, blasted down single track on a mountain bike or raced a motorcycle, you know that you absolutely MUST keep your eyes on where you want to go. In a time of crisis, it’s easy to fixate on the problems, but the leader’s job is to lift your eyes and the eyes of those you lead and focus on the prize. Where do you want to go? Look there.
 
Enjoy the Ride. Many years ago, one of my first river guides was a tiny woman named Ann. On land, you’d never guess she was a superwoman with the oars. I still remember glancing at her right before we launched over Lava Falls, a class 10 rapid on the Grand Canyon. She had a huge grin on her face! As we smashed through that enormous drop, I heard her laughing uproariously. She came to enjoy the ride. As we face the leadership road ahead, we can choose to whine and complain. Or as Jim Rohn used to say, “Quit asking why it’s so hard. Ask instead how you can get better.” We can choose to find the joy in the test. We can embrace the fact that we are here, in this moment, to lead in a time like this. Let’s enjoy the ride. 

I wish you success in navigating the challenges ahead of you. Find the line, commit and go. Trust. Keep your eyes on the   prize. Enjoy the ride.  

​Michael Sipe is a serial entrepreneur, mergers and acquisitions advisor, and executive coach to CEOs and business owners, many of whom are in the top 1% of income earners in the country.

When I was a kid, there was no internet. Gasp.

I grew up in a tiny Bureau of Indian Affairs town on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Northern Arizona. For basic supplies, we had a small community trading post. Really...a trading post. 

For groceries, clothing, medical care, and other normal needs of life back in the 1960's, we had to drive 80 miles to the small town of Flagstaff. 

For everything else, there was the Sears and Roebuck catalogue. The Sears catalogue was a combination of reading material, product guide and dream book. Each new edition of this mail-order connection to the bigger world occupied a special place on our family coffee table. 

When I was 12, I wanted a ten speed bike. I mowed lawns to raise the money, and spent countless hours dreaming over the three options for ten speed bikes that Sears offered at the time, trying to decide what color and what exact features I wanted. Finally the day came when I had enough money saved up to place my order. I was so enamored with the features of the red bike I selected that I failed to notice two fateful words in fine print at the bottom of the ad: "Assembly required."

I sent in my order and waited impatiently for the day when my bike would arrive, expectantly waiting for the postman to deliver my gleaming new ride, so I could immediately jump on it and race off to show all my friends. 

Weeks passed. Finally the doorbell rang and there was the postman with, not a bike, but a huge box emblazoned with the Sears logo. "There must be mistake! Where's my bike?" I asked. "Son," the mail carrier said, "Sears always sends these things for you to assemble. Good luck with that." And with a little smirk and a shake of his head, he departed.

Anxiously dragging the box into the living room, I tore into it to find what looked like at least a thousand parts. Some of the boxes and bags of parts had come open during shipping and bits and pieces of my bike were scattered everywhere. Clearly, assembly was required. A lot of assembly.

But, how hard could it be? I knew what the bike was supposed to look like...after all, I'd seen a picture of it in the catalogue. 

I plunged into the project, bolting, screwing, attaching and wrenching away. Several hours later, when my Dad came home from work, he found total chaos in the living room, a heap of metal that looked like anything but a bike and one intensely frustrated 12-year-old boy.

"Dad," I yelled, "They sent me the wrong parts! They even forgot some! This thing will never go together. I've wasted my money. I've wasted my time. And all I have to show for it is this mess!"

Sitting down next to me on the floor and smiling at the odd looking contraption I had assembled, he asked gently, "Son, did you read the manual?"

As it turns out (who knew), Sears had included an instruction manual to show you how to put the thing together. Oh, I saw it in the bottom of the box, but who needs to read a book on how to assemble a bike? It should be simple, right? 

Once we disassembled the work I'd done and turned to the owner's manual, the parts and pieces  went right together and I had the bike of my dreams. 

Sometimes I live my life the same way I attacked the bike project. Perhaps you do too. After all, how hard could it be to put a life together? We sort of know what a good life should look like, right? And then, one day in despair, sitting crosslegged on the floor, looking sadly at the mess we've created, we realize, "We should've read the instruction manual."

And then sure enough, like every time before, once we tear apart our dysfunctional creations and systematically rebuild them based on the principles of the Bible, everything goes together so much better. 

Let's remember to read the Manual...daily.