LEAD August 2023 | Page 36

Don ’ t Burn Out , Burn Bright

Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

Your Leadership Is Imperfect There ’ s a good chance your goal is to be the perfect leader . . . Can we get rid of that notion real quickly ? You won ’ t be the perfect leader . In fact , striving too hard to be the perfect leader can be a disaster both for you and for your team .
When we strive too hard to be the perfect leader , we will always fall short . Yet the temptation to appear perfect will remain . We ’ ll chase the image of perfection . That creates a chasm between who we actually are and who we want people to perceive us to be . That image of perfection creates a mask we hide behind . Masks turn into more deceptions . And all these deceptions can sometimes turn into moral failure , because we become so used to hiding who we really are that it ’ s easy to live two separate lives . Those who are experts at hiding their true selves are the ones who engage in sexual sin , lying , embezzling money , manipulating their congregations . . . The list goes on . Maybe you won ’ t be victim to one of those moral failures that turn into national headlines , but hiding behind a mask of perfection will guarantee unhealthy leadership for you . More than that , though , it will negatively impact those you lead . The truth is , people aren ’ t attracted to perfect leaders . We ’ re attracted to effective , humble leaders , even embracing
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