Leaders Need to Drive

Today we headed down the road toward the other Dallas – not Dallas, GA but Dallas, TX. We stopped in Jackson, MS for the night. Highlights from the day included seeing the Talladega Speedway, watching Jacob almost make himself sick by eating a footlong Philly steak sandwich, eating a great meal at Sweet Peppers Deli and cruising the Capitol area in Jackson.

All the driving reminded me of this post about leaders. At some point, leaders need to…

Drive the Car

Recently, I gathered with a group of guys for breakfast and to talk about leadership. One of the guys was talking about the challenges he and his wife have faced in recent months with their marriage. We all face those challenges. No marriage is immune. He’s married to a very wise woman, though. His wife suggested that she was getting really tired of talking about all the things that they needed to fix in their marriage. She was tired of all the discussion.

She went on to liken their marriage to owning a car that’s always in the garage. You get in the car. Sometimes you even start the engine. Most times, though, the car is up on the lift so that you can tinker with it. You own the car, but you’re always under the hood trying to analyze what’s wrong with it and what needs to be fixed. One day she said, I’m tired of trying to figure out how we need to fix the car–I just want to drive it.

That’s powerful. And, the thought occurred to me: this is a leadership lesson. If God has gifted you as a leader then you need to lead. You can read about leadership. You can talk about leadership. You can go to leadership conferences and hear men and women share their greatest leadership lessons. You can analyze your leadership ability, and you can have others help you tweak your leadership skills. All of that is worthless, though, unless you eventually get behind the wheel and drive the car. Leaders will never become leaders unless they lead. [continue reading>>]

Cockroach Tour Buzz: Have you ever experienced those times as a leader where you really wanted to drive the car? What are you doing to help other leaders, particularly young leaders, have the opportunity to drive the car?