Leadership is an Act of Faith

I quietly watched as my two-year old son worked on a wood puzzle. His body and jaw tensed as he tried to fit a piece the shape of a duck into a hole the shape of a sheep. The harder he tried, the more frustrated he became. Succumbing to frustration he hurled the puzzle into the air and fell into a heap on the floor.

As adults, this scenario played out in business all time. I find people in all positions from CEO’s to employees, wrestling with challenging dilemmas and trying to make sense out of situations that have no simple answers. These are talented people who want to make a difference but are stuck in a quagmire of urgent deadlines, unrealistic expectations and politics.

Leadership is an act of faith. There are times when critical business decisions have no correct answers and can only be made with a leap of faith. After all the analytics, critical thinking and due diligence, we simply need to trust in the unseen plan of God.

I remember a warm summer evening many years ago, my six year old daughter and I gazed up at the night sky. Shocked, my daughter declared, “There aren’t any stars in the sky!” Because she couldn’t see them behind the cloudy haze, she assumed they were gone. Like my daughter, our response is often based upon what we believe to be true, what is tangible and what is seen. However, faith is being certain of what we do not see. While its certainly unconventional business wisdom, it may very well be the wise, right thing to do.

A ship that turns its direction by one degree will alter its course by hundreds of mile. In the same way, your decision to trust God will have significant impact on the direction you’re headed. The more you trust, the more freedom you’ll gain from the shackles of urgent, bottom-line pressures that enslave you. The more freedom you have, the more significant leader you’ll become.