Leadership

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Flight podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. What's up everybody? So this is the last episode of season 3, episode 15, and we're going to call this one Leadership. The season finale. And, uh, the reason why I'm doing this, of course, to get prepared and just start writing out content for season 4. But also too, it's when you get in a habit, or, you know, especially a person of faith and you are creating content, you have to be very careful to— from my perspective— not to just get in a routine of creating content because, you know, I got a word, I got a word, and not studying the word of God on a personal level, those personal convictions. Because I don't want to just be a person that's advertising the gospel and advertising faith and so on. I actually want to be proof that this works, this is true. And so I want to live scripture, and I want to live the things that I'm, that I'm basically communicating to you all. And so that's why I basically put pauses and things like that and work like more of a season format and stuff like that. So, uh, this episode, like I say, you know, it's episode 15, it's the last one, and we're calling it Leadership. And leadership is a very broad term, very broad term. And I think that even if you're not interested really in that topic right now, because you might say, I don't see any value in that, I want to ask you just to give it a listen. Uh, just bear with me because in some shape, form, or fashion, either you're being led or you're leading. And it's very crucial to understand— and I'm not sure if he's the one that kind of coined the phrase, I mean, we all remix things to some degree— but John C. Maxwell said it best, that everything rises and falls on leadership. And I think what he means by that, or what I take from it, is that as a leader, everything might not be my fault if something goes bad, but it's my responsibility. And to me, that's when you are totally invested as a leader, that you don't need the praise, you don't need the glory. You understand that it's the— you're putting it back on your team, if you know, but you take personal responsibility if things don't go right. But if it goes great, you put it back on your team. I think that's very vital in no matter what industry, if it's ministry related or whatever. I think that is very crucial to understand. And if you don't lead anyone, like I said, you might be up under leadership, and so I'm gonna touch on some dynamics with that. But you have to keep in mind that you also lead yourself. So for my super, super saved people that like to over-spiritualize things and say, well, only God leads me— that's true, that's very true. But just bear with me and give me some room, uh, because I think context is very important there. So let's jump into it, let's really get into it. So I want to first start off by why leadership is important. And also too, I want to highlight a little bit and talk about management. And I just want to say this real quick, please forgive me, that I'm a senior technical project manager, so I have the responsibility, you know, leading a small team as well as like leading many projects, working with a lot of my team members and things like that, and kind of, you know, understanding the balance between what the business needs what the product team can put out, and so on and so on. So I'm leading, but as well being led. And even in both of that, in both of those dynamics, I also have responsibility to lead myself. And so, because at the end of the day, you know, my CTO, uh, COO, CEO, no one can truly make me do anything. Now they can fire me from the role, true enough, But at the end of the day, I have a responsibility to practice in what I like to call self-management, self-leadership to some degree. And so self-discipline, like I have to make a decision to get up and do this, do that. So I have to basically lead well, but start with myself first because I think too many of us, like we have a desire to lead and we don't even know how to lead ourselves. We're just all over the place. So your team is going to be all over the place, but then you're trying to hold someone accountable for something that you don't do. So it's in the trenches, servant leadership, transformational leadership. And then when it comes to management, you know, I've spent a lot of time studying just the fundamentals of project, traditional project management, what they call Waterfall, and some more of the agile methodology, but primarily, you know, focusing on the Scrum.. And so in those fundamentals, like, I didn't go pursue a bunch of different certifications, although they have their place. Now, like, you know, I have a degree, a couple of degrees, and like, focusing on this, I'm not trying to boast by any means, but this is just really to bring some credibility to this, is that I've spent a lot of time studying management principles as well as studying Peter Drucker. To me, he's like the John C. Maxwell of management. In this day and age. And so, and John C. Maxwell, to me, is kind of like just that, that pioneer of leadership. And so both have their place. Some leaders need to be better managers, and some managers need to be better leaders. And so if I— if you don't take nothing else from it, especially if you're a leader, I think you have to— and even if you've been like— if you're not, like, in the context of just, you know, organization, ministry, or whatever like that, is that look at leadership as kind of the heart, the internal organs, and look at management as more so like the, the outer body. And so it's the exterior. And so if I remove the internal organs of something, all I have is just a robot. That's, that's literally all I have. So I have a lot of structure, it can do things, but but I have no connection. And then on the flip side of that, if I don't have any structure, I mean, I just have literally organs laying on the ground. Like, you know, if you— it can't hold up. It needs a body. A heart needs a body, you know, the livers and things like that. And so that's kind of how, like, in a very faint example, that's how I look at it. So it's both and, not necessarily either or. However, I do recommend to lean a little bit on more of the leadership aspect versus management, but I hate putting them against each other all the time. And so, uh, management, like I say, brings order, it brings structure, and it's needed because we also have a God of order. I believe that's why he gave us the