When a ministry or organization experiences growth, there is a simultaneous exposing and developing of character and competence. The pressurized growth and leadership development associated with caring for more people, combined with leadership stress and decision-making under pressure, creates a weight that both reveals and refines. Similarly, when an organization faces a challenging season, this same process occurs. Pressure is paradoxical; as a leader, you will witness some individuals flourish while others experience lapses in character. Pressure will either expose or develop—and sometimes, it does both.
1. Pressure Exposes Character.
Many wise leaders have warned that when a leader’s competence outpaces their growth in character, they are set up for a fall. Pressure tends to expose these internal foundations. In some cases, this exposure makes it clear that a leader must step down because they lack an indispensable quality: credibility. Without credible character, effective leadership is impossible. In other instances, the exposure guides us toward repentance and growth in the midst of our service, which brings us to the next vital realization.
2. Pressure Develops Character.
Pressure in leadership is ultimately sanctifying. Being overwhelmed can humble us before God, drive us to our knees in prayer and surrender, and serve as a catalyst for continued maturing. The apostle James famously wrote regarding the purpose of trials and the development of perseverance:
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2–4)
3. Pressure Exposes Competence.
As a leader there are many times I lacked a skill or a competence that I did not know I lacked—either because I pridefully assumed I possessed the skill or because I did not even know such a competence existed. Example: I had no clue about some of the financial disciplines in business until I was going through my first budgeting cycle. The pressure of that season exposed “a competence gap” in me. Which can, if we chose for it to, lead to Point 4.
4. Pressure Develops Competence.
If you lift weights for exercise you have learned that you will not grow muscles if you don’t add more weight to your routine. If you lift the same weight over and over again, you can go through the routines and not gain muscle. The same is true in our careers and our roles. If we never experience pressure, we won’t learn new skills. If we are never overwhelmed, we won’t develop leadership muscles. If you want new leadership skills you must experience seasons of pressure and moments of being overwhelmed.
Pressure in leadership is inevitable. We need God’s grace to prepare our character for those seasons and we need his grace to sustain us in them. And by his grace, he will use those seasons for our maturation and our good.
This article originally appeared on EricGeiger.com and is reposted here by permission.