fuel : when motivating others crosses into manipulation . Motivation is when you inspire others to become the best version of themselves and thereby progress toward a shared vision . Manipulation , on the other hand , is when you influence others toward actions or attitudes that aren ’ t in their best interests in order to serve your intended outcome . Manipulators are often driven by fear and sometimes justify their abuse of others in the name of avoiding disaster . This is a massive warning light ! Pay close attention , and make adjustments where necessary to keep your pursuit of greatness in a healthy lane .
Pride Another fuel that won ’ t get you all the way to greatness is pride . Instead , it will corrode your engine from the inside out . Proverbs 16:18 says , “ Pride comes before disaster , and arrogance before a fall ” ( CEB ). Thankfully , reliable indicator lights come on long before disaster to give us enough time to correct our course .
It ’ s easy to identify pride in its most obvious form : self-promotion . Obnoxiously loud people who are always talking about themselves and their accomplishments are , yes , prideful . But the glaring blatancy of the guy who always gives an update on his number of Instagram followers can make it too easy on the rest of us , who also need to be on our guard against pride .
Pride , simply put , is preoccupation with self . We ’ re fueled by pride when all we can see is our own point of view : how I am affected by this situation , what I can offer in the way of gifts or abilities , how various outcomes will impact me . Understanding pride in this way allows us to see that insecurity and selfdoubt are often symptoms of pride rather than indicators of humility . Crazy , right ? At first glance , an insecure person seems humble , full of sober self-judgment . But take a second look , and you ’ ll see just as unrelenting a focus on self as is obvious in the overconfident selfpromoter .
Saul was ancient Israel ’ s first king , and he was fueled by pride . It wasn ’ t obvious early on . In fact , when we first meet him , when the prophet Samuel told Saul that God had chosen him to lead His people , the young man appeared to be a perfect picture of humility : “ But am I not a Benjamite , from the smallest tribe of Israel , and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin ? Why do you say such a thing to me ?” ( 1 Samuel 9:21 ). Me ? Little ole me ?
With time , however , King Saul ’ s pride became more and more obvious as it ate away at his soul . What seemed at first to be pictureperfect humility was revealed to be crippling self-doubt and insecurity . Instead of staying laser focused on the God who called him to greatness , Saul ’ s focus on himself was all consuming .
Like other wrong fuels , pride can give you an impressive jump start . Over time , however , it will keep you from building a talented team and receiving wise counsel from other people . ( As we ’ ll discover in a later chapter , learning from others is one of the keys to maximizing our potential — and pride makes that impossible .) Disaster doesn ’ t have to be your only warning light that pride is fueling your journey to
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