{"id":11083,"date":"2012-06-23T10:09:40","date_gmt":"2012-06-23T14:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=11083"},"modified":"2022-08-10T16:47:44","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T20:47:44","slug":"the-impediments-to-finishing-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2012\/06\/the-impediments-to-finishing-well\/","title":{"rendered":"The Impediments to Finishing Well"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&#8217;s a really quick post &#8212; a paragraph that leapt off the page while I was preparing another post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The authors of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.ca\/gp\/product\/0787947660\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=wwwccccorg-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=15121&amp;creative=330641&amp;creativeASIN=0787947660\">The Ascent of a Leader<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.ca\/e\/ir?t=wwwccccorg-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=15&amp;a=0787947660\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\">&nbsp;report some striking research that is a reality check for leaders who become <strong>complacent<\/strong> about their <strong>leadership<\/strong>. I&#8217;ve added my own&nbsp;two cents&#8217; worth in italics and included links to posts I&#8217;ve written on the topics. Here&#8217;s the paragraph:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8220;After having conducted extensive research, Dr. J. Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, believes that more than 70 percent of leaders do not <strong>finish well<\/strong>. He bases this startling statistic on six criteria, gleaned from common traits among leaders who do not finish well according to their self-analysis, the analysis of their peers and followers, or the teachings of their professed religion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Impediments to Finishing Well\" width=\"625\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eb1COgc1Cp0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>First, leaders who do not finish well lose their <strong>learning posture<\/strong>. They stop listening and growing.\n<ul>\n<li><em>You should be continually re-inventing yourself. I&#8217;ve now been through two contract renewals at CCCC and each time I have asked the board to advise me on what kind of leadership is required for the next five years so that I can determine &#8220;Am I already that leader, can I become that leader or do they need another leader?&#8221; Here&#8217;s a post on <a title=\"Keeping your leadership fresh\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2009\/09\/25\/keeping-your-leadership-fresh\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to stay fresh as a leader<\/a>. Learning and growing requires you to admit that you don&#8217;t know everything and you are not yet perfect. That requires humility, so<a title=\"Oh Lord, it\u2019s hard to be humble\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/12\/09\/oh-lord-its-hard-to-be-humble\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> be humble<\/a>! <a title=\"Checking for blind spots\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/08\/06\/checking-for-blind-spots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Check for blind spots<\/a>&nbsp;and admit <a title=\"\u201cYou know, I may be wrong\u201d\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/11\/20\/you-know-i-may-be-wrong\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">you may not always be right<\/a>. A great way to begin learning and growing is to <a title=\"The most daring case study of all\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2009\/08\/14\/the-most-daring-case-study-of-all\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">write a case study<\/a> about a situation you are experiencing right now!<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>Second, the attractiveness of their <strong>character <\/strong>wanes.\n<ul>\n<li><em>This is due to the old adage I&#8217;ve just written about: that <a title=\"The dark side of leadership\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2012\/06\/17\/the-dark-side-of-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power is a corrupting influence on character<\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>Third, they stop living by their <strong>convictions<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><em>It is crucial that action lines up with words. You must <a title=\"Theology in action\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/04\/11\/theology-in-action\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">put your espoused theology into action<\/a>. If you don&#8217;t think you have enough<a title=\"Theological Leadership\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/06\/13\/theological-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> theological training for leadership<\/a>, then consider taking some courses.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>Fourth, they fail to leave behind ultimate <strong>contributions<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Step back and think about <a title=\"Ministry leadership a century at a time\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/12\/28\/ministry-leadership-a-century-at-a-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how your contribution will be perceived a century later<\/a>. Your contribution should be to leave a strong, healthy ministry adaptable enough that it will be capable of continuing its mission as the uncertain&nbsp;future unfolds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>Fifth, they stop walking in an awareness of their <strong>influence and destiny<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><em>I&#8217;ve written that <a title=\"Contagious Leadership\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2009\/08\/21\/contagious-leadership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a leader&#8217;s character is contagious<\/a>. The team around you will gradually become like you, for good or ill, so be careful what your behaviour is teaching others. Also, once you have <a title=\"Discerning your call\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/03\/01\/discerning-your-call\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discerned your call<\/a>, think about what you want the <a title=\"The Legacy of Your Name\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2012\/02\/06\/the-legacy-of-your-name\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">legacy of your leadership<\/a> to be.&nbsp;<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><li>Finally, leaders who finish poorly lose their once vibrant <strong>relationship with God<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><em>I&#8217;ve written about how a leader can maintain <a title=\"A leader\u2019s intimacy with God\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/01\/30\/a-leaders-intimacy-with-god\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an intimate, vital relationship with God<\/a>. You must be aware of the <a title=\"Public consequences of personal spirituality\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/09\/01\/public-consequences-of-personal-spirituality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">public consequences of your personal spirituality<\/a> and you should take a <a title=\"Design your own personal spiritual retreat\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/09\/06\/design-your-own-personal-spiritual-retreat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">personal spiritual retreat<\/a> at least annually. &nbsp;If you&#8217;ve lost your sense of intimacy with God, perhaps <a title=\"\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t God speak to me?\u201d\" href=\"\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/08\/15\/why-doesnt-god-speak-to-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this post<\/a> will help you out.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-thumbnail\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/The-Impediments-to-Finishing-Well.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/The-Impediments-to-Finishing-Well-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-34802\"\/><\/a><figcaption><em>Download personal reflection guide<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take care of these issues, and you should expect to finish your ministry career well and enjoy seeing significant fruit from your labours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/The-impediments-to-finishing-well.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many leaders do not finish their careers well due to a set of common traits. Here&#8217;s what the traits are and what to do about them. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2012\/06\/the-impediments-to-finishing-well\/\" class=\"linkbutton\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ts_fic_featured_image_caption":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[624,623,89],"tags":[54,579,56,41,100],"series":[],"class_list":["post-11083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-leadership-healthy","category-healthy","category-leadership-personal","tag-improvement","tag-attractive-leadership","tag-leadership-responsibility","tag-awareness","tag-spiritual-formation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11083"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=11083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}