Do your priorities insure good is not the enemy of great? (160-2)
Effective leaders determine which tasks deserve priority rather than allowing the daily pressure and the next crisis to make the decision. Read Jeremiah 9:23-24.
God had harsh words for leaders in ancient Judah. Their arrogant words revealed that their priorities were out of order. They were boasting about human wisdom, strength and riches rather than giving leadership to keep people focused on God’s kindness, justice and righteousness. God, through the prophet Jeremiah, urged them to evaluate their lives and rearrange their priorities.
Priorities tend to shift because there are always more opportunities, productive tasks, emergencies and crisis than there is time to do them. In his book The Effective Executive, management expert Peter Drucker urges leaders to determine which tasks deserve priority rather than allowing pressure to make the decision. Drucker provides the following guidelines when setting priorities:
- Pick the future over the past
- Focus on opportunity rather then problems.
- Choose your own direction – rather than climbing on the bandwagon.
- Aim high, for something that will make a difference, rather than something that is safe and easy to do.
Jeremiah gives Christian leaders a framework to use Drucker’s criterion for setting priorities. Jeremiah states that in the midst of daily life where leaders must focus much of their energy on developing resources that provide a living they should not overlook the source of their greatest joy, knowing and understanding God.
As wise Christian leaders set priorities using Drucker’s guidelines they look through the lens of their desire to live a life that honors God. Looking through that lens will give a whole new slant to picking the future over the past, focusing on opportunity, choosing your own direction and shooting for something that will make a difference. As wise Christian leaders set priorities they seek to insure that the good does not become the enemy of the great.
Posted via email from ..................The Last Call Digest