word of God and the Holy Bible. And so with that is that you know, you get into, um, certain aspects, you know, you can get back into apostolic and all that type of stuff. But order is important. But leadership— so let's dive in. I just want to start this self-leadership thing and self-management. Like, yes, the Holy Spirit leads and guides us, he directs our paths and things like that, but we have to make a decision. We have to give him latitude to do it. We can't quench the Spirit. So it is still some personal responsibility in there. In the secular world, you have to get up and make decisions. You have to, you know, if I say I need this done by, you know, 1, 2, 3, whatever, AM, PM, whatever, or ABC, I need ABC by 1, 2, 3. Okay, I need to be able to uphold the same thing that I'm demanding. And what I mean by that I need to be able to— the same level of excellence or dedication that I'm requiring, I need to make sure that I manage myself to do the same thing in some capacity. So I'm not trying to supersede God or say, you know, that we are self-sufficient and things like that. That's not what I'm saying by any means. I'm just saying for context is that you have to have some personal responsibility, and it starts with a decision. Because God doesn't even force himself upon us. We have to choose him. I mean, he first chose us, but we have to surrender. And so that's a decision we have to make. And so when it comes to this, this leadership thing, you know, I think that if you're being led and you have a great leader, kudos, that's awesome. I've been fortunate to have and work up under the direction of some very, very great people. And I've also had, you know, not as much, and I'm thankful, but I've also, you know, worked under maybe like 2 leaders that I don't really believe that they were leaders. They just were positional leaders. And I think it's very important to even understand that if you work up under a challenging leadership, you have to understand that, uh, take some personal responsibility in the context of like, you know what, okay, long as it's not nothing, you know, that goes against my moral compass, unethical and things like that. I'm gonna be obedient to God, that's my final authority, but I'm gonna honor my leader and do what's required of me as long as it doesn't conflict with my core beliefs and, you know, basically put you in a situation where you're jeopardizing that. Because oftentimes You know, we have to understand that God allowed them to be there in some way, some form. He allowed them to be there. That's just what I believe. But so long as it doesn't contradict those areas, I think that you have to figure out a way to honor that leader. And even if you don't agree, either just— you have to walk away from that because that might not be a vision, a vision or a leader that you want to support. But I don't think that you should tear that person down or, you know, demonize their character, sabotage it, and on and on and on. It's just best to say, hey, I don't agree with this leadership, I'm stepping down, I'm stepping away. And that's just the truth. And the other aspect of it is that if you're leading, it kind of goes back to connecting, that you have to be willing to connect with with your people. Because too many times, I think, in leadership, we like to give out direction, but, you know, and we talk about servant leadership and transformational leadership, but a lot of those things come from truly understanding what the problem is and then attacking that problem. That's really what took— from the root of transformational leadership is that I understand this, I want to transform this, I want to be a change agent, And so, but I gotta really make sure that I understand what's going on. Servant leadership is kind of at a very high level. It's more so, it's not necessarily meeting the wants of everybody, but it's doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of it. So if it's an employee gossiping and tearing the company apart, a servant leader, like, they might have to let that person go because it might not be what they want to do, but it's what they need to do. So even it's like meeting, and it's basically based off of the company, the organization. So that's very important. And I like those two frameworks when I think about leadership— servant and transformational leadership. Like, that's what I really love studying at its core essence. When I think about leadership, you know, and I like to use shepherd in terms of ministry, but Well, leadership in the ministry, I think with, with me, you know, helping and being an associate, you know, associate pastor, minister, uh, you can call it whatever you want to be, you know, associate servant. I don't care because I'm not necessarily caught up on titles, although I know a lot of people are because we're still switching from that mind frame. But leadership is influence. But in a lot of aspects, especially in the secular world, I do think that a lot of people are still caught up on titles. And I do see some value in that. Like, although I do believe leadership is influence, if, you know, you build it, I do think you can become very influential and it's like, you know, basically become a very influential leader. But, you know, John C. Maxwell talks about this in The Five Levels of Leadership. I do think a lot of people still don't respond to influence in that capacity, but they respond to the title, respond to the title. But I do understand the heart of it. And when I really thought about it, I'm like, well, it is. So really what I guess I'm trying to say is that if you are a positional leader, manager, whatever in your company, that only buys you time because you can very much get people to a point where they only will be compliant but not committed. Say that again. Like, you can lead by title only power, whatever. But if you're not influential, you have basically created a lot of people that's going to be compliant but not committed. They're going to do the bare minimum. And you want to inspire people to go beyond and take the responsibility for excellence and greatness. And that's why I say I will lean a little bit more into leadership, not throwing away management philosophies or nothing like that, but lean a little bit more into leadership. And so with me, like, I first started studying leadership probably about 24, really found the value in it. Like, I'm 30 now, but started really applying and tweaking things and getting up under mentors, and especially in the ministry aspect of it, and