I hold myself to what I call the 10 Commandments of Leadership. They are the foundation of how I lead. They reflect my experiences serving as a supervisor (sergeant), manager (lieutenant) and executive (deputy chief). I test them against what happens in my daily activities, what I learn from others and my study of scripture. It is a blessing to discover how God's Word validates what are foundational elements to who I am as a leader in the police world.
This post is about the 1st commandment: Avoid CHAOS
What is CHAOS? An acronym that stands for "Chief Has Arrived On Scene."
Leading others requires that you get out of the way and let people do their job. Sometimes leaders do more to inhibit success rather than to facilitate it. CHAOS happens when I do not have faith in the people who work to accomplish the mission of the organization. As I read through the gospels, I see over and over where CHAOS was a stumbling block for those following Christ. In these cases, CHAOS stands for "Christian Has Arrived On Scene."
In Luke 8:22-25, Jesus and the disciples were traveling across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep in the boat when a squall blew across the lake and the apostles believed the boat was in danger of sinking. The men panicked and in their CHAOS woke up Jesus who rebuked the storm and then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith.
This post is about the 1st commandment: Avoid CHAOS
What is CHAOS? An acronym that stands for "Chief Has Arrived On Scene."
Leading others requires that you get out of the way and let people do their job. Sometimes leaders do more to inhibit success rather than to facilitate it. CHAOS happens when I do not have faith in the people who work to accomplish the mission of the organization. As I read through the gospels, I see over and over where CHAOS was a stumbling block for those following Christ. In these cases, CHAOS stands for "Christian Has Arrived On Scene."
In Luke 8:22-25, Jesus and the disciples were traveling across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was asleep in the boat when a squall blew across the lake and the apostles believed the boat was in danger of sinking. The men panicked and in their CHAOS woke up Jesus who rebuked the storm and then rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith.
Mark 17:14-20 describes a scene where a father came to Jesus to plead with Him to heal his son suffering from seizures. The disciples tried and failed to cast out a demon possessing the boy. Jesus healed the boy and cast out the demon. The disciples later asked why they were unsuccessful and Jesus said that it was because of their lack of faith.
If we have faith as a mustard seed, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We get off track when our focus is not on the path that Christ blazed for us but on what we can do to fix things or people. CHAOS. C.S.Lewis suggests that when we are off the path, it does not matter where we turned wrong but how to get back on track.
We avoid CHAOS by having faith in God and walking alongside other believers who journey with us. Our map is the Holy Bible, our trail head is the Cross and the path is made by the fellowship of believers who traveled before us.
If we have faith as a mustard seed, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We get off track when our focus is not on the path that Christ blazed for us but on what we can do to fix things or people. CHAOS. C.S.Lewis suggests that when we are off the path, it does not matter where we turned wrong but how to get back on track.
We avoid CHAOS by having faith in God and walking alongside other believers who journey with us. Our map is the Holy Bible, our trail head is the Cross and the path is made by the fellowship of believers who traveled before us.
2 comments:
Mike,
Great commentary....
How about this...
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ...
We were all told right from the start of a world and life 'without' chaos... I agree with you and believe that we must accept the fact that we create the chaos in our world...
Briggs
Thanks Briggs. We are are own worst enemies sometimes. Reminds me of the C.S. Lewis book, the Screwtape Letters and how suggestion can get the best of us.
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