At the start of lockdown my wife (medically trained) helpfully and “lovingly” commented, “your posture is terrible!”. She noted I was sat in front of a screen for hours on end, day after day, slouched on a dining room chair, back arched forwards..not a great posture!
So she bought me a harness to strap my body into shape (round is a shape right??!!) and got me a chair which supports good posture.
Posture is so important….but what is it?
Posture is: The position in which someone holds their body….a particular approach or attitude…
There’s more….
Good posture improves your blood flow, helps keep nerves and blood vessels healthy, supports your muscles, ligaments and tendons.…wow!
In this blog I want to mainly speak to leaders but this applies to all of us, let’s face it, leadership is at its essence influence and if you have kids, co-workers, family, friends, neighbours then you have influence so you’re a leader!
As you enter 2021 your posture matters….if it isn’t healthy it affects the whole body not just you!
How’s your posture? How are you positioning yourself?
I love this quote….
The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change, the leader adjusts the sails – John Maxwell
In an era of uncertainty good leaders adjust their sails, they set their posture, they position themselves. Good posture = good preparation
When we can only plan short term we prepare for the long term
Here’s 3 “postures” that will serve you well this year as you lead…
Be humble – humility is a posture, it’s a decision to position yourself in an open stance, willing to learn, ready to embrace feedback. It’s a posture that stays flexible, responsive, adaptable…
Peter puts it this way….
“……In every relationship, each of you must wrap around yourself the apron of a humble servant. Because: God resists you when you are proud but multiplies grace and favor when you are humble.” – 1 Peter 5:5 TPT
Who doesn’t want multiplied grace and favour this year?
Be helpful – this sounds quite tame, even timid but I believe it’s powerful when a leaders first response isn’t “what can you do for me?” but “how can I help you?”
One of the most frequently used pictures of leadership in the Bible is that of the shepherd.
When you read Psalm 23 it’s startling how the pronouns change from ‘The/He’ to ‘you/your’ as the shepherd shifts their posture from being out front to coming alongside.
During the dark season, the valleys, the pandemics, a good leader adjusts their posture to come alongside the people they are leading, they position themselves to be helpful…
How do we do this?
I love how Andy Stanley puts it…
Your voice is more important than your words
He tells the story of how President George W. Bush just days after 9/11 spontaneously took a megaphone to speak to the first responders. It became an iconic moment where he found his voice, it was his voice not his words that were most helpful to the people he was leading on that day.
Andy Stanley goes one stage further when he says….
Your presence is more important than your presentation
Leaders; don’t stay remote, detached, people need to feel your emotion, see some of your confusion, understand that you understand where they are right now….
Here’s the third posture…
Be hopeful – the kind of hope we carry and the kind of hope our world needs is not a blind optimism nor is it an empty triumphalism. Hopeful must also mean honest.
Hopeful doesn’t deny the reality of the situation or try to suppress real emotions but as James Stockdale, a POW in Vietnam famously said, “never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality whatever they might be…”
Our hope is in the promises of God…
Our hope is in the presence of God…
Our hope is in the supernatural power of God….
As we enter this new year with all its uncertainty, pain, frustration, and confusion let’s remember that the Bible says that we will “shine among them like stars in the sky….” Phil. 2 v.15
Here’s the thing…..stars are always shining but you only see them when it’s dark!
Church this is our season to shine….so let’s adjust our posture….let’s position ourselves….let’s sit up and let’s look up….let’s set our sails…
Be humble – Be helpful – Be hopeful
Love this Leon. When you spoke this is the service I didn’t really have a word for my posture that stood out.
Last night I watched the news and got really anxious thinking about the new variants and whether the vaccines or people’s natural antibodies would work against them. I got really despondent, cried and called out to God to help us. Now I suffer from anxiety and usually wake up feeling anxious, even more so in these times. This morning as I woke up the word ‘courage, came immediately into my head. I knew it was from God and I felt more peaceful. It reminds me when Joshua was told to be strong and courageous. I googled the meaning of courage and found this.
‘take courage’
said to give support, confidence, or hope to someone.
With that word God is giving me support, confidence and hope! So my posture this year is to ‘take courage’. 😊
Thank you. Your ministry truly blesses me!