AS I BEGAN WRITING THIS BOOK, I decided that taking unhurried opportunities to write might help me capture the spirit of what I want to communicate. I’ve long enjoyed road cycling as a way of getting some exercise and—maybe more important—of slowing from 65 mph to 15 or 20 mph, outside and in. So I packed a couple of cycle bags and left the house on my bicycle with my computer and a few changes of clothing. I rode to the nearest train station, took a train south to the coastal California town of Carlsbad and booked a couple of nights in a hotel room. As I traveled, I felt that familiar inner drivenness fueled by the false formula that busyness equates to productivity. I know slowing down inside is crucial to spiritual health and productive leadership, but slowing down remains a difficult spiritual discipline for me.
On my way south, I realized that both my dependence on train schedules and the limitations of cycling versus driving exposed the reality of just how little control I actually have in this world. Still, this little trip was one of many ways to become a more unhurried leader. I want to be unhurried enough to discern God’s voice and sense his guidance for my life, my relationships, and my writing. When my heart is a hamster wheel, my inner life becomes a blur.
My train route takes me south along the Pacific Ocean. I find that even a glimpse of the ocean helps my soul rest. There is something about the blue horizon that reminds me of God’s immensity and just how spacious his love for me is. The ocean unhurries my soul.
The truth is that whatever progress I’m making, I continue to wrestle with my addiction to drivenness and anxious activity, and I expect I will struggle with this addiction to some degree for the rest of my life. I also expect the most challenging aspects of this journey will involve my roles and relationships of influence.
I’m a parent to three young adult sons. I’m a spiritual mentor to leaders. I’m the founder of a new nonprofit. And in these roles and relationships, I’m often tempted to frantically rush to take control of situations in hopes of making good things happen. That kind of unholy hurry may make me look busy, but too often it keeps me from actually being fruitful in the ways Jesus wants me to be.
Jesus modeled grace-paced leadership. To learn from him, we begin not with leading but with following.
LEADERS AS FOLLOWERS
So what kind of book is this? A how-to book with simple-but-not-easy, clearly defined steps to leadership success? I’ve learned much from such books, but that’s not the book I have written. Do books like these give me insight I can put into practice? Of course. Do they offer wisdom for all of us? Certainly. But this book is something different.
In these pages I hope to offer an inspiring vision of leadership that is less hurried and more fruitful, less hectic and more joyful. I will provide practical insights I’ve learned along the way to help you make your way fruitfully into all the unhurried leadership opportunities God has for you. I hope you’ll discover with me that an unhurried leader grows ever more confident that all the truth and all the wisdom we need is available to us in Jesus (1 Cor 1:30). There is no kingdom-fruitful wisdom apart from him.
Jesus sets the pace of my following, and I’m not trying to be super spiritual here. This is just basic kingdom reality: I cannot lead for the good or the honor of God’s kingdom if I am not seeking his kingdom first and foremost in my lifeand my work. Otherwise, I end up promoting my own little kingdom agendas, all the while assuming I am doing so in the name of Jesus. It happens all the time. It’s happened far too frequently in my own leadership.
Too often I’ve lived and led fueled by the idea that the one who hurries gets the most done for God. This is so different from the spiritual wisdom that the one who hurries delays the things of God. What I’ve been discovering is that unhurried leadership is actually more fruitfulbecause it is mor
