You Are Not Your Idea

What was your best idea?

If you think back on your leaders, which great idea were you the most excited about?

Which idea, as you look back, defined your best effort at leading well?

Did it work? Was it successful?

Did the great idea fail? Was the outcome different than you had anticipated?

So much of our leadership is defined by what worked…or what didn’t.

She is the one that [fill in the blank]! She must be a great leader!

He is the one that didn’t [fill in the blank]! We shouldn’t listen to what he says about anything.

Because we all know that this is true, it also means there is pressure to be right…always…with no misses.

When we get it right, it is great for our organizations, but can also create an inflated sense of self and over-confidence. Our identity is shaped by these correct decisions.

When we miss on our decisions it challenges organizational stability and calls into question our ability to lead. Our identity is shaped by our mistakes.

Ultimately you have to ask yourself an important question: Where is your identity rooted?

If it is rooted in your ability to get it right, your mistakes will whisper to you that you can’t lead. You aren’t good enough. Your mistakes define you.

Here is a big truth for all leaders: YOU AREN’T YOUR IDEAS!

Good ideas. Bad ideas. You aren’t either. Your identity is something more. Deeper.

Your identity is rooted in the One who created you. Gifted you. Gives you purpose. Calls you by name. Knows you. Guides your wins. Redeems your failures.

You aren’t your ideas. You are something altogether better. Redeemed.