Christian leaders have an unfair advantage when it comes to vision development. To have a vision requires holding both burden and belief at the same time. A burden of “this must not be this way” and the belief that change can happen. Holding both burden and belief simultaneously is incredibly challenging and makes true vision rare. But Christians are well-equipped to hold burden and belief simultaneously, because our faith recognizes both the pain of a broken world and the promise that God will make all things new. Christians should be the best at holding both burden and belief because our faith insists both are true all the time.

Nehemiah gives us a great example of the deep work beneath the surface that results in true vision. He did not get away for a “visionary whiteboard session” with friends over lattes. He did not “manifest the vision” on a whiteboard with a blue marker. When he heard that Jerusalem’s wall lay in ruins and the people were in disgrace, he sat down and wept. For days he mourned, fasted, and prayed. That was the burden.

But burden alone is not enough. If you have burden without belief, you will only see the ruined wall. You will only speak of the brokenness, the challenges, and the struggles. Your “no one understands how hard this is” posture will not inspire anyone, not for long. Burden without belief will leave you cynical and jaded.

So, while carrying the burden that bombarded him, Nehemiah turned to God. Much of the first chapter of his leadership journal is his prayer, a prayer filled with belief that the God who had scattered His people could also bring them home.

You need both roots of burden and belief to get to the beautiful fruit of vision. And as a Christian, you already know what it is like to carry burden and belief at the same time. You are more equipped for vision than perhaps you have known. In my new book, The Rooted Leader, there is a whole chapter designed to help you develop a fruitful vision based on the intermingling roots of burden and belief. You can order a copy here.

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Christian leaders have the ultimate unfair advantage because we never lead alone. Our God is wise and promises to give us His wisdom when we ask. He is powerful and fills us with His strength and energy when we’re weary. He is compassionate and gives us hearts that genuinely care for the people we lead. He is sovereign and works all things together for good, even our leadership mistakes and failures. We don’t rely on ourselves, and the God we rely on guides us and refreshes us. The advantage is unfair because we did not earn Him with our grit. By His grace, when we placed our faith in Christ, God graciously gave us His Spirit.

Being a follower of Jesus turns us into better leaders than we would be if we were not following Jesus. I do not believe and am not suggesting that all Christians are great leaders or that all great leaders are Christians. Rather, I am declaring that a follower of Jesus becomes a better leader of people because Jesus continually transforms His followers. Leaders who follow Jesus are more visionary, convictional, servant-oriented, persevering, credible, familiar with transformation, and filled with resolve than they would be without Jesus at the center of their lives.

I am also not suggesting that someone should follow Jesus so that they will be a better leader. If that is their motivation, it is not really Jesus they are following. Instead, Jesus is treated as a means for some other end, namely being a better leader. Jesus is not interested in being a tool for one of our goals. He is the King over everything.

It is fascinating that research continually uncovers “groundbreaking and new leadership truths” that Christians have held to for centuries:

• Jim Collins, in his famous book Good to Great, uncovered that “level five leaders” are the best leaders and they are filled with…humility. Hmmm. Christians have always believed we are to be humble and honor others above ourselves. We are motivated to serve others because our hearts are melted by the reality that our King served us by embracing a crown of thorns and absorbing our sin and shame on the cross.
• In his popular books, Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership, researcher and author Daniel Goleman wrote that the most effective leaders manage their emotions, genuinely connect with people, offer kindness and empathy, lead with joy and inspiration, and display the master skill of patience. Several of the attributes Goleman uncovered are what Christians call “the fruit of the Spirit.” In other words, the Spirit of God enables the Jesus follower to display what research says makes a leader more effective.
• In the research-based leadership book, Return on Character, Fred Kiel argued that just as there is a “return on investment,” there is a “return on character,” and better-performing companies are led by leaders who are filled with integrity, compassion, and forgiveness. Christians are compassionate because we have received compassion, forgive because we have been forgiven, and seek to walk in integrity because our Savior invites us to follow after Him.

Marketplace leadership research keeps “discovering” that humility works, emotional intelligence matters, and character impacts results. Christians have known this for 2,000 years. Leaders who are being transformed by Christ have the unfair advantage (because of Him) to be growing in all these attributes.

I share more about the unfair advantages Christian leaders have and how to maximize them to steward our roles effectively in my new book The Rooted Leader. You can find a copy at bookstores across the U.S. Find one here.

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Clarity without courage is frustration. A leader who has a strong sense of what must happen

but lacks the courage to act is in a perpetual state of frustration. A lack of courage can also reveal misplaced identity in the leader, showing that the leader finds their worth in results instead of who God has declared them to be. Attaching your identity to the results will always curb courage because taking action will feel like a risk to your identity.

Courage without clarity is chaos. A leader who is courageous but does not have clarity creates chaos for everyone. You have met this leader. They return from a conference with a new vision, then read a new book on vacation and return with yet another new direction, lacking the awareness to realize that some of the directions are actually contradictory. The leader who lacks clarity is trying to build many things at once but only ends up tearing down a lot of things. You can’t build unless you know what needs to be built.

A lack of courage results in frustration. A lack of clarity results in chaos. 