just studying, like, learning what not to do and what to do. You know, under bad leaderships I learned a lot. Under great leaderships I learned a lot. I'm always looking, you know, how can I grow? The stretching, all of this type of stuff. I'm just looking to learn to help me become a great leader one day. And that's like— and also too, knowing that in leadership it's not for you to determine how great of a leader you are. That's for the people to decide. That's the pinnacle in the context of the secular world. Like, it's not you saying, oh man, I'm a great leader, recognized leader. That's simply for the people to decide. The people that you Are you creating other leaders, or are you creating a bunch of task people that just know how to, you know, take tasks and keep doing what they're told? Or can you say, hey, you know, take this, this is a responsibility, and as you have been around me and I've built you up and cultivated you by the power of God, now you have become a leader. And so the people that are— have submitted to your authority, authority, like, that's what you have to understand. That leadership is everything rises and falls. It's the heart. It is the heart speaking to the heart, the connecting, the inspiration of getting people to buy in and be total, like, committed totally to basically the vision and executing it. And so leadership, you know, many of us have been hurt by bad leadership. Leadership is very vital. A lot of people have been abused by it. A lot of things. A lot of people have lost their jobs, you know, because of poor leadership. A lot of people have become super, like, great, like, just some of the greatest things happen in their life because of leadership. And so it's a very, you know, term that's just like thrown out there today, like everything, leader, leader this, leader that, leader that. And you just have people just talking, they haven't really just lived it, and so on and so on. But When I look at leadership, and I know I'm kind of staying very surface level, if you want to get more in detail, hey, reach out to me. Uh, one of the things that I'm launching and want to take some time to kind of, you know, why I want to kind of come to a season end with this is to shift my focus a little bit on growing the consulting and things I want to do. It's like I see a lot of these businesses and ministries and things like that where I just don't want to go in and lead anything, but just work with the leadership team. Because I'm not just always looking to give advice. I do believe that a lot of the gifts that God gave me that I have been able to use in the marketplace— I think— I, I don't think, I believe, and I know by the power of God that they can work in ministry as well, and vice versa. The gifts that I'm using in ministry can translate into the marketplace. So it's just knowing like when that collision or the intersection happens Your spiritual gifts can operate in the marketplace just as much as they operate in the ministry, you know, or vice versa. So that's what I look at. I work my butt off. Like, I think sometimes people of faith think that because you have to work hard, uh, or you work to inspire to be a leader in the secular world, that it's not of God, you know, or it might— God might not want that for you. No, working hard is essential. It is not a thing that should be looked at as like, well, if it requires me to really go after it, God might not want that for me. That's the furthest from the truth. And I believe that's why so many people of faith don't get into leadership as well as they don't see the results that they need to see in life. So overall this term leadership is that you have to remember that you're always impacted by it because you're either being led or you're doing the leading. And no matter what you're in, no matter what you're in, if you're a father or mother, you know, if you're leading your family, a team, a baseball team, or I mean, I don't know why I said that, a sports team, I mean, you know, whatever, basketball, football, you're a teacher, you're— yes, you're there to do a job, but you're also leading to some degree. And the people that you come in contact with or whatever, even if it's indirectly— so you have direct leadership and indirect leadership, and we can unpack that too. But just know that it is vital. You are a leader to some degree. All of us are. And so yes, I'm dedicated, even as much as I've studied now I like what John C. Maxwell said. Over 40-something years, I believe, of studying leadership, and he still feel like it's so much he has to learn. Regardless if you think of redundancy or whatever, that's a great thing. And that's why I believe he does things with such a level of excellence, because we cannot get to the place, especially as leaders, that we think we have arrived. You can't. You have to keep striving to how to innovate, how to connect, how to be led by God most importantly. And, you know, long as I'm on this earth, I'm going to keep moving things forward and also think succession, because I don't want everything that God has called me to do— it's not necessarily my legacy, but it's fulfilling purpose. And I have to also be thinking succession. So I want somebody that I can groom by the power of God to come in and take this thing and keep the ball rolling. So These are the things that a leader has to deal with. And, you know, especially in the midst of this COVID stuff, that's why you're seeing more and more leaders fold in this crisis, and you're seeing more and more leaders rise in this. I've even said it myself, you know, leaders aren't made in the time of crisis, they're revealed. But I do think some leaders are being made in this crisis. So leadership If you don't take nothing else from this, it is extremely important. It is extremely vital. We all have a responsibility in it. We all do. As my tagline go, and I just want to close with this, and you can go to www.timothyprattjr.org and type on leadership. I believe we follow the lead and we lead to serve. And repeat continuously. We follow the lead and we lead to serve people. To me, that's the essence of leadership. Nothing more, nothing less, at a high-level standpoint. Now you can get into key details, but I believe we follow the lead and we lead to serve. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the Student Life Podcast today. If this content has impacted you in any kind of way, please take some time to share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothyprattjr.org. Once again, thanks.