Leading and Loving with a Ministry Heart at Work

I've been a manager/leader in the workplace most of my life. Despite giving away my age, I'll confess that I've been out here over 30 years. I walked out of college a confident, aspiring ready to be "leader". My career journey took off and in a short time, I was managing a diversity of people many twice my age, experience and in numbers and budget dollars beyond my wildest dreams. I was rewarded for my expertise with bonuses that many people will never be paid in a year regardless of how hard they work. I quickly had the lifestyle that I had aspired and was surrounded by people, power and prestige. I was exhilarated and asking for more. I had fresh ideas and the power to strategize, execute and manage it all. I was by my own definition a "success".

What I didn't have was the wisdom to know that I was managing, not leading. The corporate ladder was easy to climb. I like most of peers was connected, determined and energetic. I had my business degree, could write a strategic plan and could manage and drive the results even better than most of my male counterparts. Year after year, managers around me and I were fighting and trampling to reach those stretch goals usually with little regard to the carnage to our teams, the very people who were making it all happen.

As I became more aware of this trend in myself and others around me, I could see God challenging us. Were we choosing self imposed success and money instead of the gifts of our/His team that had been entrusted to us to develop, love and lead with heart? It was then I began to understand there is a difference between managing and leading. I observed managers lead projects and leaders manage spiritual gifts. The managers around me were falling prey to the strategic plan and managing for money-- quickly justifying their actions by proclaiming it was for the good of the business or organization.

I have seen very few of these mangers ever become leaders despite their salaries or titles. I have observed this with a sadness not for the managers but for those they were entrusted to lead and love. Growth of the Kingdom relies on leaders valuing, developing and tapping the gifts of His people entrusted to them.

If we're true to ourselves and each other, leading and loving with a ministry heart at work can help us transcend the corporate mentality and provide an opportunity for a new covenant and a new definition of success.