Unleashing The Power Of Rubber Bands by Nancy Ortberg Read Free Book Online

you at the finish line.”
    And Seabiscuit pulls ahead, first over the line.
    It was a great moment in the movie, but more than that, I think it is a picture of great leadership. Those of us who have gone ahead and have been doing this for a while need to pull back. On purpose. We need to position ourselves beside those who are coming up and may be strugglinga bit. We need to give what we can of ourselves to let others move ahead.
    Those of us who have gone ahead and have been doing this for a while need to pull back. On purpose.
    Those of us who have been building organizations or ministries or teams needto stop and put others on our shoulders in order to provide them with a better view than even we have. And then we say to them—in hushed tones—“Tell me what you see.”
    It is always a tension, leading for now and for the future, slowing down enough to develop and bring along new, young leaders. But it may be one of the most important things we do as leaders as we identify, teach and train, bless and release the next generation(s) of leaders.
    We have to trust that in their own way they have muchto offer, things that we cannot bring to the table. So while we lead them, we must also honor them and believe in them, cheering them on as we pull ourselves back and watch them race ahead.
    In addition to a great staff of eleven employees, Axis also had about seven or eight interns who were part of a larger intern program at Willow Creek. When they were in our area, I was responsible for these additional people who gave greatly of their time and energy and giftedness to help grow and develop our ministry.
    I was a great fan of the internship program. Although these young people were only required to spend twenty hours in our department, each and every one of them gave much more than was required. They were motivated, sincere, passionate leaders, excited beyond belief to be a part of Axis.
    With no budget requirement on my part, I had extra leadership help in spades; what was not to like? Well, sometimes the interns made me tired. They were young and had a lot to learn. They made mistakes and messes, and they needed direction and guidance and discipleship and training. I realized that to give them what they needed, I would have to slow down a bit, pull beside them. Sometimes that was okay with me, but mostly I found myself getting annoyed. To be painfully honest, I would have rather been given the extra leadership horsepower without having to do any additional work on my part.
    I know, I know, you’ve never felt that way.
    One day, I sat down with my boss and told him what I was feeling. I explained that although I was a huge fan of the internship program, some days I was just irritated by the burden of it and the way it slowed us down. I really had a good complaint session, confession being good for the soul and all. And my boss, he just listened. Listened and nodded. Surprisingly, I felt a bit better just having said what was on my mind.
    One of the things I love about the Holy Spirit is that sometimes His conviction is just a gentle grain of sand that settles into our hearts where it scratches and irritates until we finally do something about it. And when I left my boss’s office that day, the Holy Spirit went with me.
    Of course I know He always goes with me, but that day He just gently hung around until my own words echoed in my head and choked in my throat. With slow realization, the selfishness of my attitude became fully clear, and I was ashamed. Not the kind of shame that occurs because everyone knows you’ve done something wrong. Until I wrote this chapter, no one except my boss and me ever knew about that conversation.
    No, this was the kind of shame that emerges strongand hard, even though you know that no one else may ever know.
    My boss never brought up the subject, but a few months later, I did. After referring back to that conversation, I told him I no longer felt that way. He smiled slightly and asked why.
    I