I’m actually in Austin,TX for a conference that is the near-opposite of a sweet concert… an assessment conference.  Yeah, bring on the caffeine.

For the flight, I grabbed Seth Godin’s newest, “Tribes.”  If nothing else, it has inspired me to give more attention to this blog… and to use it as a means to reflect and process meaningful ideas.

I’m about a third of the way through the book so this isn’t a full review, just a midpoint contemplation.  Godin is basically calling (pleading, begging, urging) people (leaders) to take advantage of the opportunities that exist to influence groups of people (tribes) by connecting them to stories and hope.  He argues that technology and marketing has made it easier to connect people and mobilize them behind ideas that matter.

So, the opportunities for influence are abundant, the culture is receptive to change, and the technology for mobilizing people are at hand… the only thing missing is leaders - people who will leverage the moment. Godin proposes that leadership is lacking because the men and women inspired with these big ideas are scared.  They are fearful, not of failure, necessarily, but of criticism.  People lack “the will to make the ideas happen.” (p. 42)

“Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead…  It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.  It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail. It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo. It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.  When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.” (p. 55)

This has gotten me thinking about what holds leaders back.  As I mentally go through the list of my teammates and friends, I can identify some of the fears and discomforts holding them back, but I’m not sure I’ve reflected enough on the subject to articulate the limitations to my own potential.  So what holds me back?  Where do my discomforts dwell?

Here is a START to such a list:

• I usually focus more on impressing people than I do about meeting a goal or accomplishing a mission.  This leads to wasteful perfectionism.
• I am more concerned with presentation than content.  This leads to shallowness.
• I am more interested in spending time with people who are similar to me than reaching out to and learning from those who are different.  This leads to exclusivity.
• I am more interested in appearing godly than I am in training myself to be godly.  This leads to hypocricy.
• I am more motivated by doing something creative than I am by doing something meaningful.  This leads to carelessness.
• I am more confident in my abilities than God’s provision.  This leads to doubt.
• I am more comfortable making people laugh than making people think.  This leads to flippancy.

What’s holding you back?  Where are your discomforts?  Leader?

Metanoia,
Aaron