Leadership can be incredibly meaningful, but it can also be relentless. Leaders carry responsibility for people, finances, vision, strategy and the future of an organisation, while often trying to care for their families and remain spiritually healthy. It is not surprising that many nonprofit and ministry leaders experience emotional exhaustion and feel that the demands placed on them never seem to end.
The challenge isn't simply that leaders have too much to do. Often, there is very little thought given to how leaders themselves are cared for. The focus naturally falls on the mission:
What needs to be done?
Who needs to be helped?
What problem needs to be solved?
What needs to happen next?
The person carrying all of that responsibility can easily become an afterthought.
This becomes particularly complicated in Christian leadership. For some leaders, the idea of stopping to care for themselves can actually feel unspiritual. I'm called to serve. People need me. How can I stop?
Leader care can almost feel like an indulgence when compared with the needs of the ministry.
But wellbeing is not a luxury. It is a core leadership issue.
There is a cost to taking care of yourself. It takes time, intention and sometimes difficult decisions. But there is also a much greater cost to continually neglecting yourself. A leader who never stops may eventually reach a point where their body, relationships, spiritual life and leadership can no longer sustain the pace.
For leaders working in contexts where survival is a real concern, the pressure can be even greater. There can be a very real feeling of:
I have to make this work. If I don't, what will happen?
This pressure can make it particularly difficult to step back, trust others and trust God.
Take a moment to consider your own leadership experience.
- What currently takes up most of your emotional and mental energy?
- Where do you feel the greatest pressure to keep going?
- Do you ever feel that taking care of yourself means taking something away from the mission?
- What would happen if you continued leading at your current pace for another year?
As you begin this course, consider this:
What happens when the demands of leadership consistently outweigh the well-being of the person leading?