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In the famous biblical account of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and repopulating the city, we see that he first led his boss, the king of Persia. Without the king’s support and help, Nehemiah’s vision would have remained only in his mind. Here are three things Nehemiah did, according to the text: 

1. He was not “the mopey person.” The text reads that this was the first time he had ever appeared sad in the king’s presence before. He was the person who added joy to the team, the person who was optimistic and not the mopey person around the office.

2. He appealed to what was important to his leader. When Nehemiah asked to go to Jerusalem, he did not say “so we can worship Yahweh.” He led with “the place of his ancestors being in disgrace” which would have mattered to the king too. 

3. He was really clear. He spoke with clarity about his vision, how long he would be gone, and the resources and authority he needed.

If you want more credibility with your leader, don’t be the perpetually sad person, care about what your leader cares about, and be really clear. 

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As much as leaders are concerned with attacks from the outside, most leaders who fall do so because of implosion. The weight of responsibilities is too much for a weak foundation or weak character. If your competence outpaces your character, collapse is almost certain. If you grow in your role but your integrity shrinks, you won’t be able to handle the weight of the role. If you become more skilled as a leader but don’t grow in your sanctification as a Christian, you are setting yourself up for a fall. 

A real danger is that our roles make us better. 

If you are thrust into a leadership role, you are going to be developed because the work does the work of developing you. The relationships and the opportunities will increase your skill. Which means if you don’t work on your character, if you don’t allow God to grow your faith, to keep you humble, to give you wisdom then you are likely to become more skilled and less sanctified. We must care more about the work of God in us than the work of God through us. 

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Conviction is the fruit, but the roots beneath the surface that produced the fruit of conviction are clarity and courage.

When the king asked what Nehemiah wanted, Nehemiah asked to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He was clear on the time he would be gone, the authority he needed in writing from the king, and the resources required. Nehemiah excelled at clarity. 

Nehemiah was also courageous. Notice what he wrote about his time before the king: “…Then I was terrified, but…” (Nehemiah 2:2-3, NLT). Courage does not mean not being afraid. Courage is pushing forward in the midst of your fear. Nehemiah replaced his fear of the earthly king with fear, or awe, for His Heavenly King. He prayed to his King and kept going.  

Some leaders have clarity, knowing exactly what needs to happen, but they lack the courage to take action. Some leaders have lots of courage and are willing to move, but lack clarity of direction. Without clarity and courage, you don’t get the fruit of conviction.

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If you equate painful with difficult, you can fool yourself into thinking a decision or conversation can be delayed. In reality, the decision is only painful. The decision is not difficult and you don’t really need more time. 

Difficult decisions of course take more time, as you want more time in prayer and receiving wisdom from others. But don’t deceive yourself into thinking a painful decision is always difficult. If it is simple and painful, you lose credibility waiting, and people are often harmed as you wait. 

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When Nehemiah was leading God’s people to rebuild the wall to protect and repopulate Jerusalem, enemies tried to dissuade Nehemiah with criticism (Nehemiah 4:1-3). They mocked the people as feeble and poor, their tools as being rubbish and charred, and their work as something a fox could knock down by merely walking on top of the wall. The enemies said that God’s people believed they could rebuild the wall in a day. If you look at the criticism, there is no truth within it. The people were not poor and feeble; they were God’s people. They never claimed they could finish the wall in a day or by making sacrifices. If Nehemiah believed there had to be some truth in the criticism, perhaps he would have stopped and considered if there was something he needed to change. 

But Nehemiah kept going, kept building (Nehemiah 4:6). See, not only is the cliché untrue, but the cliché can be really unhelpful to leaders if they believe it, as the belief in a false cliché could cause leaders to slow down or stop the great work altogether. 

Yes, sometimes there is truth within criticism. Obviously, there is always truth within wise and godly rebukes, and sometimes there is truth even within critiques. But not always. So don’t let that cliché enslave you as a leader or steer you from giving your all to what you are building.

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When a tree topples, cleanup happens in a few days and grass is often planted where the tree was. When a leader topples, the damage is much more far-reaching and the cleanup takes a lot longer.

Storms plus unhealthy roots lead to disaster. Leaders, storms are going to come. We lead in a broken world. There will be challenges and challenging seasons. So, it is the roots we must be concerned with.

Two trees in the same field can respond very differently to a storm. The one with healthy roots endures while the one with unhealthy roots doesn’t. While both trees looked similar before the storm, the storm revealed what was already true about the roots of the trees. J.C. Ryle said it plainly: “Men fall in private long before they fall in public.” Focus on the roots, on your integrity and your walk with God, more than the storm. To endure, focus on the roots, not on the storms.

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Leaders, we need some time off to rest and receive from God. One advantage of being a Christian leader is that you are not only pouring yourself out in service to others, but you can receive wisdom and power and strength from your Heavenly Father. Take time to receive from Him so that you are healthy. Those you lead benefit from you being healthy. And take time to remind yourself that you are not in charge by taking some time to rest and not work. Some have said the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap, because you are trusting that God is working while you are napping. You are releasing control to Him and not depending on yourself. 

I still take a day off each week, and the best practice for me is to receive from God through what scholars call general and special revelation: general revelation being creation and special revelation being Scripture. My most fruitful and enjoyable days off combine some time in His creation and some time in His Word. 

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