The video is here.
Results make many believers a little nervous because it’s close to “works”… also known as dead works. We’ve all worked with people driven by a religious or workaholic zeal toward rules that were supposed to lead to results. The lack of relationship and love in that equation always backfires and leads to little fruit. That version of leadership inspires silent slander and breeds mutiny. None of us were designed to get results via rules, policies, procedures, expectations or control. Accountability is often another code word for control – a version of micromanagement that we naturally detest. There is a whole family of leadership practices that keeps people in servitude instead of releasing their Kingly nature. So what does work?
Manage work, Love people – Moving people from servant to king is a leadership style, not an accident or a miracle. At a mental level it is simply respect: showing people what results are needed and allowing them a level of autonomy to decide how best to make it happen. In essence, we’re encouraging people to manage themselves… something Kings love to do anyway. This style of leadership is more contractual than a time card, and it actually encourages people to seek the coaching kind of guidance that they may need. We’re not asking people for their time, or controlling their behavior. We asking for their ideas, initiative and creativity, and inviting them to manage their own time and behavior to get results.
All this is at an intellectual level which should be undergirded by something much deeper at a heart level.
Love is? – People who are productive and results-oriented want to feel valued and they want to gain recognition for a job well done. That’s the way God designed us. We all naturally want to please our Father and co-labor with him in the Kingdom and inherit “our” land. The “love language” of Kings is not really to be greeted with a holy kiss. They want to be invited to participate in the warfare and share in the spoils. They may initially be comfortable with helping and learning, but eventually they mature and want to be given space to exercise their own creativity and initiative. First we serve in that which is another man’s, but eventually we are all invited by God to rule and reign in that which is our own. Great leaders know and respect this Biblical and practical maturing process.
Heart Plans – At the deepest level, Kings want to be appreciated for what God has written in their own heart. They may need help defining and implementing their own heart’s desires, but they welcome that help. Here’s the key – if they believe that you will be a father and help their dream come true, they will reward you with loyalty and results far beyond your expectations. If not, you have either a land mine or a poor performing servant on your hands. They will eventually move on (none of us are in one job or ministry forever). Depending upon our leadership style and their “results,” they will leave in frustration and rebellion to seek another path, or we will promote them into their dream… because we took the time to understand it. That’s “love.” And, that’s what gets results.
How? – How do I help an employee get in touch with his own heart? It starts by asking the right questions:
- What’s your dream? What are the desires that God has written on your heart?
- How can I help you to take the next step?
The first answer may be from our “head” instead of our “heart.” Most of us think in terms of satisfying the expectations of others (especially God) by offering up what sounds best. We say what we “think” is the right answer, instead of what’s really in our heart. With a little practice and a little prophetic gifting, a good coach can spot the difference immediately, and gently set the false aside and move toward the real. We use a coaching tool called the Heart Plan to help people to connect with their hearts and become themselves.
Our hearts are often coded with boundaries from our past that subconsciously preclude us from implementing our dream. Boundaries can easily be identified and reversed, with a little help. They can also haunt for a life time until we identify them and intentionally change the script in our heart.
It’s really fun to be yourself and help others learn to become themselves. It’s also one of the distinctives that God is highlighting in this hour to get us out of religion and into the Kingdom. Just do “you”!
Corporate calling – There is one more level that makes a huge difference in intrinsic motivation. Once we connect a heart with his or her true identity and desire, we need to shop for a connection between the individual and the Corporate Heart Plan. God is building his Kingdom with teams in corporations, political affiliations, mastermind groups, etc… Networking is a huge ingredient in the Kingdom. Kings resonate with those groups when they sense that their own heart overlaps with the heart of the corporation and the heart of God. Do companies have a calling? Of course! We just have to ask the same questions and get a little help from the Holy Spirit to hear the answers… and the answer is already tucked away in the hearts of the present leaders. It’s a Kingdom frontier that is very exciting and powerful. Imagine the largest corporations and the most influential leaders all working on Kingdom initiatives. Can you say “results”?
Whether as an individual or a corporation, we can help you to turn the corner and find the Kingdom. Guess where?
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 NIV
…the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col 1:27 NIV
