#1 - Fear - being a leader does not mean that we will never be in situations that make us shake in our shoes; in fact, it means quite the opposite. When a leader allows the fear of a circumstance to trump the fear of God in his life…he ceases to lead.
#2 - A Desire To Please Everyone - Moses, the greatest leader in the Old Testament, had people ready to kill him on several occasions. After Jesus preached His first sermon people took him to a cliff and wanted to throw him off. (Luke 4:28-30) The Apostle Paul actually had people who traveled from town to town just to persecute him. If Moses, Jesus and Paul could not please everyone…why in the world would anyone think they could. When the shift goes from please “Him” to pleasing “them,” it’s over. You’ve ceased to lead!
#3 - Addiction To Comfort - There is always a price to pay if you want to go to the next level…and so often when that price begins to impact a leaders comfort zone he will back off from leading the charge and slip into cruise control. This type of person refuses to seek advice from other leaders. They refuse to read anything that may be helpful. They refuse to attend any sort of conference that may challenge them. They refuse to believe that there are better, more effective ways to do what they are doing. All because IF they did these things they may have to face CHANGE…which totally blows up comfortability.
#4 - Disconnection From God - THE most DANGEROUS thing a leader can do is to STOP focusing on God and BEGGING Him for direction. Going back to Moses for a second…all Big Mo did was listen to God and then do what He said. When we become so busy “doing” leadership rather than focusing on the ONE we are supposed to be following in order to effectively lead others…we (AND the people we lead) are in trouble.