12 Signs Your Leadership May Be Missing the Mark

As leaders, it’s all too easy to miss the mark. We may be fully engaged, but are our efforts headed in the right direction?

And truth be told, a leader off-target can deliver a boatload of heartache.

Every leader needs a dashboard—a set of warning lights that signal that the current trajectory needs course-correction.

Every leader needs a dashboard—a set of warning lights that signal that the current trajectory needs course-correction.

Over the years – like a squirrel prepping for winter – I have collected a list of questions that serve as my personal leadership dashboard.

I invite you to read them through. Slowly. Prayerfully.

1.    Am I neglecting to create space to hear from God?

2.    Am I forgetting that leading is all about serving?

3.    Am I focusing too much on doing, but not enough on being?

4.    Am I living without margin?

5.    Am I occupying the same space with people, but not really being present with them?

6.    Am I disregarding that the real battles are the unseen ones?

7.    Am I failing to feed my soul?

8.    Am I minimizing the indispensability of solitude and sabbath?

9.    Am I taking credit instead of dishing it out?

10.   Am I toying with the idea that perhaps my blind spots are not that noticeable?

11.   Am I living as if I am bullet-proof to temptation?

12.   Am I forgetting that my leadership is a stewardship, not an entitlement?

This isn’t just a mental checklist; it’s an inventory of the heart. As a leader, we are called to go first. And we are called to go farther.

As a leader, we are called to go first. And we are called to go farther.

Here’s a challenge. An invitation.

• Rehearse the reality that the pathway to leadership longevity resides in an unrelenting commitment to never stop growing.
• Pick one of these questions that needs to find its way into the CHANGE REQUIRED column of your life and leadership.
• Schedule a time when you and God can create a game plan—based on His grace and His empowerment.

At the end of the day, your ultimate leadership deliverable is a life that is constantly being remade by the One who alone can change you from the inside out.

What soul-searching question did you find most helpful to your life and leadership?